How do itunes libraries work

What happened to iTunes? Use Finder to sync and manage your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Finder is the new place to back up, update, or restore your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Use Finder to manage your devices. If you open the Apple Music app and don't see all of your album artwork, leave the Apple Music app open so your album artwork can finish downloading. If you previously used multiple iTunes libraries, your audiobooks are imported in to the Apple Books library and podcasts are imported in to the Apple Podcasts library on your computer. Where's my media? All of your music is now in the Apple Music app The Apple Music app is where you can find all of your music, including music that you imported in to iTunes, purchased from the iTunes Store, and playlists and smart playlists that you created in iTunes.

Explore the Apple Music app. Looking for the iTunes Store? Subscribe to Apple Music or iTunes Match. Connect your devices to the Internet over a Wi-Fi or cellular network. Turn on Sync Library. On your Mac Open the Apple Music app. Go to the General tab and select Sync Library to turn it on. Click OK. Go to the General tab and select iCloud Music Library to turn it on. 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 and on music.

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.

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. The iTunes Music Store also lives on inside the Music app, giving you the option to purchase your music instead of subscribing to a streaming service.

While iTunes may be dead in the newest versions of macOS, it still lives on elsewhere. If your aim is to access your old iTunes Library on your iPhone, the good news is that it's possible, the bad news is that it's not quite as simple or free as you might hope. Apple has several options available, each with benefits and drawbacks. If you want your iTunes Library on your iPhone for free, the only real option is to sync it manually.

In Catalina and more recent operating systems, you can sync using Finder. And when you back up your Mac , your media library is included automatically in that backup. Consolidate your iTunes library Open iTunes. Select Consolidate files.

Click OK. When you consolidate, copies of any files that were outside your iTunes Media folder are added to your iTunes Media folder. To save space on your hard drive, you may want to delete the original files. Make sure the copies are in your iTunes Media Folder before deleting the original files. After you've consolidated your media files, you can back up your library and media files to an external drive. You can restore your iTunes library from your external drive to your computer.

If you're restoring an iTunes Library from a different computer, make sure your new computer has the latest version of iTunes.