Workaround for wrong album artwork when syncing local music to iPhone/iPad from Apple Music on Windows

[WORKAROUND] Wrong / missing album artwork when syncing local music with Apple Music + Apple Devices on Windows — iOS/iPadOS 26.6.2

I found a reproducible workaround for an issue where local music looks correct in Apple Music for Windows, but after syncing with Apple Devices the iPhone/iPad shows missing artwork or randomly assigns artwork from unrelated albums. The key appears to be rebuilding the local sync state and then avoiding “Entire music library” in Apple Devices.

(Tested on: iOS 26.6.2 / iPadOS 26.6.2 — Apple Music for Windows 1.6.4.90 — Apple Devices 1.6.4.94)

Workaround — step by step

1. Remove all synced music from the iPhone/iPad

Connect the device to the PC and open Apple Devices → Device → Music.

Deselect/remove the currently synced music, then Apply/Sync so the local music is removed from the device.

Do not delete the original MP3/M4A files from the PC.

2. Clear the Apple Music for Windows library

Remove the locally imported music from Apple Music.

If asked what to do with the original files, choose “Keep File.” The goal is to clear the Apple Music library, not delete the source files.

3. Repair Apple Music for Windows

Windows Settings → Apps → Installed apps → Apple Music → Advanced options → Repair.

Use Repair, not Reset.

4. Repair Apple Devices

Windows Settings → Apps → Installed apps → Apple Devices → Advanced options → Repair.

5. Restart the PC

6. Delete the Music app from the iPhone/iPad

Fully delete the Music app, not just remove it from the Home Screen.

7. Restart the iPhone/iPad

8. Reinstall Music

Download Apple Music again from the App Store.

9. Rebuild the Apple Music for Windows library

Import the local music again.

When importing multiple large folders, wait until Apple Music has completely finished processing one folder before adding the next. Quickly adding several folders while the previous one was still being processed caused problems in testing.

10. Critical Apple Devices setting

Open Apple Devices → Device → Music and enable:

“Sync music onto [device]”

Then select:

“Selected artists, albums, genres, and playlists”

DO NOT select “Entire music library.”

Even if you want every album on the device, keep “Selected artists, albums, genres, and playlists” and simply select all albums manually.

11. Select the albums

Both methods worked:

A) Select one album → Sync → add another album → Sync again.

B) Select all albums at once under “Selected artists, albums, genres, and playlists” → Sync everything in one operation.

You do not have to sync albums one by one. The important part appears to be the sync mode, not the number of albums transferred at once.

I also recommend leaving “Automatically fill free space with songs” disabled.

12. Sync

Start synchronization and let it finish.

For very large audiobook albums with many individual files, Apple Devices may occasionally stop/abort. If that happens, do not change the selection or rebuild anything. Simply press Sync again with the same settings. In testing, the next sync continued/completed successfully.

Versions tested

iPhone: iOS 26.6.2 — Build 23G90

iPad: iPadOS 26.6.2 — Build 23G90

Apple Devices for Windows: 1.6.4.94 — Build 1.1540.24087.0

Apple Music for Windows: 1.6.4.90 — Build 1.1540.23041.0

Everything below is additional diagnostic information.

This text was summarized by ChatGPT, which was involved throughout the troubleshooting process.