How to Sync Music from iTunes to iPhone

In this guide, you will learn how to add music from iTunes to iPhone in detail using two different methods. If you don't want data loss, follow the bonus tip to transfer music from computer to iPhone without iTunes.

Whether you want to put music on your iPhone to enrich your music library or add ringtones to your iPhone, iTunes might be one of the best options.With iTunes, you don't need to buy any third-party software or service to transfer music to your iPhone, which makes it a good choice for users who want to transfer music from computer to iPhone for free. If that's exactly what you want, learn how to add music from iTunes to iPhone in detail.

Overview of Steps to Transfer Music from iTunes to iPhone

Connect your iPhone to the computer
Choose the automatic or manual way to transfer music
Select the music you want to transfer
Start syncing music from iTunes to your iPhone

Before You Start

Convenient as it is, there is a potential issue that you may encounter when you add music to an iPhone using iTunes. As you may know, iTunes moves the music to your iPhone by syncing, which means the iPhone files, including existing music, movies, TV shows, and books, that are not existing in iTunes will be deleted and replaced by the synced items. Thus, there may be data loss after you move music from iTunes to iPhone.

If that's acceptable for you, follow one of the two methods below to put music from iTunes to iPhone. If you prefer to transfer music from computer to iPhone without syncing, learn how to add music to your iPhone without iTunes.

To sync music from iTunes to iPhone, here are some preparations you need to make:

Download and install the latest version of iTunes on your computer.
Add music files to the iTunes library before you transfer music from iTunes to your iPhone by going to "File" > "Add File to Library" in the iTunes window.

Ready? Let's see how to sync music from iTunes to iPhone in two ways in detail.

How to SyncMusic from iTunes to iPhone Automatically

If you want iTunes to automatically add songs to your iPhone when it's connected, here is how to do it.

To automatically transfer music from iTunes to iPhone:

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to the computer with a USB cable. (iTunes will run automatically.)

Step 2. Unlock your iPhone and trust the computer. If asked, enter your iPhone password as required.

Step 3. Click the device icon and choose "Music".

Step 4. Check the option "Sync Music" and choose "Remove and Sync" in the new iTunes window.

Step 5. Select to sync the "Entire music library" or "Selected playlists, artists, albums, and genres" from iTunes to your iPhone. If you choose the latter, continue to select the specific items you want to transfer.

Step 6. After the selection, click "Apply" > "Sync" to start transferring music from iTunes to your iPhone.

Step 7. When the syncing is over, you can check the songs on your iPhone by going to "Music" > "Library" > "Songs".

How to add music from iTunes to iPhone automatically

How to Transfer Music from iTunes to iPhone Manually

If you prefer to take more control over the data transfer, you can choose to manually copy songs from iTunes to your iPhone.

To manually move music from iTunes to iPhone:

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to your computer and make sure iTunes is running.

Step 2. Unlock your iOS device and trust the computer.

Step 3. In the iTunes window, click your iPhone icon and choose "Summary" from the left panel.

Step 4. Check "Manually manage music and videos" in the "Options" section and click "Apply" to save the settings.

Step 5. Go to "Devices" > "Music". Open the folder that contains the songs, select the items you want to sync, then drag and drop them to the left panel or to the center of the window. (You can also drag and drop songs from the iTunes library to your device.)

How to transfer music from iTunes to iPhone manually

How to Add Music from Mac to iPhone via Finder

iTunes has been discontinued in macOS Catalina and Finder does the data syncing and device backup jobs on the Mac. Thus, if you want to transfer music to your iPhone from a Mac that is running macOS Catalina, you should use Finder instead of iTunes.

To put music to iPhone via Finder:

Step 1. Open a Finder window and connect your iPhone to the Mac.

Step 2. Choose your iPhone and select the type of content you want to sync, namely "Music".

Step 3. Check the option "Sync music on to [your iPhone name]" and select the items you want to transfer.

Step 4. Click "Apply" to start syncing music to your iPhone from the computer.

How to sync music to iPhone via Finder

It's necessary to stress again that using iTunes or Finder to sync music to your iPhone will cause loss of the existing media files on your iPhone. Therefore, if you want to avoid data syncing to keep your files, follow the next part.

How to Transfer Music from Computer to iPhone Without iTunes

If you want to put music on your iPhone more flexibly without syncing, you should use professional iOS data transfer software like Qiling MobiMover. It works well to:

Transfer files between iPhone and Mac or PC
Copy files from an iOS device to a computer
Transfer data from one iPhone/iPad to another
Transfer, back up and restore WhatsApp messages

Apart from music, it also supports photos, videos, contacts, ringtones, audiobooks, messages, and other files.

To transfer music from computer to iPhone without iTunes:

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Step 1. Connect your iPhoneto your computer and run Qiling MobiMover. Afterward, go to "PC to Phone" > "Select Files".

Step 2. Select the music files you want to transfer to iPhone and click "Open" to continue.

Step 3. The selected music files will be classified in Audios, check the box and click "Transfer" to start transfering music from PC to iPhone. When it has done, open the Music app on your iPhone to check these songs.

In addition to using iTunes to add music to your iPhone, you can also choose the download music to your iPhone directly to enrich your iPhone music library. If you want to know how to download music on your iPhone, refer to the related guide for full steps.

The Bottom Line

The ways shown above are also applicable to transfer other types of files, like photos and videos, from a computer to an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. For you to make a better decision:

If you prefer a free solution, use iTunes to sync music to your iPhone. While if you want to avoid data syncing, try an iOS data transfer tool to transfer music from a computer to your iPhone safely.