Managing content manually on iPhone, iPad, and iPod

Summary

Learn about managing your content manually on iPhone, iPad, and iPod.

Products Affected

iPad, iPhone, iPod, iTunes 10 for Mac, iTunes 10 for Windows, iTunes 11 for Mac, iTunes 11 for Windows

Syncing your iTunes library with iPhone, iPad, and iPod 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 device and remove any items that are no longer in your iTunes Library.

You can also manually manage music and videos on your device. Manually managing your device allows you to choose just the songs and videos that you want to have with you. This is especially useful if your iTunes library contains more items than can fit on your device. To add items to your device, simply choose a song, video, or playlist from your iTunes library, then drag it to the iPhone, iPad, or iPod icon (under Devices) on the left-hand side of the iTunes window.

Configure iPhone, iPad, or iPod for manual management

To manually manage the content, follow these instructions:

  1. Connect the device to your computer.
  2. Open iTunes.
  3. Select your iPhone, iPad, or iPod. If your device is not visible in the upper right corner of the screen, choose Library first.
  4. Click the Summary tab and select "Manually manage music and videos".
  5. Click Apply.

Manually add or remove content on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod

After following the steps above, you can add individual songs, videos, and playlists from iTunes to your device. To add content to your device:

  1. Select your device.
  2. Click "On this Device".
  3. Then choose "Add to" in the upper right corner.
    While viewing the media in your iTunes Library, if you drag a song, video, TV show, or Movie a sidebar will show up on the right. You can drag content onto the device.  You can also create and modify playlists directly on the device.

Notes:

  • You must first import audio CDs into iTunes before you can add them to your device. Get assistance if you're having difficulty syncing songs to your device.
  • Even when manually managing music, some content may be available from only one library at time. This includes all content on iPhone and video content on iPod and iPad.
  • Even when you have enabled manual management, you can still sync some content automatically. Select any content tab, such as Video, to enable automatic syncing for that type of content.
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