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
2 Where Is iTunes Library on Mac. Oppositely, if you are on a Mac, follow the process below. You can do the same steps including finding the media files including songs and other stuff. Step 1: While you are in the Finder, click on Go button on the menu bar. The menu bar is located on the top of your screen. Mar 29, 2019 How to Find the Library Folder on a Mac. This wikiHow teaches you how to force your Mac's user 'Library' folder to show up in the Finder window. While the 'Library' folder is hidden by default, you can prompt it to appear both temporarily. Feb 16, 2013 Assuming you keep iTunes on the default setting and let the app manage your music files and songs, iTunes will store all of your media nicely in the Music directory of your home folder, with each song kept in a folder according to the album and album artist.
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.
On your PC with iTunes for Windows
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.
At times you might update to the latest version of iTunes but find that it has more problems than you expected and then decide to roll back to the previous version. Now the sinking feeling comes when you try to open iTunes only to find an error indicating that iTunes Library.itl cannot be read because it was created by a newer version of iTunes which prevents iTunes from launching. This issue brings the need to restore a previous version of your iTunes library to fix the problem and access your media once again. Here is what to do.
- Method 1: Restore from the Previous iTunes Library Folder
- Method 2: Restore Your Previous iTunes Library without iTunes
Method 1: Restore from the Previous iTunes Library Folder
During every update, iTunes modifies its library to make it compatible with the newer version. The good news is, before doing any major changes iTunes works hard and creates a backup of your library in “Previous iTunes Libraries” subfolder. You can then use these backups to revert to any previous version of iTunes library you wish. To do so follow the following steps:
Step 1: Go to the iTunes library folder.
- For Mac OS X: go to Users > Username > Music >iTunes
- For Windows 10/8/7/Vista: go to C:/Users > User Name >My Music > iTunes
- For Windows XP: Documents and Settings > User Name > My Documents > My Music > iTunes
- For Mac OS X: go to Users > Username > Music >iTunes
- For Windows 10/8/7/Vista: go to C:/Users > User Name >My Music > iTunes
- For Windows XP: Documents and Settings > User Name > My Documents > My Music > iTunes
Step 2: Locate the “iTunes Library.itl” and then move it to the desktop. Instead of moving it to the desktop you can also choose to rename it to something like “Damaged iTunes Library.itl”.
Step 3: In the iTunes folder locate a subfolder “Previous iTunes Libraries” and open it.
Change library r mac.
Change library r mac.
Step 4: There you will find all the versions of iTunes libraries that have ever been backed up with their dates “iTunes Library YYYY-MM-DD.itl.” Find the most recent file and copy it then move back to the iTunes folder and paste it there. Go to library on mac.
Step 5: Rename the newly copied file to iTunes Library.itl.
Once you do that, you will have restored a previous version of your iTunes Library, and now iTunes now should launch without any issues. If it does not work still, repeat the process with the other previous libraries until you find one that works.
Method 2: Restore Your Previous iTunes Library without iTunes
Rebuilding your iTunes library from an older one manually, despite being effective way, has some few flaws. Any changes that you had updated after the library was created might be missing entirely. Now how do you avoid this? Well, iMyFone TunesMate iPhone Transfer. It is a third-party iTunes library management tool that is highly spoken of by users and well-known media. You can use to get back your damaged/missing iTunes library ensuring no loss of data, backup media files from any device to your iTunes library, restore your previous iTunes library with the backup on any device and at any time.
Key Features:
- Can restore lost, damaged or corrupt iTunes library by copying media files from your iPhone/iPad/iPod.
- Can enrich your iTunes library and music collection from an extensive number of iDevices and computers without any device limit.
- Can quickly add music to your iDevice from PC directly without even having to open the iTunes application.
- Can easily sync all iTunes songs to any iDevice with just a click using its 1-click transfer feature.
- Can easily preview and select what to transfer to your iPhone and copy it without even deleting the old data and media content.
2 Ways to Restore a Previous Version of Your iTunes library
WAY 1: Steps to Restore a Previous Version of iTunes Library From iDevice to iTunes
Step 1: Launch TunesMate on your computer and plug in your iDevice via a USB cable.
Step 2: From the home interface click “Transfer iDevice Media to iTunes”, select the entire library to retransfer it back to iTunes and then click “Transfer” button to start the process.
Step 3: Once the process finishes click “Complete.” Once done this will effectively restore a previous version of your iTunes Library.
WAY 2: Steps to Restore a Previous Version of iTunes Library without Losing any Previous Data
Step 1: Launch TunesMate on your computer and plug in your iDevice via a USB cable.
Step 2: From the home interface click “Transfer iTunes Media to iDevice”, select the entire library then click “Transfer” button to start the process.
Step 3: On the top bar tap on the “Music” tab to go to the music window. You will find all your previous data is on your iPhone now.
How To Find My Itunes Library On Mac
Step 4: Tap “Export > Export to iTunes” to retransfer your previous data to iTunes which will restore your iTunes library.