How to extract songs off your iPod using iTunes
Question ” How do I extract songs that are on my iPod into my music library on my computer? “
Well, for this problem, we are going to use a software application which you should/would have if using an iPod, the good ol’ iTunes. Below is a simple 4 step process in which we can accomplish our goal.
Step # 1: Convert your iPod to act as a drive on your computer
As soon as you plug in your iPod to your computer, the OS would recognize the external device and install the drivers needed for it. Now go to ‘My Computer’, and see if your iPod is being recognized as a disk drive. Your iPod should fall inline after any extra hardrives or Cd-Roms and should read ‘Removable Disk’. If your iPod is showing up, great! You have completed step 1.
Step # 2: Enable ‘View hidden files’ on your iPod
This next step requires us to actually see what is on the iPod through windows explorer. Double click on your iPod icon.
Once it’s opened, go to Tools > Folder Options and click the View tab. You’ll see a bunch of different options for the way Windows displays files. In the Hidden files and folders section, select “Show hidden files and folders”, then click OK. Then close that window. Now we are able to view hidden files.
It is a little bit different if you are using Windows Vista
First double click on your iPod icon in Windows Explorer. Then click on Organize ->Folder and Search Options. In there click on the View tab then enable the show the hidden files and folders option and click OK.
Step # 3: Enable your iTunes to view the hidden songs on your iPod
After you enabled the ‘View hidden files’ option, you will see a new greyed out folder in your iPod drive. The folder name is Ipod_Control. Once you enter this folder, you will see three hidden folders: Device, iTunes and Music. The Music folder is the one storing all the music on your iPod. However the files are also hidden and your iTunes can’t see hidden files. So, right click on the Music Folder, and select properties. There should be a section that says attributes. Uncheck the hidden box and click apply. It will then ask you how you want to apply these changes. Select the “apply changes to selected subfolders and files” and click ok. Now your files should be visible for iTunes to see them.
Step # 4: Import songs through iTunes
We are going to now import the songs through iTunes using the consolidate feature in iTunes.The consolidate option is under file tab in iTunes, then Librarywith a little arrow beside it. Move mouse over that and you should see the option to consolidate library. This will copy all you songs in your iTunes Library to My Music->iTunes->iTunes Music, so if you ever need to find any songs file from your iTunes Library you will go to My Music->iTunes->iTunes Music.
Before we do this, if you are using iTunes 7, make sure that your iPod is set to manually update. If not, click on Edit tab, and click preferences. Choose iPod and first tab, Music. On the third selection you can tell your iPod to manually update. Now we are ready.
Next choose file from top menu, and add folder to library… Now browse to the iPod that is acting as a hard drive, click and open iPod control, and you should see a music folder now. When music is blue select ok, and watch all your songs from your iPod be imported into iTunes. Now that these files are in iTunes you see that the funny letters and numbers for each song do not show up anymore. Now we have our songs in the library and the actual song files are still on the iPod.
Note: If you were to disconnect your iPod the songs would not play in iTunes.
To copy all songs in your iTunes library to your computer we will use the consolidate feature, which will bring all songs from your iPod to your My music/iTunes/iTunes Music/ folder and sort the artists into folders nice and neat.
You are all set… congratulations!
Update from our user RS
By using the technique outlined in this article, if you copy the songs from your ipod to your itunes library you have to consolidate your library after. And this means you have to make a copy of your entire iTunes Library and most people have over 20gb of songs and they only want to copy the ones from their ipod.
To copy only the songs from your ipod.
After you checked off the box to see the hidden files in the Ipod_Control Properties. Go back to iTunes and click on Edit->Preferences->Advanced and check the box Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library.
After this you can continue the steps above and click on File->Add Folder To Library->My Computer->Removable Drive (iPOD being regonized as a hard drive)->Ipod_Control->Music and then click OK.
The songs from your iPod will be in iTunes and the names of the songs will appear eventually. And you will be able to play the songs without your iPod plugged in.
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Hi everyone.
What's a good alternative to the IPOD?
I'm wondering if any of you can recommend a good MP3 player that is comparable to the IPod but WITHOUT they hype and price tabe to go with it.
