How to sync music to wife’s iPad when iPhone and iMac have it but playlists are empty?

Question

How to sync music to wife’s iPad when iPhone and iMac have it but playlists are empty?

I have family share set up with my wife. She has a iMac, iphone 12 mini, and a iPad pro. I have apple sharing turned on with her. I have used Music Match for years but tried a 3 month trial with Apple music at Christmas and let it expire.

Her computer and iPhone have all of her music but her ipad only has empty playlists.

Any ideas what happened and how I can get the music files from either her computer or iphone back on her iPad?

Thanks, Dwight

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: all songs gone from ipad but still on iphone and computer

Posted on Jul 13, 2025 04:04 PM

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Answer 1

Mac Jim ID

Level 9

53,378 points

Jul 13, 2025 06:29 PM in response to Dwight Johnson

Any playlists created or synced when using the Apple Music subscription will be removed when the service is cancelled. The originals on your Mac should be untouched and I assume the iPhone had previously synced the music from the Mac where it will remain. You can do the same to sync the music from the computer to the iPad.

Sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod using your computer - Apple Support

The Apple Music subscription allows for automatic syncing across all devices so the content will remain exactly the same when you make a change on one device. Without the subscription, you need to manually manage the music syncing.

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Answer 2

iTest_NZ

Level 1

32 points

Jul 13, 2025 06:19 PM in response to Dwight Johnson

Reinstall Apple Music or check for software updates, if still not working maybe check your account.

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