Having all of your music suddenly disappear from your Apple Music library can be incredibly frustrating. There are a few potential reasons why this may have happened, and some steps you can take to try to restore your missing songs.
Did Your Apple Music Subscription Expire?
One of the most common reasons for music disappearing from Apple Music is that your subscription expired. Apple Music works on a subscription model, meaning you need to pay a monthly or annual fee to maintain access to the full catalog of music.
If your credit card on file expires or you otherwise fail to pay your subscription fee, Apple Music will revert your account to the free tier. This means you will lose access to any songs you had previously saved from the Apple Music catalog, since those require a paid subscription.
To check on your subscription status, open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad, select your name at the top, then choose Subscriptions. This will show you the status of your Apple Music membership.
If your subscription has lapsed, you simply need to renew it, either by updating your payment info or purchasing a new subscription. Once you do this, all of your previously saved Apple Music content should reappear in your library.
Check Your iCloud Music Library Settings
Another potential culprit is your settings for iCloud Music Library. This is Apple’s cloud-based storage for your Apple Music collection. If something went wrong with iCloud Music Library syncing, it could result in music disappearing.
To check your settings, go to Settings > Music > Toggle on iCloud Music Library. Make sure Download and Keep Music is also enabled here. This ensures your Apple Music collection is always synced with iCloud.
If you had iCloud Music Library disabled for a time, re-enabling it should trigger a re-sync and restore any missing music that is still in your iCloud collection.
Re-Download Any Missing Songs
Assuming your songs are still in your Apple Music library but just disappeared from your devices, you may be able to get them back by streaming them again. This will re-download the songs so they once again appear in your My Music section.
To do this, search for each missing song or album and tap the download icon next to it. Alternatively, you can go to your account profile, select Playlists, then scroll through your Recently Added section – any missing songs that are still in your account will be listed there and can be re-downloaded.
Contact Apple Support
If you’ve verified your subscription is active, double checked your iCloud Music Library settings, and tried re-downloading missing content to no avail, your next step is to contact Apple Support directly.
Describe the issue to them in detail, noting when you first noticed the missing music, any troubleshooting steps you’ve tried, and the scope of the missing songs (whether it’s your whole library or just select albums/artists).
Apple Support has tools to investigate sync errors and restore missing content if it still exists in your iCloud Music Library. They may be able to identify and resolve the issue on their end.
Did You Accidentally Delete Songs?
Beyond subscription or syncing issues, another possibility is that you or someone else who uses your Apple Music account accidentally deleted songs from your library.
This can happen fairly easily by swiping left on a song or album and selecting Remove from Library. If you or someone who had access to your devices and account did this extensively, it could remove a lot of music all at once.
Check Your Recently Deleted Playlist
When songs are deleted directly from your Apple Music library, they get moved to a Recently Deleted playlist. You can browse this playlist to see if your missing songs are still there.
To access it, pull up the Playlists tab in your Apple Music Library. Scroll down until you see the Recently Deleted section. You’ll find all of your recently removed songs there.
Tap any song to re-add it your Music library. If you see a lot or all of your missing content here, you can restore it with a couple taps.
Restore From a Backup
If the deleted songs do not appear in your Recently Deleted playlist, your next option is to restore your music library from a backup.
Connect your iPhone or iPad to your computer. Open iTunes or Finder on a Mac. Go to the device summary page and look for backups available to restore from. Click Restore to load the backup – this will overwrite your current library and replace any missing songs.
You can also use iCloud backups for this process. On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Your Name > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups > Select backup > Restore from [date].
Re-Add the Missing Songs
If you don’t have a backup handy that would contain the deleted songs, your final option is to search for each missing track individually and re-add it.
Open up Apple Music and look up each song or album you know is gone from My Music. Tap the + icon to re-add it. This is time consuming but will ultimately restore your library.
To avoid this issue in the future, you can disable the option for deleting songs in Settings > Music by toggling off Show Delete Songs.
Did You Unsync Your Library from a Computer?
If you previously managed your Apple Music or iTunes collection through a desktop computer, an issue with syncing and unsyncing could also lead to songs disappearing from your devices.
For many years, Apple allowed users to sync their iTunes libraries across devices using a wired or WiFi connection. If you disconnected a device without properly unsyncing first, or otherwise disrupted the syncing process, it could affect the music collection on that device.
