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How to download songs from Apple Music and listen offline
Despite more generous data plans and Wi-Fi cell towers being available, there will still always be times when you step into an internet blindspot. Maybe you’re off on a hike in the countryside, or you live in Montana? Whatever the reason, if you want to use Apple Music offline, you will need to download your music while you’re still connected to the internet. Here’s how to get it done before your internet blinks out and you’re transported back to the Dark Ages.
QUICK ANSWER
To download Apple Music offline, go to the album you want to listen to offline and click the downwards arrow. Alternatively, click the three-dot icon, and then Download.
JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS
How to listen to Apple Music offline on the desktop app
To download an Apple Music album for offline listening, go to the album in the Music app. You must have an internet connection at this stage. At the far right of the screen, you will see a downwards pointing arrow. Click that to begin downloading the entire album.
Another method to begin the download process is to click the three-dot menu to the right of the downward arrow. In the drop-down menu, select Download.
You will now see download progress bars showing how long you have to wait.
When the downloads are finished, the downwards arrow will be replaced by a tick, and each song will have a downwards arrow next to it.
To view your downloaded music, go to the Music folder on your computer. You will now see an Apple Music sub-folder. In there, you will find your newly downloaded music.
If you no longer wish to listen to the music anymore, you can remove the downloads by going back to the Music app. Then click the three-dot button and select Remove Download from the menu.
If you don’t want to download the whole album, but only certain songs, you can instead mouse over the song and click the download button that appears (the downwards arrow).
How to listen to Apple Music offline on the mobile app
If you’re going to be out and about where there’s no internet connection, you will most likely need to download the music to your mobile phone or iPad. Downloading Apple Music for offline listening is more or less the same on the mobile Music app. You just have to make sure you have enough space on your device for the files.
Go to the album you wish to listen to offline and tap the three-dot icon. Select Download.
You’ll now see a download progress bar for each song.
When the download is finished, you will see a tick at the top of the screen and downwards-pointing arrows next to each song.
To find your music, go to the Library tab and tap Downloaded.
If you look at the bottom of the next page, you will find the album under Recently Downloaded.
To remove the album later, tap the three-dot menu again and select Remove. It will ask you if you want to remove the downloads. Tap the option, and the music will be deleted.
FAQs
The music will be deleted from your computer. You can only listen to downloaded Apple Music files if you are a paying subscriber.
Apple Music lets you upload your own music, but if you want to listen to it offline on different devices, you will have to download it on that device just like any other song.
There could be a few reasons that you can’t play your Apple Music downloads while offline:
- As mentioned above, your subscription may no longer be active. Even if it is active, you may not have connected to the internet recently enough for your device to have verified this. Try to get a brief data or Wi-Fi connection to address this.
- You may be running low on storage space on your device, thereby not allowing the music you thought you had downloaded to be stored. Check your storage space.
- Try restarting your device. Always worth a try if there are playback issues.
As mentioned above, your music will generally be available offline for as long as you’re subscribed to the service. But if the song is removed from Apple Music, it will also be removed from your device.
No, Apple Music songs can only be downloaded and played within the Apple Music app on your device. You cannot download or transfer them to an external storage device such as an SD card or USB drive.