Restoring Music Library from iCloud backup

StevieB2685 wrote:

Restore from iCloud Backup: Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings. Upon restarting, select Restore from iCloud Backup during setup to bring back previous data, including music.

iCloud backup doesn’t include information that is synced and stored in iCloud, like Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks, Mail, Notes, Voice Memos, shared photos, iCloud Photos*, Health data, call history, and files you store in iCloud Drive.

Apple Music isn’t stored in your iCloud Backup the way photos or app data are. Instead, it’s synced through iCloud Music Library (now called Sync Library). Here’s the distinction:

How it works

• iCloud Backup
  • Saves snapshots of your device’s settings, app data, and files.
  • Used when restoring a new iPhone to look like your old one.
  • Does not include your Apple Music library itself.
• iCloud Sync (Apple Music / Sync Library)
  • Keeps your music library (songs, playlists, albums) consistent across all devices signed in with the same Apple ID.
  • Any changes you make—adding a song, editing a playlist—sync automatically to your other devices.
  • Requires an active Apple Music subscription.

✅ What this means for you

• Your Apple Music library isn’t “backed up” in iCloud—it’s mirrored across devices via sync.
• If you sign in with the same Apple ID and enable Sync Library in Apple Music settings, your entire library should reappear.
• If it doesn’t, the most common issue is being logged into Apple Music with a different Apple ID than the one tied to your device.

Sync Library is only available if you have an Apple Music subscription or an iTunes Match subscription. It sounds like you have been doing traditional “manual” synchronization instead.

As far as I know, iCloud backups do not include purchased music. You are supposed to safeguard the master music library on your Mac or Windows PC. Then if something happens to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod, you load a fresh copy of music onto the mobile device (or its replacement) from the library on your computer.

Re: “Will restoring from iCloud backup change anything else I currently have on my phone?”

Yes. It would overwrite many things that you have on your phone, without helping you to restore your music.

StevieB2685 wrote:

I went and uninstalled Apple Music then reinstalled it only to find that only the recent music I purchased was the only music that stayed. All the rest of my music is gone. Will restoring from iCloud backup change anything else I currently have on my phone? I Googled “how to restore music from icloud” and copied the text below from the AI Overview:

If you’ve signed in on your iPhone with the same Apple ID you previously used—where your Music Library was available—your songs should automatically reappear.

If they haven’t, double‑check whether you might have logged into Apple Music with a different Apple ID than the one linked to your device.