How to download purchased songs on iTunes Store and transfer them to a new computer

A lot of people enjoy the idea of being able to build their own music library on their device.  This enables them to choose the songs they want to listen to and not have to lose valuable memory space by keeping the tracks they don’t really like.  If you’ve gotten into the habit of building your music library by purchasing songs from iTunes Store and would like to listen to them on a new Windows PC or Mac, there’s an easy way for you to do this without transferring your iTunes music library.

Basically, there are two ways for you to do this right.  Since iTunes allows you to redownload your entire music collection at one time, you can easily choose to do this.  But if there are some songs you no longer want to include in your new device, you have an option to individually pick out the tracks you need.  You can also opt to stream your purchased songs directly from iTunes Store so you no longer have to waste storage space.  If this is something you want to do, you can switch to All Music from Only Downloaded Music under iTunes’ View menu.  You then simply have to double-click on a song you wish to include.  Also, remember to Turn on Automatic Downloads on your new computer so that you automatically download your new song purchases done on another device.  

Here is a how-to guide on how you can achieve this:

First Option: Download all your purchased songs in bulk

1. Open iTunes on your new device (Mac or Windows PC)
2. From iTunes’ Account menu, choose Purchased. Remember to Sign In from the Account menu.
3. Go to the Music tab on the top-right portion of the interface.
4. Click on the button that says All then click the Download All button.

This will prompt iTunes to start downloading all of your previously purchased tracks, albums, and music videos.

If you wish to redownload the items that have not been downloaded on your new computer, you can simply click on Not In My Library > Download All.

Depending on the number of files you have and your internet connection, it may take a while to finish downloading the tracks to your new computer.  If you need to pause downloading individual tracks, albums or music videos, you can hover over an in-progress download found under the Downloads menu, click on the Pause/Resume button.  If you need to pause all items being downloaded, click on the Pause Downloads button.

Second Option: Redownload individual tracks

1. Open iTunes on your new device (Mac or Windows PC)
2. From iTunes’ Account menu, choose Purchased. Remember to Sign In from the Account menu.
3. Go to the Music tab on the top-right portion of the interface.
4. Click on Not in My Library so you can see the tracks that have not yet been downloaded to your new computer.

Once you’ve tapped on this, you can choose how you wish to display the tracks:

• Switch between albums and songs – Click on the Albums or Songs button, depending on your preference

• Browse by artist – You can view previously purchased songs or albums from specific artists by clicking on the name of the artist found on the leftmost column

• Show all items – If you wish to show all the songs, albums, and music videos you have purchased, click on Recent Purchases

• Sort the list – Click on Most Recent so you can sort your purchased items more easily.

5. Pick the song, album, or music video you wish to download and click iCloud.  The item you selected will then start downloading to the iTunes library found on your new device.  You can add other items to your queue by clicking on them.  You’ll know that the item has finished downloading once its iCloud icon disappears.

iTunes redownloads may be subject to availability.  Check with Apple’s support document to know which purchases are allowed from iTunes in your country or region.  Ringtones and alert tones are not available for redownload.