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Transfer music from iPhone to computer-software

I am using Windows 10 with iTunes 12.3.3. Either my upgrade to Win10 or the recent Apple update has eliminated all but my purchased music on my iTunes on my computer, approximately 780 songs. I have over 7,000 songs on my iPhone 6 and, after consulting with Apple, they have advised me that I cannot copy my music from my iPhone back to my computer. I know there is third-party software out there to do this, however, the one I was looking at, Sharepod, appears to be halted by iTunes 12.+.


I am looking for proven software that transfers music and playlists. Video is of no concern. Please provide recommendations that will work with iPhone 6, Win10, and iTunes 12.3.3. Thank you.

Posted on Apr 30, 2016 10:51 AM

9 replies

Apr 30, 2016 11:33 AM in response to Community User

Whippetcat wrote:


I am using Windows 10 with iTunes 12.3.3. Either my upgrade to Win10 or the recent Apple update has eliminated all but my purchased music on my iTunes on my computer, approximately 780 songs. I have over 7,000 songs on my iPhone 6...


I have more questions than answers but perhaps the may help. Songs are stored on the computer's hard drive, usually under the Music Library on a W10 computer but possibly in other places. iTunes is just the conduit by which one can transfer/sync music from a PC to an iDevice.


Are you able to locate your music (the 7,000 songs) on the computer? Were they ever on the PC or just on your phone?

You mentioned that your purchased music was 780 songs. Where did the others songs come from? From CDs perhaps?


If the songs were just on your phone, I cannot offer any suggestions better than Demo's or Phil's. I would follow their advice.

If the songs were ripped from CDs, it would be most unlikely that an update to W10 deleted them. They may be there somewhere. Did you by any chance backup your PC to an external HD prior to the W10 update?

Apr 30, 2016 11:34 AM in response to Phil0124

Yes, his excellent article was my starting point. Looking for someone who's had success with iTunes 12,,,heard there were problems with Sharepod, and wondering if anyone has actually tried with iTunes 12+

Apr 30, 2016 11:40 AM in response to elcpu

I called Apple and customer service has walked me through finding my iTunes\iTunesMedia\Music library, and I copied and pasted, however when I opened iTunes after 3 hours, I still have only my purchased (778) songs. I am waiting for a callback on my open case, perhaps after it was copied over, I need to do another step.


The songs missing were all ripped from CDs, over the years. I backed up iTunes regularly to my computer, not to an external HD (my bad, I know) and, I agree, even with Win10 update, I doubt the backup was eliminated. Hoping against hope that my copying of this iTunes Media folder gets me back to where I was, but when I opened iTunes, I was disappointed. Awaiting Apple's callback.

Apr 30, 2016 11:55 AM in response to Community User

Let me see if I can help, perhaps. Little to lose but time. I have a new Dell W10 computer. I also have an older Dell W7 computer with many years of ripped CD music. When I got the W10 computer I copied my ripped music to the new one and was able to place it under the Music folder with no issues.


First, how did you rip the CD's? More specifically, did you use iTunes to rip them or did you use Windows Media Player?


iTunes normally places ripped CDs as you mentioned above into the Music (or My Music in the old W7) > iTunes > iTunes Media > Music library but not always as you could have pointed it to a different location.


Windows Media Player would not place the music into the iTunes folder. It would normally place it under My Music in W7 or Music in W10 but not under the subfolder iTunes.


I would go to the computer and expand all the subfolders under Music and see if you can locate your songs there. Alternatively, you could open File Explorer, select Libraries on the folder structure on the left side, then on the upper right corner there will be a search box. Do you recall the format that you used to rip the CDs? MP3s, WMAs, AAC ? You can do a search of your libraries by entering *.mp3 or whatever format you used. You can search from Computer instead of Libraries and it will search your whole HD but may take time.

Apr 30, 2016 12:13 PM in response to elcpu

I found something interesting out in between replies. All my music resides in iTunesMedia\Music\Music--there is a folder within Music entitled "Music" that has my ENTIRE collection of music. I believe the Apple tech had me copy over the iTunesMedia\Music folder, as that is what is under Preferences\Advanced\iTunes Media Folder Location. That may be neither here nor there, but I will need to discuss this when I speak to the tech again.


As for your question, I only ripped via iTunes, never Windows Media Player.


When I expand Music, I have a ton of music, but not everything. For instance, I have 37 Elton John albums. In iTunesMedia\Music, I show four albums. When I got to iTunesMedia\Music\Music, I have 37 Elton John albums. As I said, the location of my entire library is not in question, it's how to get it from my C drive back into iTunes. I now know it's not only on my phone, I definitely have everything I need on my C drive. I will wait for tech to call, but I really appreciate your input....

Apr 30, 2016 12:29 PM in response to Community User

Ok, success.... so you have not lost your music as I suspected.


Please note as I mentioned that the music (songs) are never in iTunes per se, iTunes is just the conduit by which music is moved/synced to your iDevices. The music resides in the HD folder it is placed under.


Open iTunes, click on File, Add to Library and point it to where the songs are.

Aug 10, 2016 12:28 AM in response to Community User

Hi there, you can apply a third-party program to copy music from iPhone to computer. And then plug files you want to the software on the computer. In this way, problem will seems more likely to solve, isn't it?

Download and install the software, and then connect your iPhone to PC.

Then start copying data from iPhone to PC, choose songs you like and begin.

That's it!

Besides, you can search for another tool in: Sync media between your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and iTunes on your Mac or PC - Apple Support

Transfer music from iPhone to computer-software

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