I was at the apple store a few days ago, and really liked the new 40GB or 80GB IPods that also show video, but was wondering if I could get the same kind of funcationality without that heftly price tag.
any creative is well worth your money, without all the itunes hassle – very simply, sony walkmans are a good bet but are more prone to malfunction =D
Hey Izaiah, I would recommend the new Microsoft’s Zune. For $250 you get a 30Gig video as well as mp3 player unlike apple’s video ipod which is almost $100 more.
Thanks for the rundown of how to transfer songs from my ipod to my library. I worked like a dream! I was a little scarred that the file names of the songs wouldn´t change but they did eventually.
This method always works like a charm
Could you tell me how to play the songs which have been extracted from the ipod to itunes using the computer. Every time I go into a song previously extracted I need the file. The song only plays from the computer when the ipod is connected.
I´ve got other songs already stored into my computer and the files are on my hard drive.
do I need to save the songs onto a seperate hard dirve? If so, how?
Cheers.
This system worked great! Thanks!
Benz, you didn’t read the last part of the instructions, you need to “Consolidate” from iTunes to actually transfer the songs (you just transfered shortcuts to the songs on your ipod). I think it’s in Advanced> Consolidate Library. It takes a really long time.
good luck.
Everything works perfectly for me until the last step, when I am suppose to click on the ipod_control icon…I cannot click on it, and it doesn’t expand. I try just clicking on it to highlight it, and then doing the add folders to library action, but nothing happens. I should mention that this is my brother’s ipod which he gave to me after I lost mine, so it is not registered to my computer…is that a problem?
I could not find another website that had such user friendly steps! This worked perfectly, and I’m so glad I found this page! I’m also thrilled that you included instructions for Vista, because that became a big problem trying to find instructions to match it. No one has anything published for Vista yet, but you! Thank you so much! You saved me an eternity of time!
after i click on the “music” folder in the “add folder to library” step, nothing happens! nothing gets added to my library?! any ideas?!
hey my music folders are not visible in My Computer.Ipod doesnt show music folder in my computer.pls help……
My ipod isnt showing MY MUSIC folder in my computer??????help
To Benz: I double checked it and i did everything u told. unlocking hidden files and all the others. but when i click the “conslidate to library” nothing really happens. it doesn’t take any LOOONg time, just nothing. hmm.. is there answer to this?
i did everything u told, and i double checked it.
but when i click consolidate to library, nothing really happens. It doesn’t take long time, but no time.
is there answer to this?
Open iTunes, go to File, go down to Add Folder to Library
I didnt consolidate library i just added a folder
works great
This website rocks, was perfect. Helped a whole lot. Awesome
I need to “UNhide” my files, but i cant find “TOOLS” anywhere, and im getting really upset!!!
Where the heck is that thing
hey everything worked til the last bit, wen i select ipod contol, music, then ok, nuthing happens?
My son wants to transfer to his music to his own computer. Mine crashed (which is were it was stored) itunes is not even loaded on his yet. Should we load itunes first or move the music off first?
Thanks
thank you sooo much!!
it worked like a charm
and now i have my ipod music
on my new laptop
CHEERZ!…
you rock
Thank you so much! This is working cute. With this trick, I retrieved all my songs from iPod and loaded into my new computer’s iTunes. Thanks a ton!!
(using Vista)…clicked on MUSIC and OK and nothing happened. i see where others have had this problem but some haven’t. has anybody found an answer to this problem? if so, please let me know! THANKS
Hey everybody! I suggest to all of you that have some kind of trouble following the steps to review very carefully what you’re doing. In fact it’s really easy what we’re doing here (I don’t know why I didn’t think to do it this way before!!!) Even tought the files (.mp3) are encrypted on everybody’s iPod with funny names, the mp3’s IDTag that is within any mp3 file in this universe keeps all the info we store from iTunes…
After all this, we’re calling itself every file from the iPod itself into de iTunes library, and all you need is to tell iTnes where those files are!!! (E.g. n:\iPod_control\Music, where “n” is any unit asigned by windows to your iPod acting as an external massive storage drive). Then, to to finish this great job what we do when we Consolidate the library it’s like if we were telling the iTunes: Please, copy all this music from wherever it is to my iTunes music folder, and we actally know where exactly are those files: On our very same iPod!!!
