Just updated your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to the latest version of iOS or iPadOS and now all your Apple Music is gone? Looks like you don’t have any music at all? If so, you are not alone and usually, it’s a quick fix.
Quick tips
Follow these quick tips to get your Apple Music to show up again!
Restart or force restart your device
Check that Sync Library (or for older iOS, iCloud Music Library) is turned on, for Apple Music subscriptions
Try using a different WiFi network or switch to cellular/mobile data
Toggle Show Apple Music off and then back on in Settings
Sign out of the iTunes & App Store in Setting then sign back in
Reset all settings
Backup and restore using iTunes (macOS Mojave and below) or Finder app (macOS Catalina +)
Before you do anything else, restart or force restart your device
If you just updated your device and your Apple Music is missing or empty, it’s a good idea to restart or force restart before you troubleshoot any further.
Sometimes, we need to reboot our devices after an update to get those changes set.
When prompted, slide to power off your device.
Restarting is simply powering off, wait a few seconds, and powering back on. Force restarting is a little more complicated…
To force restart an iDevice
On an iPhone 6S or below plus all iPads with home buttons & iPod Touches, press Home and Power at the same time until you see the Apple logo
For iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus: Press and hold both the Side and Volume Down buttons for at least 10 seconds, until you see the Apple logo
On an iPad with no home button and iPhone 8 and above models: Press and quickly release the Volume Up button. Then press and quickly release the Volume Down button. Finally, press and hold the Side/Top button until you see the Apple logo
Check that iCloud is Syncing your Music Library
For some reason, when you update your device’s iOS or iPadOS, iCloud Music Library sometimes gets switched off and is not automatically turned back on after completing the update.
For folks who subscribe to Apple Music (paid subscription service,) our top tip is to verify that iCloud Music Library is on!
Look at Apple Music’s sync settings
Go to Settings > Apple Music
Check that the toggle for Sync Library is on(or for older iOS versions, iCloud Music Library)
If the toggle is off, turn it on and decide if you want to Keep Music or Delete & Replace the music already on your device. We recommend choosing Keep Music
Once turned on, give your device a minute or two for the music to show back up
If it’s already on, try toggling it off, wait a few seconds, and toggle it back on
If you don’t see Sync Library or iCloud Music Library as an option in Settings > Music, review the Apple ID you’re signed in with at Settings > Apple ID. This option only shows up when the Apple ID is subscribed to the paid Apple Music subscription service.
Try turning Mobile (Cellular) Data on
A few readers discovered that is they turned on mobile data, their Apple Music started to show up.
Go to Settings > Music
Scroll down to Mobile or Cellular Data
Tap it
Toggle on for Streaming and/or Downloads
Download a single track to your device
Another reader tip that often works is to tap the Browse Apple Music button and download a new song to your device.
For many, that seems to jump start all your Apple Music and get it to show up again!
Seeing error message that iCloud Music Library can’t be enabled?
If you see this error, verify that Apple Servers are working properly.
Once verified, try restarting your device and toggle Settings > Music > Sync Library (or iCloud Music Library for older iOS versions) off and on–you may need to repeat this process a few times to get your device connected to Apple Servers.
Refresh Show Apple Music
If your Apple Music subscription songs and albums are not showing up, make sure you toggled on Show Apple Music in Settings > Music.
If it’s already on, toggle it off and on to refresh it’s setting.
Sign out and back into iTunes & App Stores
If you’re not an Apple Music subscriber and your music isn’t showing up in the Music app, try signing out of the iTunes & App Stores.
Go to Settings > iTunes & App Store
Tap your Apple ID
Choose Sign Out
Wait until the device fully signs out and you see the Sign-in option
Tap Sign In and enter your Apple ID and password
Wait for the store to show your Apple ID and then try the Music app again
Reset all your device’s settings
If none of the tips worked for you thus far, let’s try resetting your device’s settings just in case some random setting is causing issues with your Apple Music library.
How to reset settings on iPhone, iPad, or iPod
This is usually the last resort since it resets all your personalized features back to factory defaults
Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset All
This resets to default everything in Settings, including notifications, alerts, brightness, and clock settings like wake up alarms
Resetting all settings also reverts all your personalized and customized features like wallpapers and accessibility settings back to factory defaults.
Performing this action does not impact any of your personal device data, including photos, texts, documents, and other files
You need to reconfigure these settings once your iPhone or iDevice restarts
Restore a backup to your device using iTunes or Finder
If your Apple Music library is still empty, we recommend backing up and restoring your device using iTunes (for Windows and macOS Mojave and below) or Finder app (for macOS Catalina +).
Restore with iTunes
Connect your iPhone to your computer
Launch iTunes
Select your iPhone, iPad, or iPod
On Summary window, tap Restore Backup
Look at the date and size of each backup and pick the most relevant
Click Restore
Wait for the restore time to finish
Keep your device connected after it restarts and wait for it to sync with your computer
Disconnect your device only after the sync finishes
For most of her professional life, Amanda Elizabeth (Liz for short) trained all sorts of folks on how to use media as a tool to tell their own unique stories. She knows a thing or two about teaching others and creating how-to guides!
Her clients include Edutopia, Scribe Video Center, Third Path Institute, Bracket, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Big Picture Alliance.
Elizabeth received her Master of Fine Arts degree in media making from Temple University, where she also taught undergrads as an adjunct faculty member in their department of Film and Media Arts.
My Apple Music will not show back up again. I hit the button and it blinks with a white bullseye instead of the Apple Music emblem and will not open. Goes back to home screen. Help!
my problem is much more oblique. just got the new iphone 14 pro. and all my music from the past ten plus years that I carefully downloaded- have all grayed out- and now… even with a vpn- i am unable to play them.
help!
Last week I noticed my Apple Music subscription tunes disappeared but iTunes tracks remained.
I then accidentally deleted the music app from the home page.
I requested help from Apple and Apple community but they all get back to me with ”go into settings, scroll down to music”, and that’s where it ends, there is NO SIGN OF AN ICON FOR MUSIC, everything else is there, general, battery, etc, etc but not music, it’s disappeared, any ideas?? Thanks
David Rhys says
My Apple Music will not show back up again. I hit the button and it blinks with a white bullseye instead of the Apple Music emblem and will not open. Goes back to home screen. Help!
warren bobrow says
my problem is much more oblique. just got the new iphone 14 pro. and all my music from the past ten plus years that I carefully downloaded- have all grayed out- and now… even with a vpn- i am unable to play them.
help!
USA too.. strange.
Ray Whitear says
Please can anybody help?
Last week I noticed my Apple Music subscription tunes disappeared but iTunes tracks remained.
I then accidentally deleted the music app from the home page.
I requested help from Apple and Apple community but they all get back to me with ”go into settings, scroll down to music”, and that’s where it ends, there is NO SIGN OF AN ICON FOR MUSIC, everything else is there, general, battery, etc, etc but not music, it’s disappeared, any ideas?? Thanks