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songs on my iphone but not on itunes on my pc

I recently purchased a couple of songs from the iTunes store and when I was syncing them onto my iPhone (13 Mini) I noticed something odd. While I have something like 3000 songs on my phone, my iTunes library on my pc (running Windows 11) has only about 300 songs. I cannot recall the last time I checked, but in the past all 3000 or so of the songs currently on my phone were in my iTunes library on my pc. Now they have disappeared. Checking further, I see that there is nothing on the pc's iTunes library from before 2021 (including CDs I'd put on there and songs and albums I'd purchased from the iTunes store). I thought this was weird, but figured that I could just sync from my iPhone back to the pc, but that did not happen, as the sync was only for the few songs left on my pc. My phone is updated to the latest IOS (just updated today), and my pc is also up to date on iTunes. I am pretty sure this issue is recent, as I can clearly recall seeing some of the songs now missing in my iTunes library on my pc in June when I got my new iPhone (I previously had a 2020 iPhone SE). At this point I don't want to try to sync the phone and pc until I see what suggestions you have, as I would not like to lose the songs I have on my phone.

iPhone 7, iOS 14

Posted on Oct 25, 2023 9:12 PM

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7 replies

Oct 27, 2023 8:29 PM in response to Eric_G1

Thanks, but the great majority of the songs are not downloaded from the iTunes Store, but ones that I had ripped from CDs that I own (I checked and its well over 3600 songs). Also, I never did sign up for Apple Music (even though I had a free offer when I got my iPhone, probably should have done it), so that avenue is closed for me. I just wonder if there is a way to do a sort of "reverse sync" to get the songs back on the pc from my phone, maybe using an external SSD drive. I recall a similar (but not exactly the same) issue with my iTunes on my pc a few years ago. At that time, my entire library disappeared. I wish I could recall exactly how I resolved the issue, but I think I had to go back and find a version of iTunes somewhere in my C drive that was from a time prior to the disappearance and restore it from that. I can't imagine I am the only person this has ever happened to. Maybe I am not describing the issue well or something.

Oct 26, 2023 4:18 PM in response to HBACM

Hello HBACM,


If the missing songs were purchased from the iTunes Store then this page can help provide the needed steps to download them again to the PC: Redownload music - Apple Support


Redownload music in iTunes on your PC
Before you can redownload music that you purchased from the iTunes Store, you need to authorize your PC using your Apple ID.
1. Open iTunes. 
2. From the menu bar at the top of the iTunes window, choose Account > Purchased. If you use Family Sharing, you'll see Family Purchases instead of Purchased.
3. Choose Music from the menu in the upper-left corner of the iTunes window.
4. Find the music that you want to redownload. If you use Family Sharing, choose a family member next to Purchased to see their purchases.
5. Click the download button Download button next to a song or album.
Don't see the music that you purchased?


If you are an Apple Music member then you may also utilize the Sync Library feature to help keep your music library in sync across the devices: Use Sync Library with your Apple Music subscription - Apple Support


Cheers.

Nov 8, 2023 4:37 PM in response to turingtest2

Thank you, this worked. I had to go through a couple of previous iTunes Libraries to find one that had the content that had disappeared, all the way back to 2019 (I guess that's when the update in question happened) but found one eventually. Anyhow, now I've got to redownload the songs I'd purchased from the iTunes Store since 2019* (not very many) and the albums I'd put on since then (quite a bit more) and then I should be all set. I'm bookmarking this page, though, since this'll probably happen again. Once again, thank you all.

*currently, the iTunes Store has no songs in my purchase history, but they all show up when I checked my Apple account, so I imagine it'll just take a bit for the purchased songs to show up for re-downloading.

songs on my iphone but not on itunes on my pc

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