iTunes: Sync iPad or iPhone

If you don’t already have iTunes on your computer, you can download it from the Software article. If you are new to iTunes and there is no music in the program, read the article ‘Fill iTunes with music’.

Open iTunes on computer via Start > iTunes.

• Unlock the iPhone/iPad and connect the device to the computer with a cable. Older models have been supplied with a white cable as standard, with the cable being plugged into the charging plug via USB connection. In that case, remove the plug. For newer models, you have to purchase them separately.
• You may receive the following message on the iPhone/iPad: ‘Do you trust this computer?’ Tap on trust.
• If this is the first time you are connecting the device to the computer, the message ‘Welcome to your new iPhone/iPad’ may appear in iTunes. In that case, tap Get on.
  • Put a check in I have read and agree to the iPad Software License Agreement.
  • Tap on Get on.
  • Tap on To work.
• You will now see the overview of the iPhone/iPad.

Now we are going to put the apps that are already on the device on the computer. You only need to perform this operation on the first synchronization.

• From the iTunes menu, click File > Devices > Transfer purchases from iPhone/Pad from xxx.
• At the top of iTunes, you’ll see a “Transfer Purchases” message. This may take some time.

Then we can now continue synchronizing to, for example, put music on your iPhone/iPad.

Synchronization between the iPad and iTunes works both ways. What’s on your tablet is put in iTunes and what’s in iTunes is put on your tablet. You indicate yourself which components you want to synchronize. We will now walk through all the parts of the device to indicate what options you have when synchronizing. We start with the ‘Overview’ section.

• Optionally, click on the iPhone/iPad icon .
• You probably already have ‘Overview’ open. If not, click in the left menu on Overview.
• You can search here under ‘iPad’ or ‘iPhone’ for an update of the iOS operating system or restore the iPad/iPhone if it somehow stops working properly.
• If you now have iCloud selected under Backups, click This computer. A copy of the contents of your iPad/iPhone will then be saved to the computer. If this is not yet made, click on Make a backup. In the unlikely event that the information disappears from your iPad/iPhone in the future, you can get it back on your device with ‘Restore a backup’.

You will also see a bar at the bottom that shows how much space you still have free on the iPad/iPhone.

The ‘File Sharing’ section contains apps to which you can add documents. Click on the app and you will see the files on the right. click on Add a file to add a file. Keep an eye on the bar at the bottom to see if you have space for this.

Then we have arrived at the part where you are probably most likely to be found: Music. Here you decide which music from your iTunes library you want to put on the iPad.

• click on Music.
• Put a tick in front of Sync music. By default, your entire music library is now placed on the iPad/iPhone. This can be a bit much. You can see at the bottom whether you have enough space for it.
• If you don’t have enough space on your device, select Selected playlists, artists, albums and genres.
• You can now check the items you want to put on the iPad/iPhone. For example, you can check a specific album. If you have several albums by an artist and you want to put them all on it, you can finish faster by checking the artist than the individual albums.

Handy too! Create a separate playlist just for your iPad/iPhone. You can then select this here. You can read how to create the playlist in the article ‘Fill iTunes with music’.

Then there are the ‘Movies’ and ‘TV Shows’ sections that you can synchronize. You do that in a similar way.

You have now indicated what you want to put on the iPad or iPhone. Click on the bottom right To apply or Sync.

At the top you can see the progress of the synchronization and on the screen of your iPad or iPhone you see a kind of radar. Do not disconnect the device from the computer. When the synchronization is complete, you can find your music on the iPad or iPhone itself. But you can also see what’s on your device in iTunes. Under ‘On my device’ on the iPad/iPhone, click Music.

Before disconnecting the USB cable from the computer, indicate in iTunes that the tablet can be disconnected. Right next to the name of the iPad/iPhone you will see the ‘Eject’ sign. Click on it and you can remove the iPad cable from the computer.