How Do I Take My Music From a CD & Put it on an iPod?

Use iTunes to rip music from a CD to your iPod.

You can add or remove music, videos and podcasts to and from your iPod using Apple's iTunes software. In order to take music from a CD and put it on your iPod, you'll need to first copy the music from the CD to your iTunes library through a process called "ripping." From there, you can sync your iPod to iTunes and copy the music from your iTunes library to your device.

Things You'll Need

• iTunes
• iPod USB cable

Instructions

1. Double-click the iTunes icon on your desktop to open iTunes.

2. Insert the music CD that you want to add to your iPod into the CD or DVD drive on your computer. Allow the computer to read the CD; a list of songs on the CD will appear on iTunes. Ensure that each song title has a check-mark to the left of its title.

3. Click the "Import CD" button at the bottom-right corner of the iTunes program window. Allow iTunes to rip the music from the CD to your computer. A status bar will appear at the top of the iTunes window displaying the progress of the transfer. A green check-mark will appear to the left of each title to show that it successfully transferred.

4. Connect your iPod to your computer using the iPod USB cable. The name of your iPod will appear below the "Devices" section on the left of iTunes.

5. Click on "Music" in the left-hand side of iTunes. Select the songs you want to copy to your iPod, in this case all the songs from the CD you just ripped to iTunes. You can click on "Album by Artist," "Name," "Artist" or "Genre" to sort the music in iTunes by the appropriate type. Press and hold the "Ctrl" button and click to highlight multiple items.

6. Click on the group of highlighted songs and drag them to your iPod's menu beneath "Devices." Allow iTunes to copy the songs to your iPod. Another status bar will appear at the top of iTunes, letting you know when iTunes is finished.

7. Click "Eject" to the right of your iPod's name under "Devices," then manually disconnect your iPod from your computer.

References

• Ricky Says: How do I Copy Music From a CD to My iPod
• Ask Dave Taylor: How do I Put Music on My Apple iPod?
• Apple: Syncing music to iPod or iPhone
• Apple: Safely Disconnect iPod

Resources

• Apple: iTunes Download