Manually sync purchased iTunes music to MacBook Air

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Manually sync purchased iTunes music to MacBook Air

How do I manually sync all my purchases of music selections from iTunes onto my MacBook Air? Help says: learn how to do it manually, if you don't have an Apple Music subscription or iTunes Match (whatever that is). I don't have either. But the instructions, when responding to my click, only show transferring from the iPhone to my Mac. I've been purchasing iTunes music for many years (at least 10 or more). I never had a problem when my first Mac was "alive." But I have the new Air and have found missing music when I click on some. And it is unclear why many have not been downloaded as they had been previously. I transferred all data from my old Mac to this Air about 6 months ago, and didn't realize the problem until recently. I have not had any space problems on my Mac or in iCloud.

How do I sync all my purchases so I can then decide what to download (or maybe download all purchased music)?

MacBook Air 15″, macOS 26.4

Posted on Jun 27, 2026 7:22 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 4, 2026 7:18 PM in response to AntoniaFiona

AntoniaFiona wrote:

How do I manually sync all my purchases of music selections from iTunes onto my MacBook Air? Help says: learn how to do it manually, if you don't have an Apple Music subscription or iTunes Match (whatever that is). I don't have either.

Sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod using your computer - Apple Support

It is also possible to redownload iTunes Store purchases on the iPhone – unless the artist or record label has pulled them from Apple's catalog.

Redownload music from the iTunes Store on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

But the instructions, when responding to my click, only show transferring from the iPhone to my Mac.

The transfer is the other way – from the Mac to the iPhone. There was an exception, several years ago, where the synchronization process would transfer things purchased from the iTunes Store, on the iPhone, to the Mac.

But for anything purchased from other sources (e.g., on CD, or from other online music stores),

You could only transfer from the Mac to an iPod / iPhone / iPad – not in the other direction.
You could only synchronize an iPod / iPhone / iPad to one Mac at a time – if you synchronized against another, that would wipe out all of the existing music on the iPod / iPhone / iPad.

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