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Streaming music from cloud companies like Spotify and Apple Music is convenient, but having your music collection securely nestled on a nearby hard drive provides peace of mind, especially when your internet connection falters. This guide will help you ensure your iTunes library is accessible when there is no network coverage.
In this article, we’ll cover:
- Downloading your iTunes library using iTunes Match with your Mac
- Moving your iTunes library to another Mac
- Using iTunes Match with your iPhone or iPad
How to Download Your iTunes Library: Using iTunes Match with Your Mac
If you’ve already subscribed to Apple’s iTunes Match service, you probably have copies of all your albums saved on the iCloud Music Library servers. One of the benefits of this is that if you delete the music files on your Mac, you can download them again, often with higher quality than the original files. You can also access your iTunes library on multiple machines, as long as they’re all authorized.
To download your entire library, open iTunes and click on the “View” option in the menu bar. In the drop-down menu that appears, make sure “All music” is selected instead of “Downloaded music only.” Then select “Music” from the Library column on the left side of the screen.
You’ll see a column to the right of the track title with a small blue cloud and an arrow pointing down from the middle. These are all songs that aren’t actually on your computer at the moment. Highlight one of the tracks, then press Cmd + A to select the entire list. Now right-click on the blue area and select “Download” from the drop-down menu that appears.
iTunes will start downloading all your songs. Depending on the size of your library, this may take a few minutes or hours. If your collection is large, it’s best to start this process just before bed, and hopefully wake up to a locally stored library.
How to Download Your iTunes Library: Move Your Library to Another Mac
If you want to transfer your iTunes library to an external storage or another device, you can use our tutorial on moving your iTunes library to a new Mac or monitor an external drive.
How to Download Your iTunes Library: Use iTunes Match with Your iPhone or iPad
If you have an iPhone or iPad with enough storage space for your iTunes library, iTunes Match is another great option. However, unlike on the Mac, you cannot select your entire library to download at once. A workaround is to create a smart playlist on your Mac (or PC) that contains all the music in your collection.
Open iTunes on your computer, then go to File > New > Smart Playlist. Make sure “music” is selected in the Match area, then select “Year” from the drop-down menu under “is greater than” and type 1000.
Your entire library will be added to the Smart Playlist when you click OK. Give it a name, so you can recognize it on your mobile device. Now open the Music app on your iOS device and select Playlists. You should find the new smart playlist you created. Tap it and then on the right side of the screen, just above the list of numbers, you will see a small purple cloud icon with an arrow pointing down coming from the bottom. Tap this and your entire iTunes library will start downloading. As with the Mac version above, make sure you don’t need your device for a while, as the download can take quite a long time if you have a large collection.
You can also manually connect your iOS device to your Mac using a lightning cable for a faster way to get things done. Follow our full guide to syncing iTunes for more details.
For more general iTunes questions and solutions, check out our iTunes issues and solutions page.
FAQs
1. How long does it take to download an iTunes library?
It depends on the size of your library and the speed of your internet connection. It may take a few minutes, hours, or even days to download an entire library. It’s best to start the process overnight or when you don’t need your device for a while.
2. Is iTunes Match free?
No, iTunes Match is a subscription service that costs $24.99 per year.