

In such a situation you can’t just sync the device to the new computer without losing data because you won’t have the original backup folders copied over, but this method allows you to keep your music by pullng the library down from the iPod or iPhone to the computer, which can then be synced again as usual. The uses of this solution are far and wide, but it’s especially helpful if your previous computer becomes unavailable due to a crash or loss, and you end up with a new computer. While in iTunes it’s a good idea to re-enable automatic syncing too from under the Devices preference panel. Whatever method you use, you will find the songs once stored on the iOS device are now in iTunes on the computer. If you use the “Automatically Add to iTunes” folder alias, you can also drag the copied Music folder into that directory to migrate all the music into iTunes.


The easiest way to sort and rename all of these files is to use iTunes to import the folder, and if you use iTunes for general media management anyway you’ll want to complete this secondary process as well. If you’re satisfied you can stop here, but the Music directory containing the music is arranged in somewhat unusual fashion with songs stuffed into a bunch of “F#” folders with even more meaningless file names. When finished all music will have been successfully copied from the iOS device to the Mac or PC, all while maintaining the music stored on the iPod/iPhone as well. Drag the entire “Music” folder to a location on the desktop, this is all of your music and it may take a while to transfer.Launch iExplorer and click the arrow next to the iOS devices name, then click the arrow next to “Media” and then again next to “iTunes_Control”.Connect the iPhone, iPad, or iPod to the computer by USB.Download iExplorer from here (free for Mac OS X and Windows) and install it.Turn off automatic syncing in iTunes, do this through iTunes Preferences > Devices > check “Prevent iOS hardware from syncing automatically”, then quit iTunes.This process will copy all music from the device to a Mac or Windows PC:

Transfer Music from iPhone, iPod, or iPad to iTunes on a Computer for Free The end result? The entire music library copied from an iOS device to a computer, ready for iTunes or whatever other media player you want to use.
