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Transferring music to my iPhone from my MAC

I was going to transfer music from my MAC to my iPhone, but when I tried to sync the two I lost all my pre-set playlists on my iPhone!!! How can I transfer and KEEP the playlists I have on my iPhone? I do not have the same playlists on my MAC. I just want to add some new songs from my MAC to my iPhone. It seems it is only possible to re-set everything on my iPhone to match my MAC. This is very frustrating!!

iPhone 11 Pro Max, iOS 13

Posted on May 25, 2020 3:51 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 27, 2020 6:27 AM

Hey Northwest Wind,


Thanks for reaching back out with that question. The alert means that music on the iPhone will be replaced with the music from the Mac, so any music on the iPhone that was synced to a different library will be removed. If the music was downloaded from iTunes, you can redownload it using this resource: Redownload apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books - Apple Support. The iPhone can only be synced to one library on a computer at a time, so that's why any music from another library will be replaced with music from this Mac.


I hope that clears it up for you.

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 27, 2020 6:27 AM in response to Northwest Wind

Hey Northwest Wind,


Thanks for reaching back out with that question. The alert means that music on the iPhone will be replaced with the music from the Mac, so any music on the iPhone that was synced to a different library will be removed. If the music was downloaded from iTunes, you can redownload it using this resource: Redownload apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books - Apple Support. The iPhone can only be synced to one library on a computer at a time, so that's why any music from another library will be replaced with music from this Mac.


I hope that clears it up for you.

May 26, 2020 4:31 PM in response to Northwest Wind

Hey Northwest Wind,


I see that you're having some trouble syncing your iPhone to the Mac.


According to Use iTunes to sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod with your computer - Apple Support, it states that "You can only sync your device with one iTunes library at a time. If you see a message that your device is synced with another iTunes library, your device was previously connected to another computer. If you click "Erase and Sync" in that message, all content of the selected type on your device will be erased and replaced with content from this computer."


This may have been what happened when you attempted to sync. After the playlists have been erased from the iPhone, are you now able to follow the steps in the resource listed to sync your playlists from the Mac to your iPhone? If not, what happens?


Have a great day.

Transferring music to my iPhone from my MAC

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