I need to get songs that are currently on an ipod onto my computer

I have a windows pc, I just formatted the harddrive. I expected that I could just copy all the songs from the ipod to the computer but that didn't work (some error)
So how would I go about doing this? How would I get my songs back on my computer. I didn't download them from itunes btw.

Connect your iPod to your computer. If it is set to update automatically you'll get a message that it is linked to a different library and asking if you want to link to this one and replace all your songs etc, press "Cancel". Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably remove all the songs from your iPod. Your iPod should appear in the iTunes source list from where you can change the update setting to manual and use your iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it. Also when using most of the utilities listed below your iPod needs to be enabled for disc use, changing to manual update will do this by default. Check the "manually manage music and videos" box in Summary then press the Apply button: Managing content manually on iPod
Once you are safely connected there are a few things you can do to restore your iTunes from the iPod. The transfer of non iTunes Music Store content such as songs imported from CD is designed by default to be one way from iTunes to iPod. However there is a manual method of accessing the iPod's hard drive and copying songs back to iTunes on Windows. The procedure is a bit involved and was written long before iTunes 7 so it requires a little adaptation as the iPod preferences are no longer in the location described for instance but if you're interested it's posted in this thread: MacMuse - iPod to iTunes
If you prefer something more automated then there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. This is just a selection, you'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well. Have a look at the web pages and documentation, they are generally quite straightforward. You can also read reviews of some of them here: Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
YamiPod Mac and Windows Versions
iGadget Windows Only
Music Rescue Mac & Windows
iPodCopy Mac and Windows Versions
TuneJack Windows Only
iPod2PC Windows Only
Whichever of these retrieval methods you choose, keep your iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and you are happy with your playlists etc then it will be safe to return it auto-sync. I would also advise that you get yourself an external hard drive and back your stuff up in case you have problems again. Relying on an iPod as your sole backup is not a good idea and external drives are comparatively inexpensive these days you can get loads of storage for a reasonable outlay.

Similar Messages

Is there a way to drag a new playlist onto my ipod without creating doubles of all of the songs that are already on my ipod?

i just want to put the playlist on my ipod but it re adds all the songs that are already on my ipod. do i just have to recreate the playlists on my ipod?

Playlists are just files with pointers. If you have a song on multiple playlists that doesn't mean the song is copied twice. Any instance of a song in playlists just points to the single file it syncs over.
If you have not synced in a while however and the song is already on the phone there is a chance it has been a while and with changes made with each iTunes update or iPhone iOS update, they may have changed the logic of the playlists files or how it manages and organizes the file structure, thus it may be needed to update (resync) some of your files. That is just an educated guess.
What I mentioned first still applies, songs are only copied once even if on multiple playlists. Regular syncing helps keep things fresh and up to date and yes at times there are changes to the process that may cause extra sync time to redo some things an updated way.

I can see songs that are not on my iPod.

When my iPod touch is not connected to Wifi I can still see all the songs in my "iTunes in the cloud". When I am away from Wifi I want to only see songs I have downloaded on to my iPod touch. When i do not have a internet connection I can still see all the songs. Is it Possable to only see songs that are actually on the iPod touch?
It is really anoying when I go to choose a song to listen to in my car and it is not avaliable because I have not downloaded it to my iPod. I have an 8gb iPod touch and I have to be very choosy which songs go on the iPod because of the size which Im ok with but I don't want to see all my music.

The problem may be that some songs by a particular artist have an album name, while others (the ones that are missing) have a blank album name. Try assigning an ablum name to the ones that are blank. You should then see them on your ipod under the "Artists" selection.

EXPERT NEEDED!! Songs that once played on iTunes & iPod no longer will.

I've got a 20 Gig iPod (clickwheel black and white). I have a mixture of ripped CD's, songs I've downloaded from iTunes, and songs that are on my iPod for an account my iTunes is an authorized user for.
Songs that have played just fine for a long time are now showing up with an "!" mark next to them in iTunes. And when I choose them on the iPod, it just skips to the next song. Oddly enough, I've even got some complete CDs that I've ripped, d/l'd, etc., and one or two songs will play, but the rest show up with the "!"
The songs are still present on the iPod (they show up in iTunes, plus they're still consuming the space on my iPod). And my iPod will show the songs in the menu and the time of the track, but it just won't play them when I choose them. I've also tried to rip them off of my iPod with iDump -- no luck there either.
I'm at a loss. I'm so desparate for a solution, I'd be happy to send the person that first tells me how to fix the problem a $20 bill (or a check -- probably a little safer in the mail). No kidding.
HP Pavillion Windows XP

It's an iPod problem, since the songs are actually stored on my iPod. When I go to play my iPod (not my iTunes library), the iPod nor iTunes (playing the songs on my iPod) will play these certain songs. I haven't removed the songs from my iPod -- they still show up on my iPod. They just won't play.

