[2 Ways] How to Download Music from iCloud to Computer

Apple offers a convenient way to help us store our music collection. That’s iCloud Music Library, which can help us store up to 100,000 songs. As long as you have subscribed to Apple Music or iTunes Match, you can access all your songs on all your devices. That’s to say, you can add music to iCloud Music Library from computer, iPhone, or iPad, then you can access all the uploaded songs whenever you are connected to the network.

However, you can only play them when you are connected to the network. If you want to enjoy the songs offline, you need to download them beforehand. Here in this guide, I’ll focus on how to download music from iCloud to computer, including the way to automatically download all songs.

Part 1. How to download music from iCloud to computer

There are two ways that can help download music from iCloud to PC. You can choose to download the songs you need manually or let iTunes download all the songs for you.

● First of all, please make sure that iCloud Music Library is enabled, you can go to Preferences > General to have a check.
● In addition, make sure your computer is connected to a stable network, otherwise, it may take a long time if you want to download a large number of songs. If the network is poor or you want to download iCloud music to your family’s computer, you can go to Part 2 to see how to directly transfer downloaded music from iPhone to computer.

Way 1. How to transfer music from iCloud to computer

Here are the steps to download selected songs from iCloud to computer.

Step 1. Open iTunes and go to your library.

Step 2. Click View from the menu bar > Choose Show View Options.

Step 3. On the pop-up window, tick the box next to iCloud Download.

Step 4. If a song has not been downloaded on computer, it has an iCloud Download button (shaped like a cloud) next to it.

• You can click iCloud Download button to download the song on computer.
• Or you can select multiple songs by clicking Ctrl key and download them at once.

Once songs are downloaded to your computer, they remain in your computer's iTunes library forever, even if you turn off iCloud Music Library.

Way 2. How to download all music from iCloud to computer 

There is an option that allows you to automatically download all newly added content. You can take advantage of this feature to download all music from iTunes iCloud to computer.

Step 1. Open iTunes and click Edit from the menu bar.

Step 2. Choose Preferences from the drop-down menu.

Step 3. On the General Preferences screen, click Downloads.

Step 4. On the Downloads Preferences screen, check the box next to Music and click OK to save the change.

If you are using a Mac with the Music app, you can find the Automatic Downloads option through Music > Preferences > General.

Part 2. How to directly transfer music from iPhone to computer

Instead of downloading music from iCloud to computer, you can choose to transfer music from iPhone to computer directly. This is a good option when the network is bad or you want to download music on a computer that uses a different account.

To achieve the goal, a third-party iPhone transfer tool - FoneTool is needed. This tool can help you transfer selected songs or the entire music library at once. It is able to transfer both purchased and non-purchased music from iPhone to computer.

You can click the download button to get FoneTool and follow the steps below to transfer music from iPhone to iTunes or computer.

Step 1. Launch FoneTool> Connect iPhone to computer via USB cable.

Step 2. On the home screen, choose Phone Transfer > Go to iPhone to PC and click Get Started.

Step 3. Click the + icon > Select the songs you want to transfer > Click OK to continue.

Step 4. Select a path to save your songs > Click Start Transfer.

If you want to transfer music to iTunes library, you can select the iTunes library as the destination. On Windows 11/10/8/7 computer, it is usually located at C:\users\[username]\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Media. You can learn more from this Where does iTunes store music guide.

Bonus tip: How to download iCloud files to Windows PC

FoneTool is an all-in-one iOS data management tool, besides the features we mentioned above, it also supports you to manage iCloud data. You can download iCloud backups on your computer, upload the PC files to your iCloud, or delete unnecessary iCloud data on the Windows PC.

Below, we show you how to download files from iCloud to Windows PC.

 Step 1. Run FoneTool on your computer > Go to My iCloud > Enter your Apple ID and Sign in > Tap Manage iCloud on the page.

Step 2. Select the file icon on the left pane > After you choose the files you'd like to save to your computer > Tap Download. 

Step 3. Then set a destination to store these files > Click Download.

Final words

That’s all about how to download music from iCloud to computer.

• If you want to download selected music from iCloud to computer, you can choose the songs you need and click the Download button.
• If you want to download all music from iCloud to computer, you can go to Downloads Preferences in iTunes and set it to automatically download all the songs.

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