How to restore Apple Music library and never lose it again

I haven’t had the best luck with Music. I’ve lost my library more than once — due to an expired subscription, accidental deletion of my personal audio files, and even a device crash. Fortunately, in most cases, I was able to restore my files. That's why I’d like to share how to restore your Apple Music library on Mac and let you know which methods worked for me and which didn’t.

How to get music back on Apple Music: Quick solutions

To save you time, I've summarized the key solutions from this article in a table. Try following these instructions if you have a rough idea of what the problem is. But if you need a more detailed explanation, just scroll down.

What can you do?	Your guide
Re-sync library	On iPhone: Settings > Music, toggle Sync Library, restart the app. On Mac: Music > Settings > General > toggle Sync Library.
Recover purchases	On iPhone: Music > Account > Account Settings > Purchase History. On Mac: Music > Account > Purchases, re-download tracks.
Relocate Music files	On Mac: Use File > Import in Music app, locate files, and enable "Copy to Music Media folder."
Recover deleted files	On Mac: Use Disk Drill to scan and restore missing music.
Check server status	Visit Apple System Status for Apple Music.
Free up space	On Mac: Use CleanMyMac, go to Cleanup > Scan > Remove System Junk.
Backup library	On Mac: Use Get Backup Pro for full or selective backups and sync.

Why is your Apple Music library missing?

Apple Music is an app on all Apple devices that is both a streaming service and a library of purchases. It was built on top of iTunes and has a bit of convoluted UX due to the amount of features jammed in one place.

That’s why there are plenty of reasons for seeing music missing on iPhone and Mac: 

• Your library might not be properly synced between devices (either partially or completely).
• Physical music files might have been moved to a different location on your Mac.
• Music files might not have been downloaded from the cloud.
• Files have been deleted.
• Apple Music is experiencing server issues.
• There’s not enough storage space on your device.

Let’s go through all the bullet points in detail and see how you can fix them.

How to recover deleted music from iCloud

If you have been buying music on iTunes and Apple Music, and now want to sign up for the Apple Music streaming services — beware. 

Apple Music syncs files to all your devices from its streaming library. It scans your local library first, replaces any matches with equivalent streaming files (that’s how people lose their local library), and then converts any leftover local files to Apple’s standard 256 Kbps AAC format. 

In case the music you purchased from iTunes has disappeared from the library, you can re-download it by going to Music > Account > Purchases. To do that on iPhone, go to Music > Account > Account Settings > Purchase History.

Other local music files should stay intact, although there have been bug reports of them being deleted as well. You might have to re-download the music from various sources again and remember to always keep an up-to-date backup.

There are, however, more reasons for music missing on iPhone and Mac.

Music not syncing on iCloud

If you see your music files on Mac but not on iPhone, it’s likely because the devices haven’t been synced in a while or the sync is currently turned off.

To re-sync devices, connect your phone to your Mac via USB, open Finder, click on the phone icon, switch to music, and click sync (either complete or selective). 

To re-enable syncing, go to Settings on your phone, scroll down to Apps > Music, and toggle on Sync Library. The route for your Mac: Music > Settings > General > toggle Sync Library.

Read how to sync Apple Music library on Mac and iPhone to find out more.

Music moved to a different location

If your Music app doesn’t make copies of your local music files but instead references them somewhere on your Mac, moving those files around would result in them disappearing from the Music app. 

To fix this, you can use File > Import (Command + O) to find the new location. 

To future-proof this fix, go to Music > Settings > Files and check “Copy files to Music Media folder when adding to library.” Now, all the imported files will be copied to the Music Media folder instead of referenced in the library.

Music has been deleted

In the previous steps, I covered files stored in your account (basically, songs you got from Music). Now, let’s focus on your personal audio files. If you happen to delete such a song, an album, or a playlist, you can try restoring them from the Trash right after. In case your Trash has been emptied, the only solution is to use file recovery software for Mac like Disk Drill. 

I use Disk Drill every time I need to recover files that seem to be permanently lost. It's a professional data recovery app that can help you retrieve files regardless of the loss cause, whether they were on your Mac or external drive.

To get missing music back with Disk Drill: 

1. Download and open Disk Drill.
2. Select your hard drive.
3. Click “Search for lost data”.
4. Recover any music files detected.

Apple Music servers are down

While server outages are rare, they do happen. I’ve read online that such failures are possible, but honestly, neither I nor people I know have ever experienced this firsthand. Anyway, to be on the safe side, if your library has disappeared and you can’t stream any other music either, check if the Apple Music server is operational:

1. Visit the System Status page.
2. See if there’s a green or red light next to Apple Music.

Even if the Apple Music server is down, it should be back online within a few minutes. Also, check out this: how to fix Apple Music is not working issue.

Not enough available storage on Mac

If you can’t retrieve music from iCloud and your music library is not syncing offline properly, it might be due to the lack of storage space on your Mac. 

One way to help restore Music songs on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac is by manually finding and deleting files that take up a lot of space. To do this, go to System Settings > General, then click the i next to Documents. From there, you can review and delete unnecessary large files. Unfortunately, this method doesn’t allow you to sort files by date to find old, forgotten ones, but it can still be useful.

Another type of file that can quietly eat up gigabytes of space is system junk. Removing it manually is nearly impossible and feels like torture.

Given these challenges, I rely on a Mac care app called CleanMyMac for all my cleaning tasks. It makes the process quick and painless.

CleanMyMac is a quick and powerful way to clean and speed up your Mac in seconds. It features a wide range of scans, from malware to system junk, and lets you delete large, unused, and useless files instantly. 

To use CleanMyMac to free up space: 

1. Download and open the app.
2. Navigate to Cleanup and click Scan.
3. Remove System Junk.

I never hesitate to take this step because deleting system junk is completely safe (and even beneficial!).

How to back up your Apple Music library

Now that you can retrieve music from iCloud again, the last important step is to make a backup you can depend on in case your files ever get lost again.

You can use Time Machine for this — it’s completely free and built into your Mac, ready whenever you need it. However, I prefer using another tool, Get Backup Pro, because it’s a bit more convenient for me. Unlike Time Machine, it lets me back up individual files and folders with ease and creates archives that are up to 60% more compact. Plus, it's more than intuitive: 

Get Backup Pro makes any type of backup easy, whether you’re looking for simple copy, clone, incremental, or versioned options. You can specify a schedule, a folder, and a destination (e.g. external hard drive). You can even synchronize files between two Macs. Recovering any files is just as easy, and you don’t even need Get Backup Pro installed to recover them. 

Final words on restoring the Apple Music library

Ensuring your music doesn’t go missing on your iPhone or Mac isn’t always as simple as tweaking a few Apple Music settings. Sometimes, you risk losing your library due to a subscription pause, and it can't be put back. And some issues can only be solved with the third-party apps I mentioned earlier (Disk Drill for file recovery, CleanMyMac X for freeing up disk space, and Get Backup Pro).

Would I buy these apps just for fixing Music? Probably not — I’m pretty flexible when it comes to music. But I use these apps for tons of other tasks (especially CleanMyMac), and they’re part of a Setapp subscription, a platform with 250+ apps for just $9.99 a month. So, fixing a Music issue essentially costs me nothing. Why not take advantage of it?

New subscribers can try Setapp free for 7 days.