- In the Music app on your Mac, choose Music Preferences, click General, then select the Sync Library checkbox. To turn on your music library on another device, do any of the following.
- Tap this and your entire iTunes library will start to download. As with the Mac variant above be sure that you don't need your device for a while as the downloads could take quite a long time if.
Though we store more and more of our music online these days, a hard-copy backup is still the gold standard for keeping your data safe. And if you use Apple Music or iCloud Music Library, the best way to do that is still iTunes.
There are a few ways to back up your iTunes library; it's important to choose one and regularly back up so that you won't have to worry about your local copy getting lost or damaged. My music — at least for me — is one of those must-backup items; I don't want to have to manually re-build or re-buy thousands of tracks.
Limited-time offer; offer may end at any time. Free Apple TV+ access for students ends when you no longer qualify or do not renew your Apple Music Student subscription. Offer good for verified college students only and does not extend to a Family Sharing group. Nov 18, 2014 Part 1: How to Transfer iTunes Library from Mac to Mac Often, Mac users will have more than one Mac in their home. It is the nature of the beast, as they may be so pleased with their exclusive Mac environment that there may suddenly be a MacBook or an iMac in the house where there may have been only one Mac computer previously.
First: Make sure your entire library has been locally downloaded
If you use iCloud Music Library or the iTunes Store, you may have some or all of your music stored in the cloud. But to truly make sure your purchased and owned content is backed up, you'll want to download a local copy to your Mac. Here's the best way to do so:
To download specific items in your iCloud Music Library right now to your Mac's drive, do the following:
Launch Music (or iTunes on Mojave and earlier) on your Mac.
Source: iMore
- Find the Artist, Albums, or Songs that you want to download.
Click the ... button to bring up a pop-up menu.
Source: iMore
Click Download to initiate the download of these items.
Source: iMore
And if you want to start automatically downloading everything that you add to your Apple Music library from this point forward, then it's easy peasy! Here's how:
Launch Music (or iTunes on macOS Mojave and earlier) on your Mac.
Source: iMore
- Click Music in the menu bar.
Click Preferences (or press ⌘, on the keyboard).
Source: iMore
Make sure you're in the General tab.
Source: iMore
Click the box for Automatic Downloads to turn it on.
Source: iMore
Once that is turned on, any music you add to your Apple Music library will be downloaded automatically to your Mac's hard drive.
How to back up iTunes via Time Machine or another backup service
If you have Apple's Time Machine backup system enabled — or any other cloud — or system-based backup — your iTunes library should automatically be covered. This way, if you ever need to restore, you can just pop back in Time Machine's History (or a past backup from CrashPlan or Carbon Copy Cloner, for example) to retrieve it.
How to manually back up your iTunes library
If you're not employing a Mac-wide backup service (really, you should get on that), or if you just want to manually back up your iTunes library separately, here's how to go about that.
Consolidate your library
To ensure that all of your iTunes files are in the same place when you make a manual backup, you should first consolidate your iTunes library.
- Make sure you've downloaded a local copy of your music to your Mac.
Launch Music (or iTunes in macOS Mojave or earlier) on your Mac.
Source: iMore
- Click File in the upper left corner of your Mac's screen.
Hover your cursor over Library in the drop down menu.
Source: iMore
Select Organize Library from the secondary menu.
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Tick the box for Consolidate Files when the Organize Library window appears.
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Click OK.
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This will make a copy of all files in the iTunes media folder, leaving the originals in their current location.
Copy your iTunes library to a backup source
- If you are using an external hard drive, connect it to your Mac using a USB cable.
- Click on Finder to open a Finder window.
Select your Mac's Hard drive.
Source: iMore
Click on Music in the sidebar.
Source: iMore
Select the Music folder (or iTunes on macOS Mojave and earlier) and drag that folder to the external hard drive icon on your desktop or copy it to your online backup service.
Source: iMore
- Click Authenticate, if prompted, to give permission to make a copy of the iTunes folder.
- Enter your administrator password.
Click OK.
Source: iMore
The copy process will begin. This could take a very long time, depending on how big your Music/iTunes library is. So, sit back, relax, watch a movie, or whatever you do to pass the time.
Desperate times call for desperate measures
If you are about to do something wild with your Music or iTunes library and don't have a way to back it up on an external drive or online backup service, you can make a temporary backup that you store right on your Mac. This is, by no means, a solid backup plan, but can be useful in a pinch.
