Confusion after syncing Apple Music

Hi kitkaticus,

We understand the confusion with the Sync Library feature of Apple Music, and we're happy to assist.

To get started, you can sync up to 100,000 songs with your Apple Music subscription, and it does not count against iCloud storage, so you are correct there.

As to your music, Apple Music won't automatically delete your downloaded songs when 'Sync Library' is turned on, however so long as 'Sync Library' is turned on, you can manually delete your downloaded music to make space and it won't delete the sync of the files in iCloud.

See more info here:

• Delete songs and other items in Music on Mac

Cheers!

kitkaticus,

We understand the confusion and would like to investigate further. In short, so long as sync library is set up properly on your Mac, you can delete your locally stored songs as they've been matched in iCloud through Apple Music.

If you're receiving this error, the sync is either not on, or there is a song that iCloud is unable to match in Apple Music. To start, confirm on your Mac specially, that Sync Library is enabled under Music > Preferences > General. If it is already enabled, do you encounter this problem with all of your songs, or only specific ones?

Check here for additional details regarding the Sync Library feature:

• Access your music library on all your devices

Cheers!

It looks like you may have deleted the media files without deleting the track in Apple Music. So the music app is likely still pointing to the original location of the file and trying to load that one first.

I recall having a similar issue. Here's what I would try.

1. Restore all of the deleted items (hopefully you didn't empty trash or have a backup handy). It's probably unnecessary but I had over 40,000 songs and don't want to lose my purchases. If you're feeling adventurous, you could simply delete/remove download on all of your current library (especially if you have a backup). This will clear out the location to which the music is pointed. Keep in mind, depending on how your original songs were /added to the library/purchased/synched, you may lose any songs that are no longer available on the Apple Music store. If you're feeling less adventurous, keep reading on.
2. I wanted to understand what the issue might be. It seems that the Music app is still pointing to the original file. Add additional column headings to display the "cloud download" and "cloud status." You can do this by right-clicking or two-finger clicking one of the column headers. This will give you more info.
3. Pick one song that is "matched" in cloud status and right-click/two-finger click. Then select remove download.
4. Play the song to see if it now streams through Apple Music.
5. You can then select remove download for a series of songs. I'd probably try one of each cloud status to begin.
6. This should have the same effect as throwing caution to the wind.

kitkaticus,

Thanks for the additional details.

From here, as your settings do appear correct, we'd recommend reaching out to Apple Support directly for additional assistance.

You can see contact options here:

• Get Support

Take care.