Problems with iPhone Music and backups

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Level 1

8 points

Problems with iPhone Music and backups

I have my 128 Gb iPhone 13 Mini (iOS 15.6) backing up and syncing to my 1 Tb M1 MBAir (OS 12.5). My MBA is my main machine, and has ~40 Gb of music on it, mostly ripped from CDs but about 10% purchased.

My iPhone, however, has ~80 Gb of music showing when I check my iPhone storage. This showed up recently when I started to get memory storage warnings that my 128 Gb was getting full. Except it shouldn't be full. It has twice the downloaded music it should have. It should have ~45 Gb free.

I tried to fix this by de-selecting Sync Music. That resulted in my iPhone having no identifiable downloaded music in the Music app. But when I checked the iPhone memory, it still said ~40 Gb was taken up with music (at least it was down from 80 Gb). I turned Sync Music back on, and an hour later, all the music was restored to the iPhone. But the playlists were not restored, AND the memory once again had 80 Gb of music.

How do I get rid of the 40 Gb or "phantom music" that is taking up my iPhone memory space? How do I get my playlists back onto my iPhone?

iPhone 13 mini, iOS 15

Posted on Aug 12, 2022 5:42 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Tammer1

Community Specialist

Aug 14, 2022 6:02 PM in response to D. Ryder

Hello D. Ryder

Great job completing those steps. At this point, the next best step may be to restore your iPhone to clear out the cache and related items.You can restore the iPhone using a backup first to see if that will help with the storage.

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support

There are several options, including using your Mac or iCloud. You can take a look to see what will work best for you.

Regards.

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Answer 2

Lindsay_B.

Community Specialist

Aug 14, 2022 8:06 AM in response to D. Ryder

Hey there, D. Ryder,

If you are using Apple Music, it is possible some of the content on the iPhone was downloaded directly to it for offline listening, but was not added to your library. If that is the case, that may explain why you see more storage dedicated to music on the phone than the computer.

If you're not using Apple Music, and haven't already, try restarting your iPhone: Restart your iPhone - Apple Support. This should clear out any temporary data and information the phone no longer needs, and may help us clear up some space with the music.

Don't hesitate to respond back if you need more help.

Enjoy your weekend!

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Answer 3

mikeg28806

Community Specialist

Aug 14, 2022 6:40 PM in response to D. Ryder

That's certainly a pertinent question, D. Ryder!

Since songs are stored in the music library from the computer they are synced from, or available to download from the cloud if they're purchased or added from Apple Music, they wouldn't be included as part of the backup.

If you have purchased music and restore from an iCloud backup, those songs would be automatically redownloaded from Apple servers.

You can learn more about what's included in a backup, here:

What does iCloud back up?

We hope this helps!

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Answer 4

D. Ryder Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 14, 2022 4:37 PM in response to Lindsay_B.

I am using Apple Music.

I restarted my phone. Both before and after restart, in Settings > General > About, it's telling me I have 13,205 songs, which is basically correct. But it's also telling me I have 20.5 Gb free on my Phone. When I plug it in, in Finder, it's still telling my I have 69 Gb of music, which is double what it should be. Music still did not have any playlists after restart.

The restart did not have any effect.

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Answer 5

D. Ryder Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 11, 2022 12:03 PM in response to Tammer1

So I restored my iPhone from back up. The "ghost music" went away. The correct number of tracks is on my phone, and my available memory has returned. But...

While the music synced, there are no Playlists on my phone. I have re-synced several times. My phone has got Downloaded Music, but no a single playlist. How do I get my playlists to sync?

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Answer 6

mingoslkd

Community Specialist

Sep 11, 2022 12:44 PM in response to D. Ryder

Hi D. Ryder,

We're glad to hear that the extra songs are no longer downloaded to your iPhone.

However, we still want you to be able to get your playlists. Since you've exhausted all troubleshooting steps, we advise to contact Apple Support, so they can take a look at this.

Please let them know all of the steps you've done so far.

Apple Support

Take care!

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Answer 7

D. Ryder Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 14, 2022 6:30 PM in response to Tammer1

Thanks for your reply. Would not restoring from a backup just restore the music that does not belong?

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Problems with iPhone Music and backups

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