Recently, when my Verizon cellular plan changed, my Apple Music stopped syncing on my iPhone, and I didn’t have all of the songs, playlists and albums I had downloaded. When I opened my Apple Music, I saw the message, “Sync Library is Off.” Underneath it was “Turn On.” In this article, I’ll discuss what Sync Library does, if you should turn it on and how to turn it off or on on your iPhone, iPad and Mac.
What does it mean to sync your Apple Music library?
With Apple’s Sync Library feature enabled, the Apple Music content in your library will be synced across your devices as long as they are all signed in to the same Apple Account that you use with your Apple Music subscription. On any device where you use Apple Music or iTunes, if you are signed in with the same Apple Account, you can see your songs, albums, playlists, and video content; also, any changes you make, such as adding new music or creating a new playlist, will show up the same on all of your devices.
What happens if Sync Library is off?
With Sync Library off:
- You will still have access to the music that you own on your device. Any music that you have downloaded using an Apple Music subscription will no longer show up in your Music app.
- You will not see your Playlists.
- Changes you make in Music will not sync across your devices.
Should you turn on Sync Library?
Absolutely yes. You will want to have access to all of your music on all of your devices. With that said, if, for some reason, you don’t want the same music on all devices, then, of course, you can choose not to sync.
There is one thing that Apple cautions you about before making any changes to your Apple Music: Make sure to back up your music library. This is a good idea if you have music that you own on your device, and if you are worried about losing music, you can back up everything.
To use Sync Library, you need a subscription to Apple Music
Sync Library requires a subscription to Apple Music. If the option to turn on Sync Library is missing on your device, then it might be because of the following:
- You don’t have Apple Music subscription.
- Your device isn’t signed in to the Apple Music app with the same Apple Account that you use with your subscription.
How to turn Sync Library on or off
On Mac
- Launch the Apple Music app.
- In the menu bar, choose Account and make sure that you’re signed in with the same Apple Account that you use with your Apple Music subscription.
- Navigate to Music > Settings.
- Click on the General tab.
- Select Sync Library.
- Click Ok.
- Wait for your music library to sync. To check the status, go to the bottom of the sidebar and click Updating Cloud Library.
On iPhone or iPad
- Make sure your device is signed in with the same Apple Account you use for Apple Music subscription.
- On your iPhone, go to Settings > [your name].
- If you don’t see your name, tap Apple Account, enter your email address or phone number, then enter your password.
- In the Settings app, navigate to Apps > Music.
- Tap on sync library.
- Turn on the switch next to Sync Library.
