[How To] Sync Your iPhone / iPod With Your New Computer | Transfer iTunes Music And Applications Form One Computer To Another

Trouble:

When you buy a new computer or laptop PC, you may find trouble in transferring your iTunes Applications and Music from one computer to another. According to Apple iTunes software, one iPod / iPhone can sync with one computer at a time. If you try to sync with another computer, it will erase all the data present on the iPod / iPhone and Sync with the new device as if is a new iPod.

Also Read : Transfer contact from Nokia Phone to iPhone and  iPhone Does Not Show Up In My Computer

In this article I will share the methods to Sync it with new Computer without loosing your music and applications. I tested this method with my iPhone 3Gs when I changed my computer from my official Laptop (which I was initially using with iTunes) to my personal HP laptop.

Fix:

Just to be safe, we must first take backup of all the music and application from the old computer. Follow the below steps to take your existing iTunes backup:

1. Open iTunes on old computer. Go to Edit > Preferences. Open the Advanced tab as seen below:

2. Check the option which says “Keep iTunes Media Folder Organized” and “Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library” and click OK. Also note down the path highlighted in green above for later use.

3. Go to File > Library > Organize Library . Check the option to “Consolidate Files” and click OK.

4. It will take few minutes depending yon your music library file to consolidate all files into the iTunes Folder. After it is complete, open the path which is highlighted in second picture of this article in green color, copy the iTunes folder and back it up to some external drive or CD/DVD, wherever it fits. This is a backup for the case you loose some data. Although you might not need it if you follow rest of the steps smoothly.

5. Now Its time to De-authorize your old computer from your iTunes store. For the same, on your old computer, open iTunes, go to Store > Deauthorize Computer

6. Now you need to install iTunes latest version on your new computer. You can download iTunes Software from here. 

7. After installing the iTunes, you need to Authorize the New Computer by going to

Store > Authorize Computer . At this step, it will ask you your username and password for iTunes account. Enter the account which you used on your old computer.

8. Now its time to connect your iPod / iPhone to the new computer using the data cable. iTunes will detect your iPhone and will give you an option to Transfer your purchases to new computer. Select that option. It will synchronize your iPhone to your new computer. If there is no such option when you connect it, then right click on your phone in the iTunes sidebar and select the option to “Transfer Purchases”. This will copy your applications and music to the new computer.

Hope you find the tutorial useful and easy to follow. Share your suggestions and comments below.

Author + Admin: Rohit Khurana
Software Engineer by profession. I am a part time tech blogger and believe in blogging because I enjoy writing on technology. I also write about Cars and Bikes at www.carblogindia.com. You can catch me on twitter @rohit_khurana. Get in touch with me at RohitKhurana.in.