Adding Music to iPod shuffle
After your music is imported and organized in iTunes, you can easily add it to
iPod shuffle.
To manage how songs and other audio content are added to iPod shuffle from your
computer, you connect iPod shuffle to your computer, and then use iTunes preferences
to choose iPod shuffle settings.
Adding Content Automatically or Manually
You can set iTunes to add music to iPod shuffle in two ways:
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Automatically syncing: When you connect iPod shuffle to your computer, iPod shuffle
is automatically updated to match the songs and other items in your iTunes library.
If Genius is turned on the first time you sync iPod shuffle, iTunes uses up to four
Genius Mixes created from your iTunes library to fill iPod shuffle. If any free space
remains, iTunes syncs additional songs from your iTunes library. If Genius isn’t turned
on, iTunes syncs songs and playlists from your iTunes library to fill iPod shuffle.
Later, you can modify automatic syncing options to include selected playlists,
artists, albums, and genres. You can also automatically sync other audio, including
podcasts, audiobooks, and iTunes U collections. See the following sections for more
information.
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Manually managing music: When you connect iPod shuffle, you can drag individual
songs and playlists to iPod shuffle, and delete individual songs and playlists from
iPod shuffle. Using this option, you can add songs from more than one computer
without erasing songs from iPod shuffle. When you manage music manually,
you must always eject iPod shuffle from iTunes before you can disconnect it. See
“Managing iPod shuffle Manually” on page 20.
Syncing Music Automatically
By default, iPod shuffle is set to sync all songs and playlists when you connect it to
your computer. This is the simplest way to add audio content to iPod shuffle—you just
connect iPod shuffle to your computer, let it add songs, audiobooks, audio podcasts,
and iTunes U collections automatically, and then disconnect it and go. If you added
any songs to iTunes since the last time you connected iPod shuffle, they’re synced with
iPod shuffle as space allows. If you deleted songs from iTunes, they’re removed from
iPod shuffle.
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To sync music with iPod shuffle:
Simply connect iPod shuffle to your computer. If iPod shuffle is set to sync
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automatically, the update begins.
Important:
If you connect iPod shuffle to a computer that it hasn’t synced with, a
message asks if you want to sync songs automatically. If you accept, all songs and
other audio content are erased from iPod shuffle and replaced with songs and other
items from that computer. If you don’t accept, you can still add songs to iPod shuffle
manually without erasing any of the songs already on iPod shuffle.
While music is being synced from your computer to iPod shuffle, the iTunes status
window shows progress, and you see a sync icon next to iPod shuffle in the list of
devices. When the update is done, you see the “iPod sync is complete” message in
iTunes. A bar at the bottom of the iTunes window displays how much disk space is
used by different types of content.
If you don’t choose to automatically sync music to iPod shuffle during setup, you can
do it later.
If there isn’t enough space on iPod shuffle for all your music, you can set iTunes to sync
only selected playlists, artists, albums, and genres.
To set iTunes to sync music from selected playlists, artists, genres, and albums to
iPod shuffle:
1
Connect iPod shuffle to your computer.
2
In iTunes, select iPod shuffle in the list of devices, and then click the Music tab.
3
Select “Sync music,” and then choose “Selected playlists, artists, genres, and albums.”
4
Select the playlists, artists, genres, and albums you want.
5
To set iTunes to automatically fill any remaining space on iPod shuffle, select
“Automatically fill free space with songs.”
If you have Genius Mixes, iTunes uses them to fill the space first. If there’s no room for
another Genius Mix, iTunes fills the remaining space on iPod shuffle with other songs.
6
Click Apply.
The update begins automatically.
If you select “Sync only checked songs” in the Summary pane, iTunes syncs only items
that are checked.
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Syncing Genius Mixes to iPod shuffle
You can set iTunes to sync Genius Mixes to iPod shuffle. Genius Mixes can only be
synced automatically, so you can’t add Genius Mixes to iPod shuffle if you manage your
content manually.
If your Genius Mixes don’t fill the available space and you select the “Automatically
fill free space with songs” option, iTunes selects and syncs additional songs from your
iTunes library.
To set iTunes to sync selected Genius Mixes to iPod shuffle:
1
In iTunes, select iPod shuffle in the list of devices, and then click the Music tab.
2
Select “Sync music,” and then choose “Selected playlists, artists, genres, and albums.”
3
Under Playlists, select the Genius Mixes you want.
4
Click Apply.
If “Sync only checked songs” is selected in the Summary pane, iTunes syncs only items
that are checked.
Syncing Podcasts Automatically
The settings for adding podcasts to iPod shuffle are unrelated to the settings for
adding songs. Podcast settings don’t affect song settings, and vice versa. You can
set iTunes to automatically sync all or selected podcasts, or you can add podcasts to
iPod shuffle manually.
To set iTunes to update the podcasts on iPod shuffle automatically:
1
In iTunes, select iPod shuffle in the list of devices, and then click the Podcasts tab.
2
In the Podcasts pane, select “Sync Podcasts.”
3
Select the podcasts, episodes, and playlists you want, and set your sync options.
4
Click Apply.
