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Level 1

0 points

can't delete purchased music from iPhone

Apologies if this is addressed somewhere on this forum. I searched, but gave up after about 45 minutes.

I have 24 songs purchased through iTunes on my phone, all of which have been transferred to my iTunes library (and multiple backups). They've been synced to my iPod (not the phone one). I cannot delete these songs off my phone. I have been able to delete other songs on my iPhone and Purchased on iPhone playlists and the entire playlists. The only way I've been able to get these songs off the phone is by unchecking the "Sync Music" option altogether in iTunes and then syncing my phone. If I recheck "Sync Music," those 24 songs are still there. I made a new playlist for my phone with 35 songs and ended up with 59 songs on my phone.

I'm baffled by this. Not a huge deal, but it's very annoying, and I'd love to get an answer to how to delete them (or find out if it's just not possible). If I can't delete them, I'll know never to download anything from iTunes off my phone again.

Thanks much for any help!

iPhone OS 3.0

Posted on Mar 1, 2011 8:22 PM

70 replies

Apr 7, 2015 2:15 PM in response to Black MacLeod

I found the purchased albums ticked in the Album pane. Un-ticked it and now all is well with the world.

floresad

Level 1

0 points

Apr 12, 2015 11:09 PM in response to bayoukitty

not too sure about earlier models, but I have a 5S and have updated to the newest software and if you go to your Settings>Music there should be a switch to only have music you have downloaded directly to your phone, and if you turn it off BAM! all those annoying purchased songs that you no longer wish to have on your phone or have randomly come up in your shuffle, like the recent U2 album that was put onto phones, will disappear!

Apr 12, 2015 11:34 PM in response to Rob Ferrell

Its been happening to me for years and I dont know why Apple cannot improve this ability to delete music.

Bradley Witham

Wizzrobe

Level 1

4 points

May 15, 2015 12:30 AM in response to Blessedlad

Thanks! This worked out for my issue.

basmati1

Level 1

8 points

May 28, 2015 3:25 PM in response to Blessedlad

Good god finally something worked. Thank you.

Alley687

Level 1

0 points

Jun 7, 2015 10:25 AM in response to Trnilsson

I've had this problem and I read a lot of these comments. I followed most of these steps and it didn't work.

Try this:

sync your device to your computer (not iCloud)

take off all your music, so you are left with the songs that won't leave you alone.

on your phone go to settings- general- usage- music

you'll see any audiobooks you have as well as "All Music"

click edit and delete "All Music"

sync the music you want back onto your device

When I tried this I found it mostly work. When I synced the music back on I had maybe two pesky songs that came back. Compared to the 20 I had originally I am OK with leaving those 2 songs be, for now.

I hope this works for others, I have an iPhone 4S

Sep 17, 2015 6:51 AM in response to Ksilo Apelekito

Is there a similar solution for the iPhone 6? I do not see a "Show All Music" button in Settings/Music to deactivate.

My wife and I share an iTunes account, and I only want my music on my phone, and want to remove all hers. When I sync with iTunes, all purchases from iTunes remain on my phone, even if unchecked during the sync. Help!!