How to copy songs that's already in the ipod into the computer hard disk?

I had some "music" mp3 files, so I put them into my ipod by using iTune. I pick a mp3 file and I drop it into the "MUSIC" section under the "iPOD" section, in iTune. After this, I didn't make any backup, for exemple, place them into the iTUNE's "MUSIC LIBARY" or copy them, place them into a file and store them into the computer's hard disk, because I only had one computer and I don't want to make to much spaces into the computer's hard disk, because the computer's hard disk did not have alot of memories available to use, it's almost fully loaded. Then I discovered that "I could't copy the existence files from the iPod and put them into the computer's hard disk", and I found this is ridiculous. So... can someone please telle me "how to copy or take the mp3 files out from the iPod and place theme into the computer's hard disk?"

So... can someone please telle me "how to copy or take the mp3 files out from the iPod and place theme into the computer's hard disk?"
To prevent auto sync, connect the iPod whilst holding down the 'control+shift' keys and do not let them go until your iPod appears in iTunes.
If you see a message that your iPod is associated with a different library and asks if you want to link to new one, make sure you press "Cancel".
If you should click on "Erase and Sync" will erase all the content currently on your iPod and it will be replaced with the content of the iTunes library you just connected to.
When you've pressed cancel your iPod should appear in the iTunes source list under "devices" and allow you to change the update setting to manage the iPod content manually, and that will let you use your iPod for the time being without the risk of accidentally erasing the contents.
Then do any of the following to transfer your music from iPod back to the computer/iTunes.
For iTunes version 7 or later, then you can transfer purchased iTunes store music from the iPod to an authorized computer by using the "file/transfer purchases from iPod" menu. Note that the maximum of 5 authorized computers applies here.
Find out how to do that here.
How to copy iTunes purchases from an iPod or iPhone to a computer.
For all other non purchased content (your own CDs etc), check out the instructions/suggestions here.
Music from iPod to computer (using option 2). This a manual method using "hidden folders" and although it works, it is a little more involved than other methods.
Much easier ways are to use one of the many 3rd party programs that copy music from the iPod to the computer.
One of the most recommended is Yamipod. This is a free program that transfers music from iPod back to the computer. However, it does not transfer playcounts/ratings etc.
Other free programs are Pod Player, SharePod and Floola and iDump.
If you want to recover just the structure of playlists from the iPod (and not the actual song files themselves), there's iRepo for Windows. which I understand has this feature along with all the standard features for these programs.
iPodRip also has the feature enabling you to reconstruct playlists.
There is also CopyTrans. This does preserve ratings/playcounts etc if those are important to you but this program is not free. It also supports video transfer.
More information is contained here.
Copying content from your iPod to your computer - The Definitive Guide.

How to get songs that are in "previous iTunes Libraries" folders ??

I am unable to play scores and scores of songs that were on my iTunes 4.9 playlists now that I have "upgraded" to 7.0 I have a strange icon to the left of the song on my song list and when I go to play the song I get a message that the song cannot be located. The following notes come from iTunes help (see below) and I am wondering if anyone else has lost music and if so.....are they really lost or just misplaced? I would hate to think Apple would insist on an upgrade to buy more iTunes if they are going to scrub away hundreds of your other songs.
HELP PLEASE
Note: The library file name for versions of iTunes prior to 4.9 was "iTunes 4 Music Library" for Mac OS X and "iTunes 4 Music Library.itl" for Windows. After upgrading to iTunes 4.9 or later, the older library files are moved to a "Previous iTunes Libraries" folder.

If the strange icon you refer to is an exclamation point, the problem is that the song files are not in the location the iTunes Library files are saying they are.
Note that the iTunes Library files do not contain the actual song files but rather a list of references that point iTunes to where the songs are (or rather should be) located.
So the first thing I'd do is find out just where the files are on your computer. Have a look at this article in the Apple Knowledge Base for some ideas on how to do so.
Post back and let us know if you're able to find the song files.

How do I Sync two songs to my ipod with out syncing my entire library and keeping all the song that are curantly on my ipod PLZ HELP SOMEONE

my computer crashed and i lost all of my songs. i got some of them back but i can't get some others back. i have these awsome new songs i want on my ipod but i can't sync becuase that will delete all of the other song that i clould not recover from my i pod. how do i sync the two awsome songs on to my i pod with out syncing anything else and keeping all of the non recoverable songs on my ipod? someone PLZ HELP

Unlikely to be possible.
The iPhone/iPod Touch is designed to only sync to one computer at a time.
What you are attempting to do is sync to a 2nd computer, even though it is likely the exact same computer.
The only option that might be possible is using the manually manage music on this device option.

How can I get recordings that are less than 96 kbps onto my iPhone if I am using iTunes Match?

