I have an older iPod Shuffle. I want to change my playlist but I have iTunes Match turned on and can't sync with a cable when Match is enabled. Now that all my music lives in the cloud and the Shuffle is not WiFi enabled what will happen if I turn Match off and sync my Shuffle with a cable? I don't want to inadvertently wipe all my music off my Shuffle.
iPod shuffle (2nd generation, Late 2008)
Hi there Stacylynn0605,
It sounds like you are concerned that you will not be able to sync your iPod Shuffle when you have iTunes Match enabled on your computer. According to this article, only iOS devices (iPod, iPad, and iPhone) are unable to sync locally when you have iTunes Match enabled:
iTunes Match on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
Syncing music with iTunes will be disabled while iTunes Match is enabled on your iOS device.
You should be good to sync your iPod Shuffle without any issues, unless this is a new library or computer since the last time the iPod was synced. In that case you will be prompted to delete the content on the device to sync to the new library:
Manage content manually on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod
You might see a message that your device is synced with another library. This means that you've used a different computer to sync your device in the past, and iTunes can't sync without first erasing and replacing all iTunes content on your device.
You can transfer purchases from your iPod to your library before you sync, but anything that was imported from a CD or other sources would have to be reimported to iTunes if they aren't there already:
Redownload or transfer your iTunes Store purchases from an iPhone, iPad or iPod to a computer
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Thank you for reply. I'm still not quite following. Is the short answer that I need to temporarily disable iTunes Match to be able to sync my iPod Shuffle? I am unable to sync it while Match is turned on.
You should not have to disable iTunes Match at all. What is making you think that you need to disable it? Are you getting a prompt or an error of some sort?
If so take a screenshot of it and post it here:
How to take a screenshot on your Mac
Take a screenshot of part of your screen
- Press Command (⌘)-Shift-4. You'll see that your cursor changes to a crosshair pointer.
- Move the crosshair pointer to where you want to start the screenshot.
- Drag to select an area. To adjust the area, hold Shift, Option, or the Space bar while you drag.
- When you've selected the area you want, release your mouse or trackpad button. Or to cancel, press Escape (esc).
- Find the screenshot as a .png file on your desktop.
Also are you sure that it is an iPod Shuffle?
Yes I'm positive it's an iPod shuffle. Sync is disabled when I'm plugged in with a cord. I got an error message the other day that I can't seem to duplicate but it indicated I could not manually sync due to iTunes Match being enabled. See picture.... Sync is grayed out.... iPod is connected with a Manual sync cord. .
Well, strangely enough, when I clicked the eject button it did a sync first. I have no idea why I got that error message the other day or why sync is grayed out like in the picture. Resolution has been achieved. Thanks for trying to assist.
Thanks for the update, I'm glad you were able to sync in the end!
iPod Shuffle Sync when iTunes Match is turned on
