You wanted to copy some music from your iPhone to your computer, so you connected your phone to your computer, turned on the music sync option in iTunes and clicked OK to start copying the data. Luckily Apple’s multimedia program stopped you, warning you that you were about to do the exact opposite of what you had in mind, that is, copy the PC music library to the iPhone, deleting all the songs on the “iPhone by”.
If you want transfer music from iPhone to PCyou don’t have to use iTunes synchronization, but third-party programs that can access your smartphone’s memory and copy the files contained in it to your computer: luckily there are many and they are all very easy to use, in addition which can be obtained at no cost.
How do you say? Did I intrigue you with my introduction and now you would like to know more? Perfect: then carve out a few minutes of time for yourself, carefully read the instructions I am about to give you and try to put them into practice. I assure you that, one way or another, you will be able to achieve the goal you set for yourself and copy your favorite songs from iPhone to computer. Happy reading and, above all, have fun!
Index
Preliminary operations
Almost all software for transfer music from iPhone to PC require the presence of iTunes on the computer. If you have a Mac, you don’t have to do anything, as the program is included “as standard” in all versions of macOS. However, if you have a Windows PC and you have not yet installed Apple’s multimedia software on it, you need to fix it.
If you have a computer equipped with Windows 10you can download iTunes directly from the Microsoft Store by connecting to this page, clicking on the button Getaccepting the opening of the store (if necessary) and clicking on the button again Get (within the Microsoft Store).
If you’re using an older version of Windows, you’ll need to download iTunes from Apple’s website. So visit this web page and click on the button 64-bit downloads or on the button 32-bit download (depending on your version of Windows).
Once the download is complete, run the iTunes installation package (eg. iTunesSetup.exe) and click on first Run and then up Come on, Installagain Yup And end to complete the setup. If some steps are not clear to you, read my tutorial on how to download iTunes.
Once iTunes is installed, launch it and connect your iPhone to your computer. If this is the first time you have put the two devices in communication, you will need to authorize the connection: then press the button Keep on that appears on the computer desktop, then on the button Authorize that appears on the iPhone and type the unlock code of the phone.
EaseUS MobiMover Free (Windows/macOS)
One of the first solutions to transfer music from iPhone to PC that I recommend you to try is EaseUS MobiMover Free: it is a free software for Windows and macOS that allows you to transfer data between various iPhone models and from iPhone to computer (and vice versa). It is very simple to use and has no particular limitations.
To download it to your computer, connect to its official website and click on the button Download for free related to the operating system installed on your computer (windows or macOS). Once the download is complete, if you use a Windows PCsopen the software installation package (mobimover_free.exe) and, in the window that opens, first click on the button Yup and then up Okay.
Therefore, put the check mark next to the item I accept the terms of the license agreement and complete the setup by first clicking on the button Come on three consecutive times and then on end.
If you use a MacInstead, open the dmg package which contains EaseUS MobiMover Free, drag the program to the folder Applications of macOS and that’s it.
You are now ready to take action! Then connect your iPhone to the computer using the lightning cable supplied and start EaseUS MobiMover Free. Then select the card Transfer with 1 click (if needed), make sure data transfer is set up from iPhone to computer and click on the button Come on.
Once this is done, put the check mark next to the item Music (you can uncheck the rest), click the button Transfer And that’s it. All the songs on the “iPhone” will be copied to the computer, in a folder that the program will create on the desktop.
iExplorer (Windows/macOS)
Another solution that I recommend you consider is iExplorer, a program for Windows and macOS that allows you to explore the contents of the iPhone memory (and its backups) and then extract the files to your computer. It costs 39.99 euros, but is available in a free trial version which has no time limits but has limits on the number of files that can be extracted (as regards music, it allows you to extract up to 10 songs at a time also showing an advertising screen).
To download iExplorer on your computer, connect to its official website and click on the button Download iExplorer present on the page that opens. Once the download is complete, if you use a Windows PCslaunch the installation package named iExplorerSetup.exe and, in the window that opens, click on the button Install. Wait, therefore, for the download of all the files necessary for the program to function and press the button Close to complete the setup.
If, on the other hand, you use a Macopen the dmg package which contains the program and drag it into the folder Applications of macOS: that’s it!
Now, connect the iPhone to the computer using the lightning cable supplied, start iExplorer and click on the button Continue with demos or Continue in demo mode (depending on whether you’re using Windows or macOS). After that select the name of yours smartphones from the left sidebar and click on the button Music.
Wait, therefore, for the list of songs on the “iPhone” to load, select the ones you want to copy to your computer, click on the button Transfer/Transfer from Devicechoose the voice Exported Selected xx Tracks to Folder…/Transfer Selected to Folder… from the menu that opens, select the folder in which to copy the files and press the button Okay to start saving the data to the PC.
iTunes File Sharing (Windows/macOS)
If you have used an app to download music to iPhone and now want to copy the downloaded music to PC, you can take advantage of the feature iTunes File Sharingwhich, as can be easily understood, allows you to share files between the apps installed on the iPhone (and iPad) and the computer.
Then connect your “iPhone” to the computer using the lightning cable supplied, open iTunes (if it hasn’t already opened by itself), click on the icon smartphones located at the top left and, if necessary, select the name of yours iPhones from the menu that opens.
At this point, choose the item File sharing from the left sidebar, click on the name of theapp that you used to download music to iPhone and drag the songs of your interest (which should appear in the box Documents of [nome app] on your desktop or in a folder of your choosing.
If the available apps don’t include the one you used to download music to iPhone, I’m sorry, but it means that it doesn’t support the file sharing feature of iTunes. Perhaps it supports data transfer via Wi-Fi (using the browser) – check in its settings.
Music Streaming Services (Windows/macOS)
As you most likely already know, music downloaded via music streaming services, such as Apple Music And Spotifycannot be copied freely from one device to another as it is protected by DRM (digital rights management), i.e. “locked” and designed to be played only on specific devices and applications (in the case of Apple Music, only on devices associated with the user’s Apple ID and via the Music app or iTunes; in the case of Spotify, instead, on all devices on which the Spotify app is installed and on which the user’s account has been logged in).
This means that if you are a user of Apple Music, Spotify or any other music streaming service, to copy music from iPhone to PC, you simply need to add the songs you are interested in to your personal library and then access the library from your computer : so you’ll find all the music you saved on your iPhone on your computer (and vice versa, of course).
To add content to your music library in Apple Music or Spotifylocate the latter within the app Music or from the app Spotify and press the button + placed next to its title. To perform the same operation in Spotify free (with playback of songs in shuffle mode, except for playlists selected by the service staff), press the button … present next to the title of the content of your interest and select the item for add it to a playlist from the screen that opens.
Once that’s done, open up iTunes or the client of Spotify on your computer and you’ll find all your songs synced, ready to listen. If you have any steps or want to know more about how music streaming services work, check out my guides on how Apple Music works, how Spotify works, how Amazon Music Unlimited works, how Deezer works and how YouTube Music works.