How to Download and Use iTunes on Windows 10 and 11

If you don't know how to connect your Windows laptop to your Apple device, it can be a pain in the neck. Lucky for you, it's not as scary as you might think. Managing your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad's whole media library on Windows is very easy with the iTunes app. Even if you have the latest version of Windows 11 on your PC, it is still the easiest thing ever to install and use iTunes. Here's everything you need to know to download iTunes for Windows 10 and 1 and start using iTunes and manage all of the media on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad.

What is iTunes for Windows?

With the iTunes app for Windows, you can move everything on your iPhone to your PC. If you have Apple Music, you don't have to only listen to music on Apple devices. With iTunes for PC, you can also listen to your music on a Windows computer. But iTunes can do more than that.

You can also put your music in order and download new songs right from your PC. You can also sign up for Apple Music through iTunes if you haven't already.

The iTunes app also gives you access to the iTunes store. From your Windows PC, you can buy or rent movies, music, TV shows, audiobooks, and podcasts, or download free podcasts.

Using the iTunes app, you can also sync your content from your computer to your Apple device. In short, the iTunes app lets you enjoy all of your entertainment on both your iPhone and your computer.

How to download iTunes for Windows 10

1. Launch your web browser from the Start menu, taskbar, or desktop.

2. Go to www.apple.com/itunes/download.

3. Click Download Now.

4. Click Save and wait for iTunes to download.

5. When the download is complete, click Run.

6. The iTunes installer will then open.

7. Click Next.

8. Click Install when you're satisfied with the installation parameters.

9. Click Finish.

How to download iTunes for Windows 11

The Microsoft Store is where you can get the iTunes app for Windows 11.

1. Open the Microsoft Store and look for "iTunes" in the search bar.

2. To get the iTunes app, click the Free button.

3. After the app has been downloaded, all you have to do is open it.

It's one of the best things about getting an app from the Microsoft Store. There's no separate way to set it up.

How to use iTunes on Windows 11

Signing in

Now, the first thing you should do on the iTunes app is sign in to your Apple account.

If the sign-in button doesn't appear automatically, go to the menu bar and click on Account.

Then, from the menu, click Sign in.

A box that says Sign in to the iTunes store will pop up. Then, type in your Apple ID and password, and click Sign in.

You can also make a new Apple ID right inside the iTunes app. If you want to buy things from the iTunes store, you'll need an Apple ID. At the bottom of the dialog box, click the Create New Apple ID button. Then, make a new account by following the steps on the screen. It involves entering information like an email address, password, and billing information (card and address details).

Navigating iTunes

The first thing you need to do to start using iTunes is to learn how to use its interface. When you first open iTunes, it will automatically open your Music library. But iTunes remembers your choice so that the next time you open it, it opens the last category you were in. To switch to other types of media, like movies, TV shows, etc., click the Music button on the toolbar below the menu bar.

You can choose to open "Movies," "TV Shows," "Podcasts," or "Audiobooks" from a menu that drops down. Click the option to go to the category you want.

You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + [1–5], where [1–5] is the category as it appears in the drop-down menu. So, Ctrl + 1 will take you to the Music library, Ctrl + 2 to the Movies library, and so on.

For Music, your library is made up of songs from your Apple Music library and playlists, songs you've bought from iTunes, and songs you've added from your computer. You can look through your library and playlists using the left panel.

From the top of the left panel, you can also choose how to show the items in your library. You can change the order to Albums, Artists, Songs, Genres, or "Recently Added" to keep things simple.

You can also add more music to your library by going to the iTunes Store, iTunes Radio, Browse, or For You. To switch between categories, click a button on the toolbar.

For Podcasts, you must first set up Podcasts in the iTunes app before you can access the content from the Podcasts app on your PC. To switch to podcasts in the iTunes app, press Ctrl + 4 on your keyboard or click the "Podcasts" button.

The screen that says Welcome to Podcasts will show up. By default, all of the options will be checked, but you can choose which ones to keep and which ones to uncheck before moving on. Then, click the button that says Continue.

Your podcasts will be in the library of podcasts. Even though the content might not show up for a while. If it's still not showing up, close the iTunes app and open it again.

You can also get new music and videos from the iTunes store on your PC. Go to the tab called Store.

Click on the one you want to hear. Click the Play button to listen to an episode.

Click the Get button to add it to your library.

Adding Music and Movies from PC to iTunes Library

iTunes can help you if you have songs or movies on your computer that aren't on iTunes or that you don't want to buy again. It can also help you put music from old CDs on your Apple devices. You can also add music, movies, or even a CD to your iTunes library from your computer.

Using your computer to add music

When adding music from your computer, you can add single songs or folders of songs. When you import the folder, all of the songs in it, including those in subfolders, will be added to your iTunes music library. iTunes can play music files with the.mp3,.aiff,.wav,.aac, and.m4a file types.