Now, if some of you are having some trouble with this, I leave some tips:
1- If you DIDN’T activate the iTunes’s checkbox Manually manage music”, I’m sorry, in the moment that you connected your iPod to an empty (or diferent) iTunes’s library you replaced anything that was on your iPod with that (nothing or new music, but you replaced the files!!!)
2- You MUST remove the hidden attribute from the Music folder (and all subfolders and files contained by it) in order to add those files to the library.
3- The most imporatnt thing!!! Configure windows to see hidden files (Top menu on My PC, Tools, Folder options, Show bla bla bla…) Open iPod_control folder, open Music folder and get sure there’s something on it!!! If the folder is empty or its content does not correspond to the music files you’re looking for (for any reason!)… forgeit, there’s no simple way you can get those files back to your hard drive, sorry.
Well, I hope this info will be helpful for someone ñ_ñ
thanks that helped a lot! i never would have been able to do this without this. you saved me hours of redownloading! thanks
You Shit hawk moron, I wasted time doing this and yes it works UNITL YOU REALIZE THE TRACKS ONLY PLAY WHILE YOUR IPOD IS ATTACHED……….what good is this???????
As I thought, YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO “EXTRACT” songs “OFF” your Ipod thru itunes asshole
what is the consolidate feature and how do you get there?
Thank you sooooo much! This made my day!
Hey this is for the guys who cannot finally put thier songs from thier ipod onto thier itunes files
all you need to do is go to ipod control then to music and it comes with all these different files (F00 F01 etc) drag the folders which are hidden onto your library (the ones which are transparant)
KTHXBI x
Hello everybody!
This guide is great, I did this a couple of years ago but it was on an really old version of itunes and I guess apple just try to make this process harder with the new versions.
anyway, a lot of folks are asking about the “consolidate” function. It is found under the Advanced tab in iTunes. It simply puts iTunes up to date with the files on the iPod. It gathers the library, which is the translation in the swedish version of iTunes
However, when I consolidate, it works for a while then an error occurs (-50) and I have to restart the process again. The files that were transfered before the error occured are safe in iTunes, but I have to consolidate over and over again until I get all the stuff from the ipod. Could this be caused by some strange files on the ipod, and when itunes try to import them, the shit hits the fan?
Cheers
how to extrac musics from my ipod touch
To Miranda- Are you using Vista? I was, and i couldn’t find the “Tools” button anywhere. But then I started looking around and you just have to hit the “ALT” key when you are at the page and then a new toolbar will come up. Hope that helped.
Hello
I can’t get past the first step of this. When I connect my ipod to the PC it doesn’t show as a separate drive in My Computer. Can you tell me why this might be?
Cheers
Dan, are you sure that when you plugged your iPod in, and opened iTunes, that you clicked Manually Update? If not, it’s right on the main menu of your ipod in itunes. everything is working so far, i’m waitint for everything to upload so i can consolidate. the next question i have though is i’m working off of a second library in itunes for my external hard drive and i don’t know how to manage those songs just for my itunes library on my external hard drive, not the library on the desktop computer. anyone have suggestions?
i did everything and all of the songs went into my library, when i sycned the songs, it wiped them from my ipod then said it could not locate the songs anymore, and they werent in the folder where i got them from origonally!. im really upset, can you help me
thanks
Follow the directions completly and you will be able to play the songs using Itunes without your iPod connected.
The only problem with this method is the files on your computer still have the cryptic “TXCV” file names. Even some of the files in the itunes library have the cryptic name.
I wanted a way to extract the songs with the names to my hard drive. I wanted to be able to play them without loading Itunes. I found a free program called Music Rescue. It loads directly on your iPod and runs directly from your iPod. No software gets installed on the host computer. There is both the Windows and MAC version in the same download. I do not have the web site. Search Google and Yahoo for about 15 minutes and you will find several other FREE utilities out there that do the same iPod extraction.
Hey,
I did all the steps word for word but on that final step I highlight music, then I click ok, nothing happends. I tryed moving each file seperatly but that doesnt work either. If anyone can help, that would be great.
Thanks.
