Syncing music to iPod or iPhone

Summary

iTunes includes several options to automatically or manually sync music to your iPhone, iPod, iPod classic, iPod nano, iPod shuffle (3rd generation), iPod mini or iPod touch. If you are using an iPod shuffle, learn how to sync music to it in this article.

Products Affected

iPod nano, iPod mini, iPod, iPhone, iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod shuffle (3rd generation)

Syncing music and podcasts automatically

1. Connect iPod or iPhone to your computer and open iTunes.
2. Select your iPod or iPhone in the Devices section on the left side of the iTunes window.
   
3. In the main iTunes browser window, select the Music tab.
4. Select the option to Sync Music.
   
5. You have the option to sync all songs and playlists or selected playlists. Your iPod will need to have enough free space to sync the content that you have selected from your library. Tip: You can use the capacity bar at the bottom of the iPod settings window to determine how much free space is available. The size of a playlist can be determined by selecting it and looking at the bottom of the iTunes window.
   
6. You can also automatically sync podcasts to your device. Select the Podcasts tab and choose to sync all podcasts or selected ones. You can also determine which episodes are synced based on if they are recent, new, or unplayed.
   
7. Click Apply and iTunes will begin syncing the audio content you've selected to your iPod or iPhone. The iTunes LCD will display the sync progress and notify you when the sync is complete.
   
   
8. To disconnect your iPod or iPhone, select it under Devices and click the eject icon next to it.

Syncing music manually

If you prefer not to automatically sync music content to your iPod or iPhone, you can set up manual syncing.

1. Connect your device to your computer and open iTunes.
2. Select your iPod or iPhone in the Devices section on the left side of the iTunes window.
   
3. In the main iTunes browser window, select the Summary tab.
4. Select the option to "Manually manage music and videos" or "Manually manage music." This will deselect the automatic sync settings for the Music, Movies, and TV Shows tabs. Automatic syncing for Podcasts, Photos, Contacts, and Games can be individually disabled by selecting those options in each of those tabs. Note: When manually managing iPod, disk use is enabled and iPod must always be manually ejected in iTunes before disconnecting it from your computer.
   
5. Click Apply.
6. To manually add music, audiobooks, movies or TV shows, choose one of these categories under Library on the top-left of the iTunes window.
7. Select and drag items you want (to choose multiple items, Command-click items on a Mac or Control-click items in Windows), then drag them onto your iPod or iPhone icon under Devices.
8. To add a playlist, select it from the left side of the iTunes window and drag it onto your device in the same way.
   
9. When you are ready to disconnect your iPod, select it under Devices and click the eject icon next to it.

Syncing music with Autofill

When the "Manually manage" option is enabled, you can use Autofill to quickly sync audio content from your music library or a selected playlist. Autofill settings allow you to adjust how songs are selected for syncing as well as allocate space for disk use. To use Autofill, make sure your iPod is set to manually manage music using steps 1-5 above and then follow the steps below.

1. Select iPod or iPhone in the Devices section on the left side of the iTunes window.
2. Click the disclosure triangle next to the iPod or iPhone icon to reveal the contents of the device.
   
3. Select the Music library and review the Autofill settings at the bottom of the main iTunes window.
   
4. When you click the Autofill button, iTunes will automatically sync as much music as possible to your iPod. If the playlist you selected contains more music than your device can hold, Autofill will sync a subset of the music. The iTunes LCD will display the sync progress and notify you when the sync is complete.
   
   
5. Disconnect your iPod or iPhone by selecting it under Devices and clicking the eject icon next to it. Then, disconnect the USB cable.
   
   
   http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1351