Migrate purchases from one Apple Account to another Apple Account

If an Apple Account is only used for making purchases, those purchases can be migrated to a primary Apple Account to consolidate them.

Who can migrate purchases

You can choose to migrate apps, music, and other content you’ve purchased from Apple on a secondary Apple Account to a primary Apple Account. The secondary Apple Account might be an account that's only used for purchases. You’ll need to know the primary email address or phone number and password for both accounts, and neither account should be shared with anyone else. Learn more about migrating purchases between accounts.

• At the time of migration, the Apple Account signed in for use with iCloud and most features on your iPhone or iPad will be referred to as the primary Apple Account.

• At the time of migration, the Apple Account signed in just for use with Media & Purchases will be referred to as the secondary Apple Account.

What to do before you migrate purchases

• Make sure that you’re signed in with two different accounts on your iPhone or iPad. In Settings, tap your name. You’ll see a different Apple Account displayed under Media & Purchases if you have a different account signed in for purchases. If you don’t see a different Apple Account here, tap Media & Purchases, then tap Sign Out. After you’re signed out, tap Media & Purchases, then choose “Not [your name]?” to sign in to a different Apple Account.

• Make sure the secondary Apple Account isn’t a member of a Family Sharing group. Learn how to leave Family Sharing. You can still migrate purchases if you previously designated your secondary account as a different Apple Account to share purchases for your primary account in Family Sharing.

• Turn on Two-Factor Authentication for both accounts.

• Make sure both accounts are set to the same country and region for purchases.

• Spend any balance remaining on your secondary Apple Account. If you’re not sure whether you have a balance, check your Apple Account balance.

• Wait for any rentals or pre-orders to complete on your secondary Apple Account. You can cancel a pre-order.

• In the European Union, South Korea, and China mainland, you might have to wait up to 15 days for all of your purchases made using Apple Account balance to completely process.

• Have your payment method on file nearby. You’ll have to verify the payment method from the secondary Apple Account in order to migrate purchases. Additionally, the secondary account can’t have any issues with the payment method on file. Learn how to view or change your payment methods for Apple Account purchases.

• Update your iPhone or iPad to the latest version of iOS or iPadOS.

Migrate purchases from one Apple Account to another Apple Account

1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Settings app.

2. Tap your name, then tap Media & Purchases.

3. Tap View Account. You might be asked to sign in.

4. Scroll down, then tap Migrate Purchases.

5. Review the information about both accounts, then follow the tasks to complete the migration of purchases to the primary account.

6. When complete, you’ll see “Purchases Have Been Migrated”. The email addresses associated with both accounts will also receive a confirmation email.

7. Be sure to check your Media & Purchases settings, sign out of the secondary Apple Account, and then sign in with the primary Apple Account.

You might not see Migrate Purchases if you’re not eligible. Check what to do before you migrate purchases.

After purchase migration, sign out of the secondary Apple Account on all of your devices

If you used the secondary Apple Account for Media & Purchases on any other devices –– including Apple TV, HomePod, or other devices with Apple TV app or Apple Music app –– sign out of the secondary Apple Account. Then sign in with the primary Apple Account that the purchases were migrated to.

Turn on Sync Library for the Apple Music app if songs are missing from your music library.

The secondary Apple Account can no longer be used for Media & Purchases.

If you no longer want your purchases migrated, learn how to undo a migration of purchases in order to make the secondary Apple Account useable again.

If you can’t migrate purchases

• Neither Apple Account can be a child account created through Family Sharing.

• Neither Apple Account can already be used for migrated purchases. Learn how to undo a migration of purchases. If you undo a migration of purchases from a secondary account, you won’t be able to migrate purchases again for 1 year.

• You can’t migrate purchases if both the primary Apple Account and the secondary Apple Account have music library data associated with each of them.

• You can’t migrate purchases if you’ve set your Apple One subscription to provide iCloud storage to a third, different account. Learn about Apple One and iCloud storage.

• You can’t migrate purchases from an Apple Account that's been deleted or deactivated.

• You can’t migrate purchases if your Apple Account is locked or disabled. Learn what to do if your Apple Account is locked or disabled.

• Neither Apple Account can be receiving any special access to apps or content. For example, an Apple Account enrolled in the VPP program through an employer to receive special access to apps.

• You can’t migrate purchases if your secondary Apple Account is used with TestFlight for testing beta versions of apps from a developer. Open TestFlight and select Stop Testing for each app to remove it from your account.