How do I get back ALL of my past purchases?

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Level 1

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How do I get back ALL of my past purchases?

Hello!

I just got a mac book today and got my account from my itunes on windows set up and everything. Then I did something stupid and deleted all of my music. Since I have itunes version 11, I followed the instructions to get my music back. Here's the problem though: I was only able to get back purchases I made from today. And when I look up the other stuff I purchased, it says I have purchased, but there's no icloud button for me to click on and re-download. Does this mean I have to go back and buy all of the songs individually?

Can someone help me with this? I'm at the end of my rope and feel like I'm about to explode with frustration.

Thank you

MacBook Air

Posted on Jul 24, 2013 10:04 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 24, 2013 10:14 PM in response to sbreidenbach

If you are unable to download past purchases again there may be restrictions on some of that content, I would suggest getting in contact with the iTunes Store Support Team via...

expresslane.apple.com

iTunes>iTunes Store>Purchases and Billing>(Select the most apropriate topic or type your own)>Prefered Contact Method

...and ask them the same question. They have access to see all of your billing history etc and are in the best position to answer your questions.

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Answer 2

nbar

Level 5

7,019 points

Jul 24, 2013 10:36 PM in response to sbreidenbach

From iTunes Menu Bar...

1) iTunesè Preferencesè Store è Check "Music" under "Automatic Downloads" & check "Show iTunes in the Cloud Purchases"

2) Store è make sure you are signed in and the computer is authorized. From here, you may select "View account" and then have access to purchases history. You may also select "Check for available downloads" now.

How do I download my past iTunes Store, App Store, and Book purchases?

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Answer 3

sbreidenbach Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 24, 2013 11:25 PM in response to nbar

Done that already. Still nothing.

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Answer 4

Jul 25, 2013 1:08 AM in response to sbreidenbach

Not all past purchases will be available for re-download for all time.

For example if the copyright holder of an Album (which is not Apple, they are just the retailer) decides to reissue an Album they might remove the items you originally purchased from the iTunes Store. This will also remove those items from your purchase history. The copyright holder may then give Apple another "version" of the Album that may appear the same as the items you originally purchased, but because to the DB they are not the same items you will no longer have access to those items in your purchase history. This is just one example.

This is why it is your responsiblity to download and backup all of your purchases locally. Ideally to an external HDD, or perhaps a dedicated cloud backup solution. The iTunes in the Cloud service provided by Apple is not a backup service, nor do they advertise it as such, so it should not be depended on to be.

As to getting your personal data onto your new Mac this Apple KB article can help: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1408?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US.

Now that you have a Mac I strongly recommend you purchase an external HDD that is at least 2x the size of the internal HDD (preferably 3x) and start using Time Machine to backup all of your personal data.

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