When you set iTunes to sync podcasts automatically, iPod shuffle is updated each time
you connect it to your computer.
If “Sync only checked songs” is selected in the Summary pane, iTunes syncs only items
that are checked.
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Adding iTunes U Collections to iPod shuffle
iTunes U is a part of the iTunes Store that features free lectures, language lessons,
audiobooks, and more, which you can download and sync to iPod shuffle. The settings
for adding iTunes U collections to iPod shuffle are unrelated to the settings for adding
other content. iTunes U settings don’t affect other settings, and vice versa. You can
set iTunes to automatically sync all or selected iTunes U collections, or you can add
iTunes U content to iPod shuffle manually.
To set iTunes to sync iTunes U content automatically:
1
In iTunes, select iPod shuffle in the list of devices, and then click the iTunes U tab.
2
In the iTunes U pane, select “Sync iTunes U.”
3
Select the collections and items you want, and set your sync options.
4
Click Apply.
When you set iTunes to sync iTunes U content automatically, iPod shuffle is updated
each time you connect it to your computer.
If “Sync only checked songs” is selected in the Summary pane, iTunes syncs only items
that are checked.
Adding Audiobooks to iPod shuffle
You can purchase and download audiobooks from the iTunes Store or audible.com, or
import audiobooks from CDs, and listen to them on iPod shuffle.
Use iTunes to add audiobooks to iPod shuffle. If you sync iPod shuffle automatically,
each audiobook in your iTunes library is synced as a separate playlist, which you can
select using VoiceOver. If you manage your content on iPod shuffle manually, you can
add audiobooks one at a time.
To sync audiobooks to iPod shuffle:
1
In iTunes, select iPod shuffle in the list of devices, and then click the Books tab.
2
Select Sync Audiobooks, and then do one of the following:
Select “All audiobooks.”
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Select “Selected audiobooks,” and then specify the books you want.
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3
Click Apply.
The update begins automatically.
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Managing iPod shuffle Manually
If you manage iPod shuffle manually, you can add and remove individual songs,
playlists, podcasts, and audiobooks. You can add music and other audio content from
multiple computers to iPod shuffle without erasing items already on iPod shuffle.
You can add Genius playlists, but not Genius Mixes, to iPod shuffle manually.
Setting iPod shuffle to manually manage music turns off automatic sync options in
the Music, Podcasts, and iTunes U panes in iTunes. You can’t manually manage some
content and automatically sync other content at the same time.
If you set iTunes to manage content manually, you can set it later to sync automatically.
To manually manage audio content on iPod shuffle:
1
In iTunes, select iPod shuffle in the list of devices, and then click the Summary tab.
2
In the Options section, select “Manually manage music.”
3
Click Apply.
When you manage iPod shuffle manually, you must always eject iPod shuffle from
iTunes before you disconnect it.
To add a song or other item to iPod shuffle:
1
In iTunes, click Music or another item in the Library list.
2
Drag a song or other item to iPod shuffle in the list of devices.
You can also drag entire playlists to sync them with iPod shuffle, or select multiple
items and drag them all at once to iPod shuffle.
To remove a song or other item from iPod shuffle:
1
In iTunes, select iPod shuffle in the list of devices.
2
Select Music, Audiobooks, or Podcasts under iPod shuffle.
3
Select a song or other item, and then press the Delete or Backspace key on your
keyboard.
If you manually remove a song or other item from iPod shuffle, it isn’t deleted from
your iTunes library.
To use iTunes to create a new playlist on iPod shuffle:
1
In iTunes, select iPod shuffle in the list of devices, and then click the Add (∂) button
or choose File > New Playlist.
2
Type a name for the playlist.
3
Click Music or another item in the Library list, and then drag songs or other items
to the playlist.
If you make changes to any of your iTunes playlists, remember to drag the changed
playlist to iPod shuffle when it’s connected to iTunes.
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To add songs to or remove songs from a playlist on iPod shuffle:
Drag a song to a playlist on iPod shuffle to add the song. Select a song in a playlist and
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press the Delete key on your keyboard to delete the song.
To set iTunes to sync music and other audio content automatically:
1
In iTunes, select iPod shuffle in the list of devices, and then click the Summary tab.
2
Deselect “Manually manage music.”
3
Click Apply.
The update begins automatically.
Fitting More Songs on iPod shuffle
If your iTunes library contains songs in higher bit-rate formats, such as iTunes Plus,
Apple Lossless, or WAV, you can set iTunes to convert songs to 128 kbps AAC format
as they’re synced with iPod shuffle. This doesn’t affect the quality or size of the songs
stored in iTunes.
To convert higher bit-rate songs to AAC format:
1
Connect iPod shuffle to your computer.
2
In iTunes, select iPod shuffle in the list of devices.
3
Click the Summary tab.
4
Select “Convert higher bit rate songs to 128 kbps AAC.”
5
Click Apply.
Note: Songs in formats not supported by iPod shuffle must be converted if you want
to sync them with iPod shuffle. For more information about formats supported by
iPod shuffle, see “If you can’t sync a song or other item to iPod shuffle” on page 31.
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