wikihow

This wikiHow teaches you different ways to sync audio files from your computer to an iPhone without using iTunes. If you're using a Mac running Catalina or later, you can use Finder in place of iTunes to manage your music library. If you're using Windows and prefer not to use iTunes, you can try a free alternative like MediaMonkey. If you subscribe to Spotify Premium, it can be used on Windows or macOS to copy music files to your iPhone. And if you're just looking to share a few files, you can use the free Dropbox app, which comes with a built-in music player!

[Edit]Steps

[Edit]Using Finder for macOS Catalina and Later

Open Finder . It's the two-toned face icon on the Dock, which is usually at the bottom of the screen.^[1]
Connect your iPhone to your Mac. Once your iPhone is detected, you'll see its name appear in the left panel of Finder under "Locations."
- If prompted to do so, click Trust to allow your iPhone to access data on your Mac.
Click your iPhone in the left panel. Information about your iPhone will appear in the main (right) panel.
Click the tab. It's near the top of the right panel.
Check the "Sync Music onto your device" box. It's at the top of the right panel.
Choose which music to sync. To sync all of the music on your Mac to your iPhone, select "Entire music library." If you'd prefer to choose specific music, select "Selected artists, albums, genres, and playlists." Both options appear next to "Sync" in the right panel.
- If you chose to sync certain content, check the boxes next to everything you'd like to sync in the bottom part of the right panel.
- If you'd like to sync video as well, check the box next to "Include videos."
Click or . You'll see one of these options at the bottom-right corner of the Finder window, depending on whether you've changed any settings. The selected music will now sync to your iPhone.

[Edit]Using Spotify Premium

Sign up for Spotify Premium. A premium Spotify membership will allow you to sync MP3, M4P/AAC (DRM-protected audio files purchased from iTunes/Apple Music), and MP4 files to your iPhone as long as Spotify is installed at both locations.^[2] Click here for details on signing up for a Premium membership.
Download and install the Spotify on your computer. You can get it from http://www.spotify.com/download. Once you've installed Spotify, log in using the account you use to access your Premium membership.
Open your Spotify preferences. To do this, click the menu at the top-left corner of Spotify, select Edit, and then click Preferences.
Toggle on the switch next to "Show Local Files." It's under the "Local Files" header in the main panel.
Add your music files to Spotify. To do this:
- Toggle on the switch next to "Show Local Files" in the right panel.
- Click ADD A SOURCE under this header.
- Select the folder that contains your music files and click OK. Spotify will import the files in that folder.
- You'll find all of your imported files in the Local Files tab in the left panel under "YOUR LIBRARY." It may take several minutes for the files to import.
Create a new playlist for the files you want to sync. Your iPhone can access files from your computer as long as you put them into a playlist and download them to your computer first. To create the playlist:
- Click +New Playlist near the bottom-left corner of Spotify.
- Type a name for the list and click CREATE.
- Click the Local Files tab to view your local files.
- Drag the desired songs to the new playlist in the left panel.
- Click the playlist in the left panel and make any changes if desired.
- Slide the Download switch at the top-right corner of the playlist to the On (green) position.
Install the Spotify app on your iPhone. You can download the app for free from the App Store.
- If your iPhone is not already connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your computer that's running Spotify, connect to that network now.
Open the Spotify app on your iPhone. It's the green circle icon with three curved black lines inside. If you're not already signed in with your Premium account, follow the on-screen instructions to sign in now.
Tap . It's the icon of three book spines at the bottom-right corner. This opens your Library to the Playlists tab by default.
Tap the new playlist you created on your computer. The contents of the playlist will appear.
Slide the "Downloaded" switch to the On (green) position. Once the switch is green, Spotify on your iPhone will start downloading all of the music files in the playlist so that you can listen to them offline.
- It may take a while for the files to sync completely, especially if you have a lot of them. You'll see a green arrow next to each song that has been synced to your iPhone.

