iPhone not accepting transfer of music

I am running the latest software for both my laptop and my iPhone. However, I cannot transfer music from my laptop to my iPhone. On my old system, it was drag and drop. But now, nothing happens. I don't want to sync all the music, just specific pieces. The support that I have read says the iPhone will appear in the finder, however, it does not. Not in the finder, not in the dock. But it does show up in Music, and in Photos, so I know it's been accepted, and is talking. (The iPhone is connected by USB cable.)

Is there a setting somewhere that changes what I can sync between the two?

Posted on Feb 22, 2026 7:42 PM

Top-ranking reply

Servant of Cats

Level 8

43,347 points

Posted on Feb 23, 2026 7:08 AM

Check Finder > Settings…, and make sure that you have put a check mark beside "CDs, DVDs, and iOS Devices" in the "Locations" section. If there is no checkmark now, the Finder may be seeing the iPhone, but simply not showing an entry for it (as per Settings).

I would not expect an icon for the iPhone to show up in the Dock.

View in context

iPhone not accepting transfer of music

Similar questions