Dear Lifehacker,
I've just gotten a new Mac and want to transfer my music onto it, but I don't have an easy way to get it off my old computer. Is there a simple, free way I can just transfer it from my iPod or iPhone?
Sincerely,
Infuriated with iPods
Dear Infuriated,
Computer programs abound for solving this problem, though most of them are either pay apps or needlessly complicated (though Windows users are lucky to have an awesome program called Sharepod that'll do it quickly and easily for free). But, if you're on a Mac and want to bypass the shareware and other complicated methods, there is an easy, foolproof way to get all your music off almost any iPod or iPhone, no jailbreaking required. Here's how to do it.
Note: This works with every iPod except old click wheel iPods that were formatted for use with a Mac. So, if you're a Mac user and you have a click wheel iPod (as opposed to an iPhone or iPod touch), you'll still have to use one of the other, more complicated methods.
Step One: Find Your Device's Music Folder
If you have an iPhone or iPod touch, you'll need a free program called iPhone Explorer to do this. Just download it, install it, and start it up. Look under User > Media > iTunes_Control > Music in the left sidebar. This is where your music is stored.
If you're on an older iPod, plug it in and start up iTunes. Click on the iPod in the left sidebar and check the box that says "Enable Disk Mode". If you're on a Mac, you'll need to show hidden files using this terminal command, while Windows users can open up Windows Explorer and click on the iPod in the sidebar. If you don't see the iPod_Control folder, go to Organize > Folder and Search Options and hit the View tab. Click the "Show Hidden Files, Folders, and Drives" radio button and hit OK. You should see a folder called iPod_Control show up, in which you'll find all your music.
Step Two: Open Up iTunes
The iPod_Control folder houses all your music, but its in a cryptic and hard-to-understand file structure. This doesn't matter, since we're just going to transfer all of it directly into iTunes, and iTunes will sort it out for us. Open up iTunes and head to Edit > Preferences (or, on a Mac, iTunes > Preferences). Click the Advanced tab and make sure both boxes are checked on this page—both to Keep the iTunes Media Folder Organized and to Copy Files to iTunes Media Folder. This will ensure that iTunes copies all that music to your computer and renames all your songs for you.
Step Three: Drag, Drop, and Wait
Lastly, just click on "Music" in iTunes' sidebar, select the "iPod_Control" folder inside iPhone Explorer, and drag the "Music" folder from the right pane into the main iTunes window. It should start copying all of your music over into your library, and when it's done, you should have everything restored. Note that this method does not restore playlists, videos, or podcasts; you'd need to use one of the other specialized programs to do that (though you can always just re-subscribe to podcasts manually, they're free anyways).
It isn't the perfect method, but it's the easiest, most consistent method we've found, and it's completely free. Of course, if you're on Windows, you'd be better off using Sharepod, or if you need playlists, videos, and podcasts, you'll have to use a pay program like Senuti for Mac to get the job done. Check out our guide to Sharepod and Senuti for more information on how to use those tools. Good luck!
Sincerely,
Lifehacker
P.S. Got your own favorite method for getting music off an iPod or iPhone? Share it with us in the comments.