How to Download Music from Apple Music

With Apple Music, you can download songs, albums, and playlists so you can listen to any music, even without an internet connection.

We'll explain why you should, and how to use Apple Music to download your favorite tunes on your phone and desktop.

What are the benefits of downloading from Apple Music?

The biggest reason to download music is to save phone data.This means the music is stored on your device and you don't have to stream it to play it.With Apple Music, you can view, download and delete music for offline use.

While downloads take up space on your phone, you can access music even when you don't have an internet connection, so it works even when you're in a remote area with signal issues.Additionally, you can manage and optimize storage space by setting minimum storage thresholds.

How to Download from Apple Music to Phone (iOS and Android)

1. Open the Apple Music app.

2. Search for the music you want to download.

3. Tap Add next to any song, album, playlist, or music video.This will add it to your library.

4. You will now see a download icon (down arrow) next to the item in your library, click on it to start the download.

If you want to automatically download music without adding it to your library first, go to Settings and enable "Automatic Downloads".This saves an extra step and downloads instantly when you click the plus icon.

Downloaded music will be saved in the "Library" tab.It's categorized by playlist, artist, album, song, and more.Tap "Downloaded" to view downloaded tracks for offline access.

Of course, your phone needs enough storage space for these downloads.

An easy way to get the most out of your storage space is to turn off Dolby Atmos downloads in your device settings.You can find this feature in Settings > Music on macOS and iOS.

While Apple Music's Dolby Atmos and spatial audio is an excellent innovation, downloading music with this setup actually means you'll be downloading both the Dolby Atmos version and the stereo version of the track to your device.This inevitably takes up more storage space, so it's best to only use the Dolby Atmos soundtrack for streaming.

How to Sync Apple Music Downloads

To access your music library on all your devices, go to the "General" tab and enable "Sync Library" (or follow the prompts to enable it when adding music).The sync library feature requires you to use an Apple ID.

How to Download All Music on Apple Music

If you want to take your entire music library with you, but don't want the hassle of selecting individual songs or albums, there's a great way to save time and effort.

Just use the Smart Playlist feature to put all your music into one playlist.Then download it to your iOS device, and you can enjoy music anytime, anywhere.

Unfortunately, there's no way to create Smart Playlists directly on an iPhone or iPad.However, once you've created a Smart Playlist and enabled synced libraries using the Apple Music app for Mac, it will automatically appear on your iOS device so you can download it.

Here's how to set up a Smart Playlist with all of Apple Music on macOS:

1. Open Apple Music, click File in the top menu bar.

2. Select New > Smart Playlist.

3. Configure the criteria for the smart playlist using the various options in the drop-down menu.One of the easiest ways to make sure all your music gets added to your playlist is to select "Date Added" from the "Matches with the following rules" option.If you choose a date that covers your entire time using Apple Music, you can be sure that all your music will be added.

4. Check the Live Update checkbox to allow tracks you add subsequently to be included in the Smart Playlist.

5. Click "OK" and name the smart playlist for easy identification on iOS devices.

You'll immediately see the new playlist in the Music app, which means you can now download it on your iOS device as well by following the steps above.

How to Delete Apple Music Downloads

Once the content has been downloaded, it can be deleted from the device:

1. Open the Apple Music app.

2. Touch and hold the song, album, or playlist you want to delete, then tap Delete.

3. Here, you can choose to delete the download or delete it from the library.

Delete all music on device:

1. Navigate to "Downloaded Music".

2. Click Edit in the upper right corner.

3. Select the red icon to the left of All Songs, then tap Delete.

How to Download Music from Apple Music to Desktop (Mac and Windows)

If you have music saved in your music library, it's also easy to download it for offline listening on your desktop.The steps are the same for both Mac and Windows:

1. Open the Apple Music app.

2. Select the music you added from Apple Music.

3. Click Download.

Again, as with your phone, you'll need to make sure you have enough hard drive space for the download.

Create custom art for offline downloads

Downloading your favorite tracks or even your entire music collection to your device is easy.From saving your data to having music ready at the touch of a button, downloading music with Apple Music pays off.