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Will deleted music on one device be deleted from all devices via iTunes Match?

I am an iTunes Match subscriber, and an Apple Music subscriber. I need space on my 6 year old MacBook Air to download Big Sur. If I delete the music library from my MacBook, will the music on my iPhone and iPad remain on those devices, or will all of my music be deleted on all of my devices via iTunes Match?


Thank you for your help.

Jamie

MacBook Air 11″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 21, 2020 7:49 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 21, 2020 6:01 PM

Jamiesipad wrote:

If I delete the music library from my MacBook, will the music on my iPhone and iPad remain on those devices, or will all of my music be deleted on all of my devices via iTunes Match?


When you delete music from one library or device and iCloud Music Library (AKA Sync Library) is active, then the content is deleted everywhere. Rather than deleting content you should use the right-click > remove download option, which frees up local storage but keeps the item in the cloud allowing it to be streamed or redownloaded at a later date.


Ideally you would make a complete backup of the current state of your library on an external drive before removing downloads, just in case it turns out you have an mismatches, failed uploads, or you mistakenly remove something from the cloud in error.


Note that you don't need both iTunes Match and Apple Music at the same time. Apple Music includes all of the features of iTunes Match.


tt2

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 21, 2020 6:01 PM in response to Jamiesipad

Jamiesipad wrote:

If I delete the music library from my MacBook, will the music on my iPhone and iPad remain on those devices, or will all of my music be deleted on all of my devices via iTunes Match?


When you delete music from one library or device and iCloud Music Library (AKA Sync Library) is active, then the content is deleted everywhere. Rather than deleting content you should use the right-click > remove download option, which frees up local storage but keeps the item in the cloud allowing it to be streamed or redownloaded at a later date.


Ideally you would make a complete backup of the current state of your library on an external drive before removing downloads, just in case it turns out you have an mismatches, failed uploads, or you mistakenly remove something from the cloud in error.


Note that you don't need both iTunes Match and Apple Music at the same time. Apple Music includes all of the features of iTunes Match.


tt2

Will deleted music on one device be deleted from all devices via iTunes Match?

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