Transfer music from iPhone to iTunes free – a step by step guide

How to transfer music from iPhone to Computer with iTunes.

transfer music from iPhone to iTunes

How to transfer music from iPhone to iTunes?

Losing of iTunes music library for unknown reasons is not rare. You may, therefore, sometimes find iPhone users are making the query – how to transfer music from iPhone to iTunes free.

No matter what causes the emptying of the iTunes library, you cannot redeem the lost songs unless you are blessed that lost songs are still on your iPhone. In case of loss of music for any reason from your iTunes library, follow the procedures below for free music transfer from iPhone to iTunes if the songs are still available on your device. But, before I proceed to show how to transfer music from iPhone to Computer with iTunes let me first point out one important thing.

If you use iTunes to copy music from your iPhone to the computer, it will allow transfer only those items (music, movies, and other media files) which are purchased from Apple Store, and the non-purchased items on your iPhone will not be transferred to your computer.  Thus, if you want to transfer all music from your iPhone to iTunes including non-purchased songs also, you are to use third-party software (Method 2 & 3 shown below). There are several software programs out there in the market for carrying out such transfers. However, I would like to share here only two of them which allow free music transfer from iPhone to iTunes namely- “Appandora iPhone to iTunes Music Transfer” software and “iExplorer”. These are pretty easy-to-use programs for this kind of function.

Here’re 3 methods showing how to transfer music from iPhone to computer with iTunes.

Method 1.  Transfer Music from iPhone to iTunes for free (Purchased songs only) 

As iTunes is a freely available tool a lot of users take its assistance to transfer music from iPhone to computer. Here I am going to show how to transfer music from iPhone to computer using iTunes.

As already explained this method only supports transferring purchased music downloaded from the iTunes store or Apple music and doesn’t support moving any non-purchased music to a computer from iPhone.

Follow the steps below to transfer music from iPhone to Computer with iTunes.

1. Download and install the latest version of iTunes on your computer;

2. Open iTunes and then go to Account > Authorizations > Authorize this Computer;

3. Next click  ‘Authorize’ (This will authorize your computer to play purchased music from the iTunes Store);

4. Connect your iPhone to your computer with the help of a USB cable;

5. On the screen that appears, click on ‘Transfer Purchases’ when you are asked whether you want to transfer the purchases to your computer. If no screen pops up then, Go to File > Devices >Transfer Purchases from iPhone;

6. When the process is finished, click ‘Recently Added’ in the left panel to check the purchased songs imported from the computer;

 Method 2. Transfer music from iPhone to iTunes free using “Appandora” app

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to transfer music from iPhone to iTunes free by using the “Appandora iPhone to iTunes Music Transfer” app which is a free software.

Step 1: Download Appandora iPhone to iTunes Music Transfer software and install it on your computer;

Step 2: Make sure the latest version of iTunes is installed on your PC (You don’t have to run iTunes when using the above free program)

Step 3: After the software is successfully installed connect your iPhone to your computer via a USB cable;

Step 4 Next launch the Appandora iPhone to iTunes Music Transfer software. The program will automatically detect your iPhone with all the contents on it;

Step 5: Go to the left panel of the “Appandora” music transfer software, select the Media tab, and highlight Music on the right panel. Now select the music files you want to transfer and then click the Export option at the top, to transfer music from iPhone to Computer or backup the music files you have selected from your iPhone to the computer with this free app;

 

Step-6: Once the music files are exported to your computer, open iTunes and sync the exported songs from the computer to your iTunes library as you like;

Step-7: When the process is completed the entire playlist will be transferred to your iTunes Library;

Method 3. Free music transfer from iPhone to iTunes using ‘iExplorer’

It is not uncommon for every iPhone user that sooner or later some or all of his music gets jammed on his device and iTunes will not copy it from his device back to his computer. That is when iExplorer can help him easily to transfer music from his iPhone to iTunes on his computer.

Here are the steps to follow for transferring music from iPhone to iTunes using iExplorer which is free software but with some limitations:

Step 1: Download iExplorer and install it on your computer. Though it is a free download, the free version has some limitations. Free music transfer from iPhone to iTunes can be done with this software for 10 tracks only;

Step 2: Before proceeding, turn off automatic syncing in iTunes. To turn it off go to edit > preferences > Devices > check “Prevent iOS devices from syncing automatically”>click ok and close iTunes.

Step 3: After successful installation open iExplorer on your Mac or PC. If you purchased it enter the code now, if not continue in ‘free mode’ and connect your iPhone with its USB cable to your computer;

Step 4: To get started click ‘Music’ in the middle panel of the Device Overview screen. You can also access your music by clicking ‘Media Library’ through the sidebar on the left of the program interface;

Step 5: Choose the Music option on the main screen to see the music on the iPhone. Locate the songs that you would want to transfer to iTunes (The program automatically detects whether or not a song is already in iTunes and shows this with a blue plus (on the device only, not yet in iTunes) or a green check (already in iTunes);

Step 6: Select a song by clicking it once. To select multiple songs, hold the ‘Command’ key (for Mac users) or the ‘Ctrl’ key (for PC users) and click on the songs you would like to transfer;

Step 7: Once you’ve got your music selected, click the ‘Transfer’ button at the bottom of the Media Library panel. Click on the ‘Transfer Selected to iTunes’ option in the menu that pops up to export the songs to your computer and directly into iTunes;

Step-8: To transfer a playlist from iPhone to iTunes select the playlist by clicking on its name in the sidebar on the left. Then, click the ‘Transfer’ button at the bottom. Click on the ‘Transfer Playlist to iTunes’ option in the pop-up menu. The entire playlist will be transferred to your iTunes Library;

transfer music from iPhone to iTunes free

Step 9: Within a few seconds the songs will be transferred to iTunes and you can use them just like any other music files.