[Edit]Using MediaMonkey for Windows

Download and install MediaMonkey. MediaMonkey is a free popular music manager and player for Windows that can be used to sync music to your iPhone. You can download it from https://www.mediamonkey.com/download.
- The files you copy from your computer to your iPhone can be listened to in the regular Music app.
Install the desktop version of iTunes. Although you won't be using iTunes to make the transfer, you will need to have the Windows desktop version of the program installed so you have access to some behind-the-scenes necessities.^[3] If you downloaded iTunes from the Microsoft Store, you will need to uninstall it and reinstall the version on Apple's website. Follow these steps:
- First, press to open the Search bar, type , and then click Microsoft Store. Search for iTunes—if you see an "Install" button, you can close the window and skip to the next step (don't click it). If you see "Launch", open the Start menu, right-click iTunes and then select Uninstall to remove it.
- Go to https://www.apple.com/itunes, click Windows next to "Looking for other versions," and then click Download iTunes for Windows for your correct version.
- Run the iTunes installer to install it on your PC. When the installation is complete, launch iTunes.
- Go to Edit > Preferences > Devices and check the box next to "Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically."
- Connect your iPhone and to the PC and click its icon at the top-left corner of iTunes. In the window that opens, scroll down and uncheck "Automatically sync when this iPhone is connected".
- Click the Music tab in the left panel and uncheck "Sync Music" if it's checked. Repeat for the Podcasts tab if you want MediaMonkey to handle your podcasts.
Open MediaMonkey while your iPhone is still connected. You can close iTunes if you have it, as it will no longer be necessary.
- The first time you run MediaMonkey, give the app permission to scan for music files on your PC. Once your files are detected, they'll be added to an iTunes-style library that you can easily sync to your iPhone.^[4]
Click in the left panel of MediaMonkey. This will open the iPhone's Summary page.
Choose how to sync your files. Click the Tools menu, select Options, and then click Portable Device Sync to access your settings. Here you can configure the following:
- Click the Auto-Sync tab to choose which music to sync automatically. If you're okay with MediaMonkey automatically syncing files to your iPhone as soon as you connect it, leave the defaults alone. If you'd prefer to sync music manually, remove the checkmark from "Auto-sync as soon as the device is connected."
- Click the Options tab to fine-tune your preferences, including setting your preferences for how ID3 tags will be handled and whether files of certain types should be converted.
Sync file to your iPhone. If you chose to sync automatically, there's no need to complete this step. Otherwise, once you've added your music and configured your settings, you can start syncing your music collection to your iPhone. There are a couple of ways to do this:
- Right-click on a song or selection of songs and select Send To > Your iPhone.
- Select a song, album, or playlist and drag it over to your iPhone in the tree.
- Click your iPhone and click Auto-Sync, select music to sync, and then click Apply to begin the sync.

[Edit]Using Dropbox

Sign up for a Dropbox account at https://www.dropbox.com. You can add songs from your computer to Dropbox and play them using the Dropbox app on your iPhone. Basic (free) Dropbox accounts come with 2 GB of space, but you can upgrade to Dropbox Plus (2 TB), Dropbox Professional (3 TB), or Dropbox Business (5 TB) if you need more.^[5]
Install the Dropbox client on your computer. This will add a Dropbox folder to your menu bar (top-right corner on a Mac) or system tray (bottom-right corner in Windows). Anything you place in this folder will be uploaded to your Dropbox account.
- Installing the client is optional but does make things easier. If there's a reason you aren't able to install the client, go to https://www.dropbox.com and log in to your account to access the web interface.
Copy the music files you want to add to your iPhone to your Dropbox folder. You can open the Dropbox folder by clicking the Dropbox icon in your System Tray or menu bar, and then clicking the folder button. Dropbox supports music in .mp3, .aiff, .m4a, and .wav formats.^[6]
- If you're using the web version, click Upload files in the right panel, select the files you want to add, and then click OK to start uploading.
Wait for the music to upload. This may take a while if you are adding a lot of music files, and the speed is dependent on your internet connection. You can monitor the progress in the Dropbox menu in your system tray or menu bar.
Install Dropbox on your iPhone. The app is free and can be downloaded from the App Store. Once the app is installed, launch it and sign in using the same Dropbox account you use on your computer.
Tap the song that you want to play. Dropbox will stream any of the songs that you have stored on your Dropbox account as long as you have a network connection. The songs will continue playing in the background even if you switch apps.
Mark songs as Favorites to make them available offline. Normally Dropbox streams the songs that you select over the internet, but you can mark songs as Favorites to make them always available, even when you don't have an internet connection.
- Swipe the song that you want to keep on the device from left to right.
- Tap the star to store the song on your iPhone.