How do I import music from my iPhone to my iMac?

Question

How do I import music from my iPhone to my iMac?

Recently my hard drive on my iMac crashed and I lost all my music that I had on iTunes. I have a new copy of iTunes on my iMac and still have all of my songs on my iPhone. I just need to know how to import the songs from my iPhone to my iMac using iTunes. The first time I hooked my iPhone to my iMac, iTunes came up and asked if I wanted to sync my iPhone to my iMac. When I did that, my iPhone imported all my songs from my iMac. I want to know how to do the reverse. I'm concerned that if I hook my iPhone to my iMac, it might end up erasing all of my songs on my iPhone. I just need to know how to avoid doing that, thank you.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8), Final Cut Pro, Avid Media Composer

Posted on Mar 27, 2014 1:20 PM

Reply

Answer 1

sberman

Level 10

264,171 points

Mar 27, 2014 1:26 PM in response to Orange County California

Because of ownership issues, songs are intended to go from the Mac to the iPhone, and not the other way. When your hard drive crashes, the expectation is you will restore from your backup, not your iPhone.

Having said that, the iPhone can send music you purchased from the iTunes Store back to the Mac. The way to do that is plug your iPhone into iTunes and choose File > Device > Transfer Purchases from iTunes' menu.

Reply

Answer 2

Mar 27, 2014 1:32 PM in response to sberman

Unfortunatly, all of my songs come from CDs, not from the iTunes Store. I should add I sold all my CDs.

Reply

Answer 3

Mar 27, 2014 1:30 PM in response to sberman

I installed a few songs from a CD to my iMac yesterday. Can I transfer those few songs to my iPhone without erasing the songs already in my iPhone?

Reply

Answer 4

Mar 27, 2014 6:04 PM in response to Orange County California

I'll have to invest in wireless speakers for my iPhone. At the Apple Store they're pretty pricey. The ones I want good enough for a small room cost $150. The cheapest I could find (and the smallest) cost $55.

Reply