I am using iTunes Match but it won't upload any files that are recorded at less than 96 kbps. I have recordings from several classes that I am taking online that I need to listen to on my iPad and iPhone. How can I get them on my devices? Do I just have to turn Match off and do it manually like before? Or is there a way to change the recording level in GarageBand?

I found the answer. Just double click on the recording in iTunes and select Create AAC Version. Then select Update iTunes Match under the Store tab. The recordings will now show up and play on your other devices.

HT201317 Is there a way to get photos that are over 30 days old onto icloud (and then to my windows computer through photostream)?

I was wondering if there was a way to get the photos that are over 30 days old into my photostream on my computer. My iPhone 5 has 1,000 photos in the photostream but only the ones that are less than 30 days old go on to my computer. I can't find any setting on icloud either- just yes/no photostream and then my photostream and the share option. I want to do this so I can view my older photos on my computer so I can save them in my computer's library.
Thanks!

No. PhotoStream only stores a maximum of 1000 photos for up to 30 days as stated in all descriptions of the service. You're supposed to download photos you want to keep within 30 days of them going to PhotoStream.
PhotoStream is not a permanent storage solution.

My computer crashed and I lost my itunes library. How can I save the sons that are current on my ipod if I plug into a new computer and restore itunes?

My computer crashed and I lost my entire itunes library. If I replace the computer and re-load itunes how can I keep all of the music that currently on my ipod?

Ipod syncing is not one way. You just have to know what to do...
I can see you use windows. Connect ipod to pc, but don't install or dont open itunes - dont alow itunes to sync automaticly). Then open explorer, enable hidden files, open your ipod (as you would any disc) open hidden file with strange names and copy all of them on your new hard drive. Then drag all this strange-named files in your itunes...woooo...now those strange names become your songs...it is magick
I you won't i can send you step by step guide...
Take care.

I got rid of iCloud on my iPod and iPhone and I continue to get messages that are sent to my iPod on my iPhone that I do not wantt

I keep getting messages on my iPod that are being sent to me that I no longer want. I keep getting them I both my iPod and iPhone because they are both backed up with ICloud with the same iTunes account. I deleted the Icloud accounts on both devices but I still continue to receive updates and messages from my iPod. Does anyone know how to fix this problem?

You can't possibly delete icloud. Maybe you turn it off.
anyways on both devices go to settings - message - send&receive - remove or uncheck the apple id.

I just got my first Apple product (ipod touch) and am needing to know how to transfer music from another itunes list. Can music that is currently on another ipod and/or computer be transferred to my new touch and my new itunes account? Thank you!

Recently purchased my first Apple product (ipod touch) and am needing to know how to transfer music from other ipods and other itunes accounts. Can this be done? I have plugged in another ipod into my new itunes account and it will not let me transfer the music that it contains into my new account. Any/all help is much appreciated. Thank you!

I have no music in my itunes account yet. I am trying to transfer music from friends' accounts and their ipods/playlists.

Manual Sync: Identifying songs that are not in my iPod

Guys, a noob question for sure. But all my searches did not yield relevant answer for this one.
My setup is manual sync (iTunes 8, iTouch 2.0). How can I readily identify songs that only in my library but not in my ipod?
Thanks a lot in advance.

Well, my problem is a little different.
I chose manual sync for me to decide what song I want to keep in my iPod. But the issue is when you have a large collection in your library, how can I readily identify if a particular track is already in my ipod or not?

How do i get music that i bought on my iphone onto my computer if my iphone broke?

I bought a couple of songs on my Iphone right before it broke and I didnt sync in onto my computer, and my Iphone broke and now i have a new one, and my songs that i just recently bought arnt on my itunes on my computer because i didnt sync it, but i have bought them. How do i get them onto my computer?

If you are in the U.S, then open itunes store, click Purchased under Quick Links.

Help Needed! Getting the files off the recovery disc and onto the computer. How?!?

Okay, I shut down my computer a few hours ago like normal and I restarted it again when I wanted to go on it which was later this evening. A screen popped up that said press enter to continue and a bunch of code, so I did just pressed 'Enter' like it asked. Then another screen came up that said, "Your computer could not start up, we are finding and fixing the problems, ect ect." And then there was a percentage at the bottom of how much was completed.
So after it was finished, my computer started to totally restart, like I just bought the computer. It had me remake everything. And when it was all done EVERYTHING except for the programs that came with the computer where gone. I noticed a recovery disc and how it was almost full, and it said it has all my programs on it and to not delete it. Well okay if it has all my programs....
How in the world do I get everything from the recovery disc back onto my computer?
Please comment on any information that can help!

The recovery partition on the hard drive does not have your programs/files. It holds the files to reinstall Windows and all original software/drivers that came on the laptop. In other words, it does exactly what just occurred.
******Clicking the Thumbs-Up button is a way to say -Thanks!.******
**Click Accept as Solution on a Reply that solves your issue to help others**

I need to get songs that are currently on an ipod onto my computer

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for