[2024 Guide] How to Stop Apple Music from Deleting Songs

Problem: Apple Music deleting songs from library

Are you experiencing the same problem as this user? You have downloaded many songs to play offline and save data, however, Apple Music keeps deleting these songs without your permission.  Downloading songs over and over again can be frustrating. This guide will tell you why does Apple Music keep removing songs and how to stop Apple Music from deleting songs.

Why does Apple Music keep removing songs?

When you want to listen to music but find that the song disappears from your library, why does this happen? Below are some possible reasons behind Apple Music deleting songs from library issue.

● Apple Music subscription ends. When Apple Music subscription is invalid, the DRM-protected songs you download from iCloud Music Library will be deleted from device.
● Insufficient storage space. Apple Music will automatically delete old songs when there is not enough storage space.
● iOS update. New iOS brings new features as well as bugs. The Apple Music may not be compatible with the new iOS, so it keeps removing downloads.
● Wrong Settings. Apple Music deleting songs from library issue will occur when Show Apple Music is turned off.

How to stop Apple Music from deleting songs

Let’s start to see how to stop Apple Music from deleting songs. We'll go over some troubleshooting tips to see if you can get the problem fixed.

Tip 1. Check Apple Music Subscription

With Apple Music Subscription, you can easily upload and store songs in the cloud, which makes it easy to listen to all your music on all your iOS devices. However, when the subscription expires, the songs downloaded through iCloud Music Library will be deleted.

The truth is that songs downloaded through iCloud Music Library are DRM-protection. This is a measure taken by Apple to prevent music files from being copied. That’s to say, Apple is actually deleting those DRM-protected songs.

When you find Apple Music deleting songs from playlist, you can go to Settings app > [your name] > Subscriptions > Apple Music subscription to check to see if the subscription has expired.

Tip 2. Check iPhone storage space

When your iPhone is low on storage, it will delete some data to free up storage space to install apps or iOS. That’s to say, your device is likely to delete streamed music. In this case, how to stop Apple Music from deleting songs?

You can go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage to check the available space and follow the RECOMMENDATIONS to free up the storage space.

Tip 3. Turn off Optimize Storage option

When Optimize Storage option is enabled, you may meet Apple Music deleting songs from library problem. It will automatically delete the songs that haven't been played for a long time. You can turn off this option to stop Apple Music from deleting songs.

Go to Settings > Music > Optimize Storage and turn it off. Or you can change the minimum storage to make sure Apple doesn't delete all the songs.

Tip 4. Turn on iCloud Music Library

iCloud music library may have been disabled so you find Apple Music deleting songs from library. With iCloud Music Library, you can sync and upload songs easily. However, when it is disabled, all songs downloaded from iCloud will be deleted.

You can go to Settings > Music > iCloud Music Library to check. If it is already on, it can turn it off and on to refresh the sync.

Tip 5. Turn on Show Apple Music

If there is no For You tab in Music app or you cannot find the streaming songs, you can go  Settings > Music to check if Show Apple Music is enabled. If it is disabled, you can turn it on.

Tip 6. Force restart iPhone

Apple Music deleting songs from library problem may occur due to some unknown iOS glitches. You can force restart your iPhone to troubleshoot the problem and stop Apple Music from deleting songs.

● Force restart iPhone 8 and later with Face ID:

Quickly press and release the Volume Up button > Quickly press and release the Volume Down button > Press and hold the Side/Power button until the Apple logo appears.

● Force restart iPhone 7/7 Plus:

Press and hold the Power button and Volume Down button together > Release both buttons when the Apple logo appears.

● Force restart iPhone 6s, SE and earlier with Home button:

Hold down the Home button and the Top (or Side) button at the same time > Release both buttons when the Apple logo appears.

Bonus: how to backup your music library

When you find Apple Music deleting songs from library, you can troubleshoot the problem and stop Apple Music from deleting music. In most cases, Apple Music is a great app for listening pleasure. However, it can sometimes go wrong and even make you lose all your songs.

To protect the library you've spent so much time building up, you can choose to transfer the library to computer, external hard drive or USB flash drive. In this way, you won't worry about losing your songs due to Apple Music's matching feature or any other conflicts.

In order to achieve this goal, you can download FoneTool on your computer. This tool can help you transfer the entire library or the selected playlists or songs. It is able to transfer both purchased and non-purchased songs.

You can follow the steps below to transfer songs from iPhone computer.

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

2. Choose Phone Transfer and go to iPhone to PC.

3. Click the “+” icon > Choose Music and select the playlists or songs you want to transfer.

4. Click Start Transfer > Select the storage path (a local folder, USB flash drive, external hard drive) > Click Transfer.

★Tips:

If needed, you can go to PC to iPhone to transfer music from computer to iPhone. It will not erase any existing songs or any other data.

FoneTool is able to transfer music from one Apple ID to another, which means that you can easily share songs with family and friends.

Final words

That’s all about how to stop Apple Music from deleting music. When you find Apple Music deleting songs from library, you can follow the checklist to fix this issue. If none of these methods work, you can contact Apple Support (https://support.apple.com/contact) and ask for help. Anyhow, to protect your songs, you can transfer them to computer as a backup.