How do I download music to my phone from my computer?

With the rise of music streaming services, downloading music to your phone from your computer may seem outdated. However, there are still good reasons to transfer music files to your device. Downloading lets you listen offline, save mobile data, access your full music library, and avoid streaming advertisements. Whether you use an iPhone, Android, or other device, you can easily download your music library to take your tunes on the go.

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for connecting your phone to your computer, locating music files, transferring them over, and then accessing the downloaded music on your device. Additional tips for using streaming services and troubleshooting are also included. With the right prep, downloading music to your phone can be simple and straightforward.

Before You Start

Before downloading music to your phone, you’ll need to make sure you have the necessary equipment and files ready. Here’s what you’ll need:

• A computer with your music library stored on it. This can be a Windows PC or Mac.
• A USB cable to connect your phone to your computer. Often your phone will come with a USB cable when you purchase it.
• The phone you want to download music onto. Make sure it has enough free storage space for the music files you want to transfer.
• The music files themselves you wish to transfer. These may be stored locally on your computer or on an external hard drive connected to your computer.

Before connecting your phone, it’s a good idea to organize the music files into playlists or folders on your computer so they’re easy to find and transfer. Make sure your phone is sufficiently charged as well.

Connect Your Phone to Your Computer

The first step is to physically connect your Android phone to your computer using a USB cable. Most Android phones use a USB-C cable, but some older models may use a micro USB cable. Make sure you have the proper cable for your specific phone model.

With your phone unlocked and the screen on, plug the USB cable into your phone’s charging port, which is typically located on the bottom or side of the device. Plug the other end of the cable into an open USB port on your computer.

Some newer Android phones support a wireless connection via WiFi, but a USB cable will provide the fastest and most reliable data transfer. Using the cable also allows your phone to charge while connected to your computer.

Once connected, you may get a notification on your phone for USB options. Select “File transfer” or “Transfer files”. This will allow your computer and phone to communicate with each other and transfer files.

If your phone does not prompt you to select a USB connection mode, you may need to check your USB settings. On your phone, go to Settings > Connected devices > USB. Make sure the option for file transfers or photo transfers is enabled.

Now your Android phone and computer will recognize each other, and you can move on to locating files and transferring music.

Locate Your Music Files

The first step in locating your music files on your computer is to open File Explorer. Here you can navigate to your various drives and folders to find where your music library is stored.

Often your music files will be located in the Music folder. To get here, open File Explorer and click on “This PC” in the left pane. Then double click on the C: drive, open the Users folder, click on your username, and look for the Music folder. This is the default location for the music library in Windows.

You can also search for music files directly from File Explorer. Click in the search bar at the top and type “.mp3” or “.wav” to display all files with those extensions. This is an easy way to scan your drives for any music files located outside of your music library.

If you use Windows Media Player, your music library may be managed through there. Open the Media Player app and click on “Music” in the top left to browse your collection. The actual files are probably stored in the Music folder still, but Media Player gives you another way to view and search your music library.

You can also use the built-in search in Windows to look for media files. Click in the taskbar search field and type “audio” or “music” and Windows will show results for any files it finds with those keywords. From here you can locate the folder where your music library is stored.

According to an article on MakeUseOf, some other techniques for locating music files on Windows include searching by metadata like artist or album using apps like MusikCube or MediaMonkey, or using a third party search tool like Everything to scan all your drives for audio files. These tools give you additional ways to search for and organize your music collection.

Once you’ve located the folder where your music library is stored, you’ll be ready to select files to transfer to your phone.

Transfer the Files

Once your phone is connected to your computer and you’ve located the music files you want to transfer, you can begin moving them over. The easiest way is to use your computer’s file explorer like Windows Explorer (on Windows) or Finder (on Mac).

Open the file explorer and navigate to the folder containing your music files. Select the songs, albums, or playlists you want to transfer. Then drag and drop them into your phone’s music folder which should appear as a connected device or drive.

Alternatively, if you use iTunes to manage your music library, you can also transfer music by dragging files directly into the iTunes application. iTunes will sync them to your connected Android device automatically.

No matter which transfer method you use, wait for the copy process to fully complete before disconnecting your device. Make sure to verify the files were transferred by browsing the music player app on your Android phone.