MY FIRST QUESTION IS: CAN I PLAY ALL THE MUSIC I EXTRACTED WITHOUT HAVING THE IPOD PLUGGED IN?
EVERYTHING WORKED UP TO THE POINT THAT YOU CONSOLIDATE. I CHOSE TO CONSOLIDATE, THEN IT TOLD ME THAT THERE IS NOT ENOUGH ROOM TO COPY IN TO DRIVE C. I HAVE 2 HARD DRIVES, ONE WITH NOTHING BUT MUSIC. WHAT SHOULD I DO? I TRIED TO CUT AND PASTE ITUNES AND THE MUSIC LIBRARY TO MY SECOND DRIVE AND ITUNES IS STILL TRYING TO CONSOLIDATE TO DRIVE C. SO IM THINKING ABOUT DELETING ITUNES ALL TOGETHER AND INSTALLING IT STRAIGHT TO MY SECOND DRIVE ALONG WITH ALL MY MUSIC FILES. WILL THAT WORK? PLEASE HELP
is this method for mac or pc? all the screen shots look like a pc, is there a method for macs?
This message is for those having trouble extracting their songs into the pc after adding the files to itunes… after you add the folder and your ipod finds the songs and adds them to the music file then u must go to advanced> consolidate and click on that…this will copy all of the songs into the music folder of the itunes library…it works i just did it and it works so Ian stop being an asshole and follow the instructions… consolidate your songs and u will be able to play the songs without being plugged in… by the way it worked with the latest Itunes and Ipod software…
good job friend! nice and easy. thks for the sharing. for once i thought i would lose all my music and videos from my ipod video and thought i had to re-convert and re-download them all over again.
but one tip here after u’ve done it sucessfully, i.e. nv change the funny-lettered file names, ur ipod would not be able to play them. i thought after renaming the file names i could easily locate my videos and songs in future, after doing so, my ipod just dun play the video at all (i din try on the music yet tho). and never try to minimize the no. of folders (F00, F01, F02, etc..). i tried to put all the files into 2 folders, 1 for music and 1 for videos, this might hv been one of the reasons why my videos didnt play. but thank God i kept a backup of the funny-lettered files. now i’m in the midst or re-importing them into my ipod..
thanks again dude..or babe.. keke.. :B
THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!! THIS HELPED A TON! THANKS AGAIN
Thank You soooo much! I’ve been trying to figure this out for a long time. This was so easy and helped me 100%. Thank you again, i really apreciate this lol
hi.. now i think i followed your steps…. but i have experienced a slight hicup… after reformating my ipod.. when i try to tranfer the music back to the ipod…. i get a message saying ‘ cannot be transfered because the original file cannot be found.’
do you know what i’ve done wrong?? is there anything i can do to access my music????
thanks
I did all of it but now I can’t edit my song info in ipod. i have vista and i right click on a song in the ipod section on get info. then it shows the info like the artist and song etc. but then i can’t edit it anymore it’s just grey.
Thanks so much for these step-by-step instructions and kudos for adding the Vista info! In all of 30 mins I have added all the songs on my ipod to the new drive in my laptop – worked like a charm!!! Works so well in fact that I was tipped off to this posting when I called an iStore and was told to come here!!!!!
I need to set up a PalPay acct, but think I will be buying you a couple of beers. Good luck at school.
HOW THE HECK DO YOU IMPROT SONGS FROM AN IPOD TOUCH?!?!? I give you kudos for giving the info for everything elso tho
thank you soooo much for this!!
it’s worked a charm so far, although i’ll wait ’til it’s finished consolidating until I breathe easy
i thought it was impossible to do this without third party softwear, but evidently not. THANK YOU
Thanks so much putting this info out I was freaking out thinking thtat i would be able to transfer all my old music from my old ipod to my new one. i recently had all my cds stolen out of my car ;-( so i was straving for a way to get music!
This was a huge help! I was thinking I’d have to transfer all my music files on a flash drive or use some 3rd party software, but this worked great!
you dont need to consolidate your music what i did was went to edit- prefrences then under the advance tab then the general tab within that tick copy files to itunes music folder so when you add the wired named files into itunes it will copy to your itunes music folder on C: drive and it will be named properly aswell.