Managing content manually on iPod and iPhone
Summary
Syncing your iTunes library with iPod and iPhone is easy. By default, iTunes automatically syncs your entire iTunes library whenever you connect your device to your computer. On each subsequent sync, iTunes will automatically add any new music or videos to the iPod or iPhone and remove any items that are no longer in your iTunes Library.
Music and videos on your iPod or iPhone can also be manually managed. Manually managing your iPod or iPhone allows you to choose just the songs and videos that you want to have with you on your device. This is especially useful if your iTunes library contains more items than can fit on your iPod or iPhone. To add items to your iPod or iPhone, simply choose a song, video, or playlist from your iTunes library then drag it to the iPod or iPhone icon (under Devices) on the left-hand side of the iTunes window.
Products Affected
iPhone, iTunes 7 for Mac, iTunes 7 for Windows, iPod, iPhone 3G, iTunes 8 for Windows, iTunes 8 for Mac
Configure iPod or iPhone for manual management
If you have iTunes 7* or later follow these instructions.
- Connect iPod or iPhone to your computer.
- Open iTunes.
- Select iPod or iPhone in the Devices list.
- Click the Summary tab and select "Manually manage music and videos."
- Click Apply.
- When manual management is enabled, you can still sync some content automatically. Select any content tab such as Video to enable automatic syncing for that type of content.
Manually adding content to your iPod or iPhone
After following the steps above, you can add individual songs, videos, and playlists from iTunes to your iPod or iPhone. Just drag the item to the iPod or iPhone icon in the Devices list on the left-hand side of the iTunes Window.
Tip: You must first import audio CDs into iTunes before you can add them to the iPod or iPhone. If you're having difficulty syncing songs to iPod or iPhone, click here.
Note: Even when manually managing, some content may only be available from one library at time. This includes all content on iPhone and video content on iPods.
* iPhone requires iTunes 7.5 or later. Some iPod models may require a later version of iTunes.