Getting my downloaded music back after cancelling Apple Music

Question

Level 1

4 points

Getting my downloaded music back after cancelling Apple Music

I had recently cancelled my Apple Music Subscription and they wiped it clean. I know all music I download would be gone, this I knew. But I had over 1000+ songs from CD's I had downloaded over the 20years as an Apple Music subscriber. Years of music I am unable to get back. I followed all the online suggestions to try to get them back but there is nothing there. Everything is gone! Folders, playlists all of it. Like I had never been there. How is this possible, I don't even have some of these CD's anymore or the ability to download the ones I still have. Please help, has this happened to anyone else? And how do I get my music back?

iPhone Air, iOS 26

Posted on Jul 22, 2026 9:53 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Jul 26, 2026 4:48 AM in response to twenner

P.S. - My understanding is that when you cancel an Apple Music subscription, you lose "Sync Library" copies of purchased songs - but not the originals. E.g., if your Mac had a song imported from a CD that you owned - and your iPhone had a Sync Library copy, then when your subscription ended, you would lose the iPhone copy. But theoretically the copy on the Mac would remain intact.

How to cancel Apple Music - Apple Support

"After your subscription to Apple Music expires, you'll no longer be able to play songs from the Apple Music catalog. Any playlists added from the Apple Music catalog or created using music from the Apple Music catalog will also no longer be available. If you use Sync Library, it will turn off when your subscription expires. Any music and playlists you had on your device before you subscribed to Apple Music will still be available."

Reply

Answer 2

Jul 26, 2026 4:38 AM in response to twenner

If you kept old backups of your Music library, look there. If you didn't keep backups, then you're going to have to start re-importing music from CDs that you still do own, on a Mac or PC, with the aid of an optical drive.

If you don't have the hardware and software needed to do that, then you're probably going to have to settle for a solution like playing the CDs that you still have on a standalone home or car CD player.

Reply