If you have an iPod where all of your music tracks are saved, you might want to learn how to transfer music from your iPod to your Mac to enjoy these tracks on your Mac machine as well. There are various ways to do it and this guide covers multiple of those ways for you.
Transfer Music to iPod Shuffle Fastly. Record music in original quality and automatically split the ads. Discover and download music from more than 300,000 songs. Transfer music between any two devices directly without iTunes. Fix music library intelligently with correct ID3 tags. In the Finder on your Mac, select the device in the Finder sidebar. Select Music in the button bar. Select the “Sync music onto device name ” checkbox to turn on syncing of your music. With the checkbox selected, syncing is set to transfer all your music to your device.
iPod Tips & Tricks
Basic iPod Tips
iPod Transfer Tips
Apple’s iPod is one of the amazing devices you can ever have for listening to your favorite music tracks. It is extremely easy to use media player that you can use just like how you use your iPhone, but with the main focus being on your entertainment needs. If you have got yourself such a device, you may sometimes want to sync music from your iPod to your Mac.
Since both iPod and Mac are made by the same company, it is actually pretty easy to do the sync and have your iPod music available on your Mac machine. Although it requires using certain apps to do the task, you can finally get your favorite tracks on your Mac without much hassle. The following are some of the ways to transfer music from an iPod to a Mac.
Part 1. Transfer Music from iPod to Mac with iTunes
Most people who want to do something with their iOS device such as an iPod will use the iTunes app to do their task. It is because the app provides you with all the features you need to be able to get your content from your device to your Mac and vice versa.
While iTunes has its own restrictions as to what you can transfer from your device to your Mac and so on, it can still be used to transfer music from your iPod to your Mac machine. You will not actually be syncing it but you will use the Finder to extract individual music files from your device.
The following are the steps on how you can go about doing it on your Mac.
Step 1. One of the things you will need to do is prevent iTunes from auto-syncing your iPod. To do it, plug the iPod into your computer and launch iTunes while holding down both Command and Options buttons.
Step 2. Your iPod should now be available as a storage device in the Finder. You should be able to access its files just like how you can access other files on your Mac.
Step 3. You will need to enable hidden files on your Mac to view iPod files. Open the Terminal and run the following command in it to do so.
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles True; killall Finder;
Step 4. Open the Finder and click on your iPod name in the sidebar.
Step 5. Access the folder that says iPod_Control and then open the Music folder. You can now copy the files you want from here to your Mac.
Access the iPod Music Folder
That is all there is to it.
While you can always sync your iPod using iTunes to get your music files to your Mac, it is going to apply various other changes as well to your iPod. The above method only transfers the chosen music files which are exactly what you are looking to do.
Part 2. Transfer Music from iPod to Mac without iTunes via AnyTrans
On most modern computers, you are actually going to face issues mounting your iPod as a storage device. It is because newer Macs do not recognize the iPod as a storage device and so they will prevent it from appearing in the Finder sidebar.
One of the ways to tackle the issue is to use a third-party app. There is an app called AnyTrans that allows you to load music on your Mac from an iPod without needing the iTunes app. You do not even have to get your iPod mounted as a storage device as the app will do it all for you. If you are ready to do the transfer, the following is all you need to do to transfer music from an iPod to a Mac without iTunes.
Step 1. Grab the latest version of the AnyTrans and install it on your computer.
Free Download * 100% Clean & Safe
Step 2. Connect your iPod to your Mac using a USB cable. Ensure you use the original cable that came with your device.
Step 3. Launch the app on your Mac. Click on the option that says Device Manager in the left sidebar and then choose Music from the right-hand side pane.
Access the Music Transfer Feature in AnyTrans
Step 4. Click on Song in the left sidebar to view all the available songs on your iPod. Then, pick the songs you want to transfer to your Mac on the right-hand side pane. Finally, click on the To Mac button at the top to start transferring your songs.
Step 5. Once the music files are transferred, you will see them in the Finder on your Mac.
View iPod Music on the Mac
As you can clearly see, all it took was just a few clicks to transfer your chosen music files from your iPod to your Mac. If it was iTunes or something else, it would have required you to transfer a dozen other file types before you could transfer your music files.
Bonus Tip. Transfer Music from iPod to iTunes
If you followed the second method shown above to transfer music from your iPod to a Mac, you would have noticed that it transfers your files to a folder on your machine. Your music files are kept as standalone files in their individual folders and they are not imported into any apps like iTunes.
However, if you use iTunes to manage your media files, you will want to get these music files added to the app. One of the ways to do that is to manually add the files to your app. But it is going to take really long, especially if you have a number of files to transfer. A better solution would be to use AnyTrans. It helps you transfer files from your iPod directly to the iTunes app on your Mac. The following is how you do it.
Step 1. Download and install the AnyTrans on your Mac.
Free Download * 100% Clean & Safe
Step 2. Plug your iPod into your computer and launch the app.
Step 3. Click on Device Manager in the left sidebar and choose Audio from the right-hand side menu.
Access the Audio Feature in AnyTrans
Step 4. Select the Music option and then choose the music tracks you would like to transfer to iTunes on your Mac. Then, click on the Send to iTunes option at the top to start transferring your chosen files from your iPod to your Mac.
Step 5. You should be able to see the live progress of the music transfer on your screen. It will notify you when the files are all transferred to iTunes on your Mac.