Here are some helpful references on using Windows Explorer or iTunes to transfer music:
https://www.howtogeek.com/437966/how-to-copy-music-to-your-android-phone/
https://www.wikihow.com/Transfer-Music-from-a-PC-to-an-Android#Using-Windows-Explorer-or-iTunes

Disconnect Your Phone

Once you have finished transferring files from your computer to your phone, it is important to properly disconnect your phone to avoid any issues. According to How to unlink a phone from a Windows computer , you should always safely remove your Android device before disconnecting it from your PC.

On Windows, click on the “Safely Remove Hardware” icon in the system tray and select your phone from the menu that appears. This will stop the connection before you physically disconnect the cable. On Mac, eject the phone by dragging it to the Trash or right-clicking and selecting “Eject”. You can then unplug the USB cable from both devices.

Safely removing the phone prevents any data loss or corruption. Once disconnected, your transferred music files should be accessible in the music app on your phone.

Access the Downloaded Music

Once you have transferred music files from your computer to your phone, you will need to access them in order to play the songs. The process for finding and playing the downloaded music will depend on whether you have an iPhone or Android phone.

On an iPhone, open the Music app and tap on the Library tab at the bottom. Here you will see categories like Artists, Albums, Songs, etc. Tap on “Downloaded” to view only the music that is stored locally on your device. You can then tap on a song to play it.

On Android, open the Files app and navigate to the Music folder. This is usually located in Internal Storage > Music. Here you will find the music files you transferred. Tap on a file to play it in your music player app.

You can also access downloaded music in Android’s default Music app. Open the app and select “Device files” to view only locally stored music. Navigate to the song you want and select it to play.

Using your phone’s search function is another quick way to find a specific song. Just search for the song title and you should see results from your downloaded music library.

So in summary, look in the Music app on iPhone or the Files/Music apps on Android. Use search if you know the song title. And tap on tracks to play your downloaded music.

Using Streaming Services

Streaming music has become an incredibly popular alternative to downloading in recent years. With streaming, you can access vast music libraries and playlists without having to store the audio files on your device’s limited storage. Some key advantages of streaming services over downloading music include:

Access to millions of songs. Streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music give you instant access to enormous catalogs of music, far more than you could realistically store by downloading.

Convenience. There’s no need to download, organize, and transfer files between devices. You can stream music from anywhere with an internet connection.

Continuous updates. Streaming libraries stay current with new releases. Downloaded music can become outdated over time.

Curation features. Streaming services offer personalized recommendations and human-curated playlists tailored to your tastes.

However, downloading music has some advantages as well:

Offline listening. Downloaded music can be accessed anywhere without an internet connection. Streaming requires a constant connection.

Higher quality files. Downloads allow access to lossless file formats, while most streams are compressed.

True ownership. Downloaded music is yours to keep forever. Streamed music could potentially become unavailable if licensing agreements change.

More control. You can organize a downloaded library however you want.

Ultimately, the choice depends on your listening habits and priorities. Many people opt to use a combination of streaming services and a curated download library of their favorite music.

Troubleshooting

Here are some common troubleshooting steps if you have issues downloading music to your iPhone:

Check Your Storage Space

Make sure you have enough storage available on your iPhone to download music. Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage to see how much space you have left. If your phone is full, you’ll need to delete apps, messages, or photos to free up space for music downloads. See this article for more details.

Check Your iCloud and Music Settings

Go to Settings > Music and make sure “iCloud Music Library” is enabled. Also check Settings > [your name] > iCloud that you are signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID used for your Apple Music subscription. Incorrect iCloud settings can prevent downloading. See this guide for help.

Restart Your iPhone

Try turning your iPhone off completely then back on. Restarting can often fix glitches with music downloads not working properly. See this Apple discussion for more details.

Summary

To recap the main steps we covered in downloading music to your phone from your computer:

1. Connect your phone to your computer using the charging cable that came with your phone. Make sure your phone is unlocked and set file transfer or USB file sharing on your phone.

2. On your computer, locate the folder where your music files are stored. These are typically MP3, FLAC, M4A or other audio file types.

3. Transfer the music files from your computer to your phone’s music folder or SD card. You can drag and drop files or use the Export function in music apps like iTunes or Windows Media Player.

4. Once the transfer is complete, safely eject your phone from the computer.

5. On your phone, launch your Music app to access the downloaded files. You may need to scan or refresh your music library to see the new additions.

If you have issues getting the transferred music to show up on your phone, check the troubleshooting section which covers common problems and solutions.