How to Transfer Songs from your iPod to an iTunes Library

It took me a lot of time and research to figure out how to keep all of my songs when syncing to a new computer, but you can do it in about five minutes. Here's how:

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. First, you will need to download the program Media Monkey. No worries; I found it for free, and you can get it from a very safe & trusted site. Go to www.filehippo.com and download the beta version of Media Monkey. When you download the program, do not set it as your default music player. You will only be using this as a temporary storage, and will want to keep iTunes as the default player.

2. Once downloaded, go ahead and hook your iPod up to your computer. This should bring up the iTunes Library. Leave it open. Then, go to your desktop and open Media Monkey as well. Your iPod name and icon should show up in the folder list on the left-hand side. Click your iPod icon. All of your music should show up. The songs will have weird alphabetical designations, but don't sweat it. Later, the titles will show up as normal in you iTunes Library.

3. Now, select all of the songs in the Media Monkey window (ctrl + A) and then copy them to the clipboard (ctrl + C). Open your personal folder, (the one where you keep Documents, Pictures, and Music) and then open the Download folder. Create a new folder within the Download folder and name it "My Tunes." Now paste the copied files (ctrl + V) into the My Tunes folder and you're almost done.

4. Go back to the iTunes Library, click File (very top left of the page), and click Add Folder to Library. This will bring up the Browse for Folder box. Open your personal folder. Select Downloads, and then select the My Tunes folder. Double click the folder or click Open, and voila! Your music should start uploading to iTunes right away.

Tips & Warnings

• If there are any songs that won't play, go to Store (drop down menu at top left of your iTunes Library) and select Authorize Computer. Input your info, and you're off to the races. Good Luck!

[ismihalu1]

on 12/24/2009 Genius! I spent hours trying to transfer my iPod music to my iTunes library. Now, I'm no tech wiz but I'm not an idiot either. Tried another online suggestion, to no avail. Between the software and the simple, easy instructions here, I was done in 5 minutes. Could have been finished sooner too, but didn't trust myself and double checked everything twice b/c it seemed so simple. Thank you!

[ceholmes]

on 9/10/2009 this is very informative and def something ppl need to know, thanks for your help!! 5* and recom

[cindythelam]

on 7/21/2009 I need help. I can't copy from the Media Monkey to "My iTunes" for some reason.

[bebehelp]

on 6/30/2009 omg. whoever u r. thanks. it worked so well and the directions were so easy to follow. so simple. i spent hours tryin to do it with so other program and it SUCKED. ur a time saver.

[JoeIllingworth]

on 6/18/2009 Worked Great to get my iPod music into iTunes on a new computer. Thank You So Much!

Any suggestions on what files I can now delete? Am I likely to have other uses for MediaMonkey or should I remove it?