With the aforementioned app, all it takes to transfer music from an iPod to iTunes is just a few clicks and you are good to go. The app can also be used to transfer files as normal files as you saw in the earlier method.
The Bottom Line
If you are not sure how to transfer music from an iPod to a Mac but you want to do it, the above guide has several methods showing how to get the task done on your machine. We hope you can find a suitable method for yourself and get your music moved to your Mac computer.
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iPod is warmly welcome by music fans for its portability and capacity which holds thousands of songs at a time. If you are new to iPod, then you may need to build a new playlist first according to your own preference, and it is essential to know how to transfer music from iTunes to iPod especially when you want to make good used of this gorgeous device.
This article aims at providing you with two simple methods to put iTunes music to iPod, and unveils the way how to transfer Apple Music form iTunes to iPod. With or without iTunes, you are free to choose an appropriate way to have the songs transferred.
Part 1. How to Transfer Music from iTunes to iPod Using iTunes
iTunes is the official tool to download and transfer music to iPod. With its help, the songs can be easily synced to iPod within minutes. Follow the steps below to have a try!
Step 1. Download and Install iTunes
Download the latest version of iTunes on your computer and then follow the instruction to install it. If you have already installed one, please check whether it is the latest version, if not, just upgrade it. And then launch the program.
Step 2. Connect iPod to Computer
Now please connect your iPod to computer with a USB cable. If it is connected successfully, the iPod icon will appear on the top left corner of the main interface of iTunes. Then click the iPod icon to get into a new interface.
Step 3. Transfer Music from iTunes to iPod
Click 'Music' from the left column and then choose 'Sync Music'. Altogether there are two ways for you to sync iTunes music:
#1. Sync Entire Music Library. If you want to refresh your iPod playlist thoroughly, then you can select the 'Entire music library' option to get a totally new collection of music on iPod.
#2. Sync Selected Songs. If you just want to add a few songs from iTunes instead of loading the whole music library to iPod, then the 'Selected playlists, artists, albums, and genres' option is suitable for you.
After that, click the 'Sync' button to activate the process.
Note:
#1. To save more time and energy, you'd better add the music that you want to transfer to iPod to a new playlist in advance, after which you are able to sync the whole playlist to iPod directly.
#2. Once you click the sync button, the previous data on iPod will be erased and replaced by the new music. If you don't want to lose the previous songs and at the same time add a few more, then the following part will meet your needs indeed.
Part 2. How to Add Music to iPod without iTunes
If you are tired of iTunes and seeking a handy alternative for it, then TuneFab WeTrans is the last thing that you should miss. It will transfer music from computer to iPod or other iOS device with a fast speed and a high output quality. What's more, the information of the transferred songs is available for you to edit as long as you want to. If you want to add songs to iPod from computer, TuneFab WeTrans will help a lot. Now let's have a try!
Step 1. Download and Install
Click the button below to download TuneFab WeTrans and then follow the instruction to install the program within only a few minutes.
Before you activate TuneFab WeTrans, please make sure that the latest version of iTunes has been installed on your computer. If you launch TuneFab WeTrans, iTunes will serve as a cooperative role while transferring music. Next, run the software and the main interface will be like this:
Step 2. Connect iPod to Computer
Now connect your iPod to the computer with a USB cable. If it is successfully connected, the main information of your iPod will appear on the interface, such as the name of the device, which can be edited by clicking the pencil-icon, the capacity, used and free space etc.
Step 3. Select Music from Computer
There are seven 7 options on the left column of the interface, and we need to click the 'Music' option. After the clicking, all the songs you have put into your iPod will be listed on the right side. Click the 'add button' and there are two options for you:
#1. Add File(s)
If you want to select some songs from your music collection, then 'Add File(s)' is suitable for you because you are able to choose whatever you like to your iPod from computer.
#2. Add Folder
If you have already put all the songs that you plan to transfer to iPod into one folder, just click the second option 'Add Folder'.
Tip: If you want to edit the information of the songs, just click the pencil-shaped icon. Then 4 sorts of information are available for you: name, artist, album, and genre. After the editing, click 'Apply changes' to save the words.
Step 4. Transfer Music to iPod
Here comes the last step: click the cellphone-shaped icon with an inward arrow to transfer the music that you added just now to iPod. With only one click, the process will be finished within a few minutes, after which you are free to enjoy it.
Tips:How to Transfer Apple Music from iTunes to iPod
As we all know, Apple Music can't be downloaded unless you have subscribed to it with a charge of $9.99 per month. However, you are not allowed to play Apple Music on non-authorized devices even though you have downloaded it because of DRM. Is there any method to transfer Apple Music from iTunes to iPod? Fortunately, yes! TuneFab Apple Music Converter enables you to remove the DRM of Apple Music and then convert the DRM-protected songs to DRM-free MP3. After the conversion, you are able to transfer all music from Apple Music to iPod easily.
Don't Miss:Can't Sync Apple Music to iPod shuffle? Solved!
Conclusion
It is not that complicated to transfer music from iTunes to iPod as long as you follow the instruction above. If you want to get a totally new playlist on iPod, then you can try to put music to iPod with the first method. Otherwise TuneFab WeTrans would be a better choice especially when you want to make a personalized playlist. In addition, download Apple Music to iPod freely is available after unlocking the DRM of Apple Music. Welcome to the world of music! Just enjoy it!