Note: After making a copy, it is a good idea to move the copied folder to an easy-to-find location that is separate from any folder you plan to make changes to (like the Music folder). This copied folder should be deleted immediately after it is no longer needed because it takes up extra space on your computer's hard drive unnecessarily and could cause confusion with your most current Music or iTunes folder.
- Click on Finder to open a Finder window.
Select your Mac's Hard drive.
Source: iMore
Click on Music in the sidebar.
Source: iMore
Right-click or control-click on the Music folder (or iTunes folder if you're still on macOS Mojave or earlier).
Source: iMore
Select Duplicate from the drop down menu.
The copy process will begin. This could take a very long time.
Source: iMore
Move the copied iTunes or Music folder to a new, easy-to-find location.
- Delete the copied iTunes or Music folder once you no longer need the temporary backup.
Any questions?
Running into issues making an iTunes backup? Pop them in the comments below.
March 2020: These are still the current steps for how to back up your music.
Serenity Caldwell contributed to an earlier version of this guide.
Backing up: The ultimate guide
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Here's what you need
- Update your iPhone or iPod touch to the latest version of iOS, iPad to the latest version of iPadOS, or Mac to the latest version of macOS. On a PC, make sure that you have the latest version of iTunes for Windows.
- Subscribe to Apple Music or iTunes Match.
- Sign in to all of your devices with the same Apple ID that you use with Apple Music or iTunes Match.
- Connect your devices to the Internet over a Wi-Fi or cellular network. On a Mac or PC, you can also connect to the Internet using Ethernet.
Apple Music and iTunes Match availability varies by country or region. Learn what's available in your country or region.
Turn on Sync Library
With the latest version of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, Sync Library is turned on by default. If you turned off Sync Library, you can turn it back on. Just follow the steps below for your device.
On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
- Go to Settings > Music.
- Turn on Sync Library. If you don't subscribe to Apple Music or iTunes Match, you won’t see an option to turn on Sync Library.
If Sync Library is updating or turned off, you'll see a message at the top of the Library tab in the Apple Music app.
On your Mac
- Open the Apple Music app.
- From the menu bar at the top of your screen, choose Music > Preferences.
- Go to the General tab and select Sync Library to turn it on. If you don't subscribe to Apple Music or iTunes Match, you won’t see an option to turn on Sync Library.
- Click OK.
If you have a large music library, it might take some time to upload and sync your music library across all of your devices.
Itunes Music Library Download Free
On your PC with iTunes for Windows
Restore Itunes Music Library Time Machine
In iTunes for Windows, iCloud Music Library isn't turned on by default. To turn on iCloud Music Library:
- Open iTunes.
- From the menu bar at the top of your screen, choose Edit > Preferences.
- Go to the General tab and select iCloud Music Library to turn it on. If you don't subscribe to Apple Music or iTunes Match, you won’t see an option to turn on iCloud Music Library.
- Click OK.
If you have a large music library, it might take some time to upload and sync your music library across all of your devices.
On other devices
If you subscribe to Apple Music, you can also access your music library — without having to turn on Sync Library — on other devices that support the Apple Music app.
If you don't subscribe to Apple Music
- If you only want to sync your existing music library across all of your devices, and not any music from the Apple Music catalog, you can subscribe to iTunes Match on your computer. iTunes Match lets you access your music library on any Apple device or a PC with iTunes for Windows.
- If you buy music from the iTunes Store, you can redownload your past music purchases on your Apple device or a PC with iTunes for Windows.
- You can also manually sync music from your computer to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
Need help?
- If you sign out of your Apple ID or cancel your Apple Music or iTunes Match subscription, you won’t be able to access and sync your music library on all of your devices. The original song files will remain on the device that they were uploaded from.
- Apple Music isn't a back up service. Make sure to back up your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC, so that you have a copy of your music and other information in case your device is ever replaced, lost, or damaged.
- You can have up to 100,000 songs in your music library. Songs that you buy from the iTunes Store don't count against this limit.
- If a song is grayed out, incorrect music plays, or you can’t access your music library, learn what to do.
Learn more
- Learn how to join Apple Music.
- Learn about the icons that you might see next to songs when you turn on Sync Library.
- If Sync Library is turned on, a song that you delete from one device is deleted everywhere.
- Learn what to do if songs in your music library are grayed out.