Quick fixes
How to get music off an old iPod
If the iPod still works, connect it without letting the computer sync it and copy the songs off. If it no longer starts, the songs are often still on its drive, though they can't always be saved.
Quick answer
- On a Windows PC, before you connect the iPod: in iTunes choose Edit > Preferences, click Devices and tick "Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically".
- Set up on a Mac? Copy the music on a Mac: iTunes for Windows only recognizes Windows-formatted iPods, and switching takes a restore that erases the songs.
- Connect the iPod. If a message offers to Erase and Sync (in newer iTunes: Remove and Sync), click Cancel: that replaces every song on the iPod with the music on this computer.
- On a Mac: in the Finder, select the iPod, click General, untick "Automatically sync when this iPod is connected", tick "Manually manage music, movies, and TV shows", then click Apply.
What do you want to do?
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- Recover music from dead iPodAlso searched as recover music from broken iPod · recover songs from iPod · data recovery
- Transfer music from iPod to new computerAlso searched as move music from iPod to new computer · transfer songs from iPod to new iTunes
- Still not working — free diagnostic
Which iPod do you have?
Step by step
A working iPod: stop the computer from syncing it, then copy the songs off.
- On a Windows PC, before you connect the iPod: in iTunes choose Edit > Preferences, click Devices and tick "Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically".
- Set up on a Mac? Copy the music on a Mac: iTunes for Windows only recognizes Windows-formatted iPods, and switching takes a restore that erases the songs.
- Connect the iPod. If a message offers to Erase and Sync (in newer iTunes: Remove and Sync), click Cancel: that replaces every song on the iPod with the music on this computer.
- On a Mac: in the Finder, select the iPod, click General, untick "Automatically sync when this iPod is connected", tick "Manually manage music, movies, and TV shows", then click Apply.
- Songs you bought on the iTunes Store: on a Mac, download them again in the Music app from your purchase history (Apple says purchases generally stay available, though some can be removed from the store).
- Songs you bought on the iTunes Store: on a Windows PC, in iTunes choose Account > Authorizations > Authorize This Computer, then File > Devices > Transfer Purchases from your iPod.
Steps from Apple's own iPod guides and support pages.
Recover music from dead iPod
Also searched as recover music from broken iPod · recover songs from iPod · data recovery
When an old iPod no longer starts, the songs are often still on its drive, but they can't always be saved. Don't restore it: a restore erases them. Send it for a free diagnostic and we tell you what it needs. Want flash storage in it anyway? Add our music transfer ($129) to a flash mod: if your old drive still reads on our bench computer, we copy everything on it onto the new flash storage; if it won't read, we refund the $129.
- Don't restore it and don't let a computer sync it: both erase the songs.
Steps from Apple's own iPod guides and support pages.
iPod 4th Gen or iPod Photo (A1059 and A1099)iPod 4th Gen (A1059)iPod Photo (A1099)
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Most likely
Hard drive repair that keeps your songs
On the 4th Gen and Photo we can often repair the hard drive itself, and in most cases your songs are fully recoverable.
Hard Drive Repair Service
Mail it in: we repair your drive, and in most cases your songs are saved
Hard Drive Repair Service
Mail it in: we repair your drive, and in most cases your songs are saved
Transfer music from iPod to new computer
Also searched as move music from iPod to new computer · transfer songs from iPod to new iTunes
The same steps as for any computer: stop it syncing first, then copy the songs off.
- Mac with only USB-C ports? Connect the iPod's USB cable through a USB-C to USB adapter. On a Mac laptop with Apple silicon, click Allow when the Mac asks about the iPod.
- On a MacBook Neo, use the rightmost USB-C port as you face the Mac's left side: Apple says to connect USB 2 devices there.
- Connect the iPod. If a message offers to Erase and Sync (in newer iTunes: Remove and Sync), click Cancel: that replaces every song on the iPod with the music on this computer.
Steps from Apple's own iPod guides and support pages.
Still not working — free diagnostic
Mail us your iPod and we test it and send you a free repair quote. If you don't like the price, we ship it back at our expense.
Free