Music syncing only purchases, not full library, to iPhone

Question

Music syncing only purchases, not full library, to iPhone

I just started using Apple Music on Windows 11, transferring over from iTunes. When attempting to sync my music library for the first time using Apple Devices, only songs which I've purchases through the iTunes Store seem to be transferring over to my iPhone (exactly 138 out of 6341 songs). I have made sure all checkbox's and sync settings are correctly selected, and ensured there is adequate SSD space on my phone device, however this changes nothing and the problem persists.

Interestingly I notice that certain settings, [manually manage music, movies and TV shows] and [sync music onto (device)], become unchecked after I select to apply settings and re-sync the device. I can go back and re-check these settings, either individually or simultaneously, and every time without fail, these are automatically unselected again following a device sync and my music is not correctly mirrored.

Is there a phone settings conflict which is causing this, or security permissions? How can I get my music to sync properly?

iPhone 14 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on Mar 14, 2025 3:17 PM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

276,611 points

Mar 25, 2025 1:04 PM in response to Stratiegery01

Curious. Did you get this message from iTunes, or something else?

That one means that at least one of Apple Music/Devices/TV is still installed. Something else might mean that iTunes needs to be reinstalled, as well as those being removed, in order to revert.

tt2

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

276,611 points

Mar 19, 2025 2:59 PM in response to Stratiegery01

Your unhidden purchases will show up on the device if you are signed into your Apple ID. They are not being synced either from the sound of things. Manually manage and Sync music are logical opposites. You should select one option, or the other, but not both. Of course your selection should stick, so that is a mystery. I've not tried to work with Apple Devices as iTunes is frankly better software, but have you made any further selections as to what should be synced, e.g. all music, selected playlists, artists, albums, etc. I'm using the Apple Music subscription service these days but I would always use a few selected playlists to choose what is supposed to sync to each device.

tt2

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Answer 3

Mar 24, 2025 9:28 AM in response to turingtest2

I agree, iTunes was a far easier experience to work with than Apple Music, but it was a forced upgrade from Apple so iTunes no longer works to transfer music files to devices (at least using Windows OS).

The issue still persists.

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

276,611 points

Mar 24, 2025 10:54 AM in response to Stratiegery01

iTunes should work if you uninstall Apple Music/Devices/TV. Installing any of these apps actively limits iTunes to audiobooks and podcasts. Apple Music is effectively beta software that breaks its competition.

tt2

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Answer 5

Mar 25, 2025 9:46 AM in response to turingtest2

Unfortunately uninstalling Apple Music+Apple Devices did not work. Opening iTunes after that process and connecting my phone only showed a message saying that downloading the new Apple software was necessary before continuing.

I also tried some different sync settings within Apple Devices which did not work. Removing all theoretical restrictions I opted to sync my "entire (56Gb) music library" to the phone so there should not be any reason why one playlist or individual song would be left out. Still however, only 5.4Gb of audio is being transferred over.

Not sure what I should try next here, because I can confirm Apple Music contains the correct song content I want to transfer, and Apple Devices sync settings are seemingly selected properly to transfer my entire library, yet it still does not.

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Music syncing only purchases, not full library, to iPhone