Essentially, any music you didn’t specifically download to the device could be removed when it is no longer drawing from the synced desktop library.
Sync With Computer Again
If the missing songs are still present in your iTunes library on your computer, you may be able to get them back on your device by syncing again.
Connect your phone or tablet to your computer via a USB cable. Open iTunes. Select your device on the menu and go to the Music tab. Make sure Sync Music is checked and songs you want are selected.
Then click Apply in the lower right. This will overwrite your device’s music library with what is on your computer. Any music purchased on the device itself will remain untouched.
Transfer Your iTunes Library
If syncing isn’t working properly, a more drastic step is to completely transfer your iTunes collection from your desktop to your device.
To do this, go to your device’s Music Settings. Turn on Sync Library under iTunes Match. This will upload your entire iTunes library to iCloud Music Library, making it accessible on your phone or tablet.
Once uploaded, go back to Music Settings and turn on iCloud Music Library. Choose Replace to overwrite your existing device library with the music now in iCloud.
Redownload Purchased Songs
If neither syncing or transferring your full library works, your remaining option is to redownload any purchased iTunes songs one at a time.
Go to the iTunes Store on your computer. Click Account > View My Account. Go to Purchase History to view all previous purchases.
Find any missing purchased songs here and download them again. Then transfer them back to your device via USB or WiFi sync.
Did You Switch Between Individual and Family Plans?
Switching between Apple Music’s Individual and Family subscription plans can also lead to music disappearing in certain instances.
With an Individual plan, all saved Apple Music content is tied solely to you. But a Family plan shares content across up to 6 people through Family Sharing.
If you switch plans without taking proper precautions, the change in how content licensing is handled can cause songs to be removed from your library.
Music Saved Under Different Apple IDs
If you had songs in your library that were added by other family members, those would only be licensed under a Family plan. If you switched to an Individual plan, that licensing may be revoked and those songs removed.
To avoid this, check that all songs are saved under your personal Apple ID before switching. Have other family members remove any content saved under their own accounts from shared devices beforehand.
Re-Adding Family Members’ Content
If you already made the plan switch, you can restore missing songs saved under other family members’ Apple IDs in a couple ways:
- Switch back to a Family plan – all previously licensed shared songs should reappear
- Log in as the family member who originally added the song and re-add it
- Have that family member send the song to you via Messages, which will add it to your personal library
Downloaded Songs Limit Reached
Finally, switching plans could also cause issues if you reached the download limit for songs with your Individual plan. That plan has a limit of 100,000 downloads per device.
Under a Family plan, the downloads are instead shared across your whole family. If you switched plans after hitting that Individual limit, some downloads may have been removed.
Switching back to a Family plan should restore access as downloads are now collectively shared. Or you’ll need to re-download any songs removed once the limit was exceeded.
How to Prevent Music from Disappearing Again
Once you’ve restored your missing songs through the steps above, you’ll want to take measures to prevent this issue happening again. Here are some tips:
- Always keep an active, valid subscription – set up auto-renew if possible
- Leave iCloud Music Library enabled to ensure continuous syncing
- Disable option to delete songs from your library
- Don’t remove devices from syncing without unsyncing properly first
- Carefully manage transitions between Individual and Family plans
- Maintain backups you can restore from if needed
Back Up Your Music Library
One of the best protective measures you can take is to maintain regular backups of your Apple Music library. This gives you the ability to restore songs if anything ever gets deleted or lost.
You have a few options for backing up your music library:
- Use iTunes or Finder to sync and backup to your computer
- Enable iCloud Music Library to backup your library online
- Use third-party apps to export your library and playlists
Backups give you peace of mind that your music collection is safe. Be sure to backup regularly before making any major changes like unsyncing a device or switching Apple Music plans.
Conclusion
Having songs mysteriously disappear from Apple Music can certainly be alarming. But in many cases, it is possible to get your music back.
Review your Apple Music subscription status, iCloud Library settings, device backups and sync configurations. Try re-adding any missing content that is still available.
Contact Apple Support if you cannot resolve the issue on your own. And be cautious when making changes that could impact your music library, like unsyncing devices or switching between subscription plans.
Regular backups provide the best protection against losing your Apple Music collection. With the proper precautions, you can hopefully avoid this frustrating issue happening again in the future.