You may also like to read: How to Import Videos from iPhone to PC 

Frequently asked questions

Now that I have explained how to transfer music from iPhone to iTunes free let me also address some of the questions often asked by iPhone users relating to music transfer from their devices:

Can I transfer music from iPhone to computer using a free App?

You can transfer music from iPhone to computer for free by using AirMore which is a free File Transfer app. Follow the steps below for transferring music from iPhone to computer using this app:

1. Make sure that both your iPhone and computer are on the same network;

2.  Download and launch the app on your phone;

3. Click the blue button on the lower part of the app and then click on ‘Radar’;

4. AirMore will then detect your device. Click on it to connect;

5. Once connected, go to the ‘Music’ tab and choose the music that you want to transfer;

6.  Click on ‘Export’ and the music files will be saved on your computer;

How to transfer music from iPhone to Mac for free?

Use the AirDrop service to share and receive photos, documents, and more with other Apple devices that are nearby. You can use the AirDrop on your iPhone to transfer music from your iPhone to Mac. To do this follow the steps below:

Step 1: Make sure that the Mac you’re sending to is nearby and within Bluetooth and Wi-Fi range;

Step 2: Turn on Airdrop on both iPhone and Mac;

Step 3: Open the Music app and select the songs that you want to Airdrop from iPhone to Mac;

Step 4: Tap the “Share” button and choose your Mac for sharing;

Step 5: Tap “Accept” on the window that pops up to start transferring selected songs from iPhone to Mac;

How to transfer music from iTunes to iPhone?

1. Open iTunes and connect your iPhone to your computer with a USB cable;

2. Click the device icon in the upper-left corner of the iTunes window;

3. From the list under Settings on the left side of the iTunes window, click Music. To turn ‘sync’ on for music, select the checkbox next to Sync;

4. Select the checkbox next to the music you want to sync;

5. Click the ‘Apply’ button in the lower-right corner of the window. If syncing doesn’t start automatically, click the Sync button;

How to transfer music from iPhone to iPhone?

There are several methods to transfer music from iPhone to iPhone. You can use the ‘Copy Trans‘ app which lets you copy music from iPhone to PC or transfer your iPhone music to iTunes directly in a few clicks. You have two options using this app when it comes to transferring songs from iPhone to iPhone.

1. Copy your songs and playlists from the source iPhone to the PC and after that move them to the target iPhone;
2. Import music from the source iPhone to iTunes first and then sync the iTunes library to the other iPhone;

You can also like to read: How to backup iPhone to iCloud or a Computer in easy steps

Conclusion

Hopefully, after reading this post on how to transfer music from iPhone to iTunes free with the help of software mentioned in the post, you have realized that syncing between devices is quite easy. With a few clicks, your music library can be updated on your iPhone.

However, once again I like to remind you that if you want to transfer music from iPhone to computer using iTunes, you can transfer purchased music only downloaded from the iTunes store or Apple Music.

If you find the solutions given here for free music transfer from iPhone to iTunes on your computer working well for you, please feel free to share it in the comment section below.


An engineer with passion for writing on Technolo gy. My Blog https://www.the-tech-addict.com mainly covers Tips& How-to-guides relating to Computer, Internet, Smartphones, Apple iDevices, and Green energy.

4 Responses to “Transfer music from iPhone to iTunes free – a step by step guide”

  1. HovScorpion

    Oct 12. 2015

    Thanks for sharing. You can transfer music from iPhone to iTunes using iTunes.
    1.Connect your device to the computer. Wait for its icon to appear in iTunes.
    2.Go to File > Devices. If you’re using iTunes for Windows and can’t see the menu bar, learn how to turn on iTunes menus in Windows. Choose Transfer Purchases from [device name].

    Reply to this comment
  2. anmanhere

    Oct 14. 2015

    iExplorer is a little expensive than PhoneTrans Pro….

    Reply to this comment
  3. Rebecca Dean

    Nov 24. 2017

    Ah! Excellent! I’ve been looking for some easy tutorials on how to transfer my music this has been driving me nuts trying to figure this out. Thanks so much for sharing!

    Reply to this comment
  4. Holly Hooper

    Dec 12. 2021

    There are other two websites like Epidemic Sounds and Music Bed both of them offers one the creative soundtracks. Music Bed is Royalty Free but Epidemic Sounds can logged in via Freedom account for free.

    Reply to this comment

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