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Why won't my songs transfer from itunes to my iphone?

When I plug in my phone into my computer and try to sync my playlists on iTunes to my iPhone, the sync completes but the songs will not transfer. I even tried deleting the existing playlists from my iPhone and I couldn't even do that. I have literally tried everything that I know. Any suggestions?

iPhone 5, iOS 7.0.2

Posted on Sep 28, 2013 2:13 PM

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Posted on Jun 16, 2017 4:17 AM

I figured it out! A million hours later and 4 in the morning but I figured it out. So I did everything updated my iPhone 7 newest software same w iTunes on my windows computer everything. Nothing worked. Until I had to go to my actual iPhone go to settings, music, then turn off iCloud Music Library and enable home sharing. Then once I did that I went back onto my computer went to iTunes and synced manually. All I did was on iTunes go to your phone section and click sync. Once I did so I was then able to add music. I dragged the music to the device and it was finally added. I domt know what's going on w apple and why it's become so much harder to sync music. It was so much easier back in the day. Anywho I'm just glad I finally figured it out. Now I can listen to my hypnobirthing tracks on my phone.

285 replies

Mar 27, 2014 6:34 PM in response to ajal1

Im have similar issues as each of ya'll but i have 2 itunes on 2 computers and one is mine and the other is my dad's i want radioactive by imagine dragons but it says i have already synced to my itunes. I try syncing my music so i can get music for my iphone 4 and it asks if i want to erase everythng like music etc. Ive tried connecting his phone to my itunes and going to the top left of itunes clicking file and scrolling down to devices then it will show sync your iphone or transfer purchases from my iphone. I tried to transfer his purchases and it just transfers his apps and still didn't work ive tried everything Apple seriously needs to fix this crap.

Mar 29, 2014 9:38 PM in response to ajal1

Never mind, I got it working again. Only now iTunes has lost some of the songs I purchased, as well as imported songs. The imported ones will be no big deal, just find the CD they were on or re-download them, no biggie. It's the ones I actually purchased from iTunes that I'm going to need to figure out. I want to thank Trevormitchell1212 for helping me with this particular situation.

Apr 30, 2014 2:33 PM in response to ajal1

I found the solution!!!!!


The same thing happened to me!


What i did is I went to the itunes on my mac and when i plugged in my iphone i clicked on the iphone link. Now here's the issue people keep having...they keep clicking sync but what you need to do is click on the music link on top lined up horizontally with "summary" "info" "app" and then when u click that "check" the Sync Music box and then hit sync and there u go! U should have all ur music :-)

May 27, 2014 8:54 PM in response to ajal1

Okay. So, I have music on my computer and when i tried adding some on to Itunes to add on to my iphone 5, i would get the grey circles. Like the transfer wasnt complete. Then i noticed the toolbar that says file, edit, view, etc. Under file there is soemthing that says "add file to library" then a pop up window of your computer pop ups. I went to my music folder and picked the song i wanted added and clicked open. It was added to my library. Then i clicked the song(in my library tab) and drag it to the right corner that says "my iphone" and dropped it in. Then i went to "on this iphone", and went down to the song i added, the original with the grey circle was still there, but the same song from my library was transferred. It was a copy, so i just deleted the one with the circle and now its on my phone. I hope this helps. 🙂

Aug 20, 2014 7:20 AM in response to ajal1

I think i figured it out! Your songs from itunes wont transfer or sync to your iphone if the original location of your songs from your computer has been changed. To check this, try to play the song(s) from itunes. If it plays well it should show up on your iphone once you sync it else it would give a message of changed location and wont play.

Aug 27, 2014 7:45 PM in response to ajal1

I hear you! I don't know if they found out I use youtube mp3 to get songs or what, but music wont transfer to my iphone. instead another option is ( if the music is in your library. My music goes in there just wont transfer) if you move those songs from your library into a playlist and then sync it, that works too. but its just annoying because its time consuming the music still isn't in the 'songs' section... but it should appear in that playlist you moved it into.. it worked for me.

Sep 17, 2014 2:43 AM in response to Msorli26

I use to be able to do it. I can still drag and drop, but it won't allow me to do that.

My previous computer gave up, but I managed to retrieve a iTune library back up.

I don't want to risk syncing my phone to the new computer because some songs I have on my 4S I don't have a back up.


Is there anyways I can add song (from CD) to my iPhone without wiping my existing songs on phone?

Or is there something missing that I haven't done, that won't let me drag and drop?


Appreciated, thanks!

Sep 19, 2014 12:25 AM in response to ajal1

I posted this before and it got removed.... probably for "advertising" or some crap.... I'm not trying to sell anything, I'm just trying to help. So I'm posting it again in hopes that it makes someone's day


The first thing you need to do (FOR MAC ONLY) is to go here and download this free program (trust me, I'm usually hesitant on downloading stuff, but this program is a life saver!). The download took a total of maybe 10 seconds... user friendly and extremely simple program, as you'll soon find out.


http://www.headlightsoft.com/detune/downloads.html


Once you've successfully installed Tune, run the program! Once you connect your device, it will automatically show what device is connected. You're ready...


Step One: Connect your iPhone to your laptop (USB) - ignore iTunes if it opens, but CANCEL any sync that may occur (if it doesn't; even better!)

Step Two: In DeTune, it should automatically recognize your device (iPhone) and show all of the data in an iTunes-style display. On the left-hand side, you'll see tabs for Music, Podcasts, etc. (JUST LIKE iTUNES) Step Three: THIS STEP IS NOT NECESSARY, but I highly recommend it to keep all of your stuff organized: Create a new folder on your desktop (title it whatever, I used "iPhone Transfers")

Step Four: In DeTune, select everything you want to transfer. DRAG AND DROP it into the folder you made on your desktop... wait for the copying to complete.

Step Five: Stare at the screen in complete awe and amazement as all of your music is now comfortably sitting on your desktop waiting to be imported into your iTunes music library!

My files were in m4a format, so you may not be able to simply drag and drop. Import them into iTunes via FILE ---> ADD TO LIBRARY, then select the files.... Don't know why you can't just drag and drop, but that works just the same.


I hope this helped! I know I was in the same boat for quite a while, and am VERY pleased with this program. I bet my post disappears within a week 😉


Good luck and Happy Every Day!!!

Why won't my songs transfer from itunes to my iphone?

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