delete song from iPod without losing it from library

Can I delete a song or album from my iPod Touch library without deleting it from my MacBook Pro's iTunes library? Some of my songs are dowloaded from cloud/purchased through iTunes Store, but some were added to my Mac's iTunes library directly from my own CD's. When I delete a song from the iPod Touch, will the song will be removed from my entire iTunes library, even on my MacBook?

Posted on Sep 30, 2018 9:55 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 1, 2018 12:06 PM

Hi jjeanw,

​Thank you for using the Apple Support Communities. From your post, I see you're wondering if songs will be deleted from your Mac when deleted from your iOS device.

If your content is purchased in iTunes or synced manually through iTunes, deleting it from your iOS device will not affect it on your Mac. However, deleting content from the Apple Music service would remove it from any devices using the same Apple Music account.

You can learn more about this here in the resource titled Delete music, movies, and TV shows from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch . It also covers some information about why you may not be able to delete certain songs:

If you can't delete your music

You might have manually synced the music or music videos from iTunes on your computer to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch using USB. Turn off syncing in iTunes to delete the item.

If you don't want an iTunes purchase to be visible in the Music app, but you don't want to delete it, you can hide it. Learn how to hide items stored in the cloud.


For content that you've synced from your computer using iTunes, it's generally best to remove it by syncing, detailed in the article Sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod using iTunes on your computer .

I hope this information helps.

Have a great day.

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3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 1, 2018 12:06 PM in response to jjeanw

Hi jjeanw,

​Thank you for using the Apple Support Communities. From your post, I see you're wondering if songs will be deleted from your Mac when deleted from your iOS device.

If your content is purchased in iTunes or synced manually through iTunes, deleting it from your iOS device will not affect it on your Mac. However, deleting content from the Apple Music service would remove it from any devices using the same Apple Music account.

You can learn more about this here in the resource titled Delete music, movies, and TV shows from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch . It also covers some information about why you may not be able to delete certain songs:

If you can't delete your music

You might have manually synced the music or music videos from iTunes on your computer to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch using USB. Turn off syncing in iTunes to delete the item.

If you don't want an iTunes purchase to be visible in the Music app, but you don't want to delete it, you can hide it. Learn how to hide items stored in the cloud.


For content that you've synced from your computer using iTunes, it's generally best to remove it by syncing, detailed in the article Sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod using iTunes on your computer .

I hope this information helps.

Have a great day.

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delete song from iPod without losing it from library

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