Go to the File option on the menu bar while you're in the Music library, and then click Add File to Library or Add Folder to Library.

The Open box will come up. Click Open and choose the songs or folders you want to add to your music library. The music will be added to your library, and you can sync it to an Apple device.

Putting movies or videos from your computer

iTunes can read video files in the.mov,.m4v, and.mp4 file types. Go to the "Movie" category and choose "File" from the menu.

Then, from the menu, choose "Add File from Library" or "Add Folder from Library."

The "Open" box will pop up. Choose the file or folder of videos that you want to add to your library.

The file will be in the iTunes app's Movies library in the "Home Videos" section.

But you can change its media type to move it to movies or even TV shows, depending on what kind of video it is. Go to the title and move your cursor over it. When you see a menu with three dots, click it.

Then, choose "Video Info" from the menu that comes up when you click the three dots.

A box that says "Video Info" will pop up. From here, you can also change the name of the video and other details like the year, genre, director, etc. This gives you more control over how your library is organized. Go to the tab called "Options."

Then, click the drop-down menu next to "Media type," choose one of the options, and click "OK."

Related: How to transfer songs from iPod to PC.

Using a CD to add music

iTunes also lets you import content from CDs. So, if you want to turn your CDs into digital files, you don't need to look any further. You can add all the songs to your iTunes library and listen to them at any time without having to put in the disc. Even your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch can get them.

Put the CD into the disc drive on your computer. The content on the CD should open on its own. If it doesn't, click the CD icon at the top.

By default, iTunes will show a dialog box asking if you want to add the CD to your library. Click "Yes" to move forward.

But your preferences let you change what happens when you put in a CD. Click "Edit" on the menu bar and then click "Preferences."

Go to the tab called "General." Then, click the text box next to "When you put in a CD" to open the drop-down menu. "Show CD," "Play CD," "Ask to Import CD," "Import CD," and "Import CD and Eject" are the choices. Choose the choice and click "OK." And the next time you put a CD in, your choice will be used.

To import manually, click "Import CD" in the top right corner of the screen.

A box called "Import Settings" will open. Click "OK" to bring it in.

All the songs on the CD will be added to your iTunes library. Click "Stop Importing" at any time to stop.

Uncheck the songs you don't want to import to import only the ones you want. If there is no option to uncheck, click "Edit" in the menu bar. Then click on "Preferences."

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Select "List View checkboxes" from the "General" tab and click "OK."

There will be check boxes next to each track. Click the box next to the songs you want to take off the list. Then, click the option that says "Import CD."

You can also use iTunes as a media player to play the songs on the CD without adding them to your iTunes library. To play a song, just double-click on it.

Syncing your iPhone, iPad, or iPod with content

You can sync or move the music, videos, and other files you've added to iTunes to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. You can sync your device in two ways: with a USB cable or over Wi-Fi.

The only official way to move content from your computer to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod is to sync iTunes with the device. You can automatically sync the content or do it yourself.

Using a USB cable to sync content

Use the USB cable to link your Apple device to your computer. Make sure your device can be used by anyone.

On your computer, you'll see a box that asks you to access the information on your iPhone or iPad. Click "Keep Going."

Then, your Apple device will show you a message. Tap ‘Trust’ on the prompt.

All of these messages only show up the first time you connect your device to the computer. If this isn't your first time connecting, you can skip these.

iTunes might also ask you to set up your device the first time you use it. Nothing on your device will be changed by this. Only to set up the device on iTunes so that iTunes will remember it in the future.

Click the icon for your device in the upper left corner of the iTunes window.

Since these are the default settings, your device may now start to sync on its own.

Go to the left side of the screen and choose the kind of content you want to sync.

To sync the content, click the box that says "Sync ContentType>."

You can also choose things like what content you want to sync for each type of content. For example, when it comes to music, you can choose to sync your whole music library or just certain playlists.

Follow these steps for each type of content on the left panel. When you choose the content, the bottom bar changes to show how much space will be left on your Apple device after the sync is done. To sync the content you have chosen, click "Apply."

When you connect your Apple device again, it will automatically sync the content you chose. You can also sync content by hand, even if auto-sync is turned on.

Using Wi-Fi to sync content

iTunes also lets you sync content between an Apple device and a Windows PC over Wi-Fi. If you choose to sync content over Wi-Fi, the content will be synced whenever both your Windows PC and the Apple device are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

First, use the USB cable to connect your Apple device to your computer. This will let you sync over Wi-Fi.

Click on the device icon in the upper left corner of the iTunes window. Go to the "Summary" tab on the left side of the screen.

Scroll down until you see "Options," then check the box next to "Sync with this [device] over Wi-Fi." Then, click the button that says "Apply."

When Wi-Fi sync is turned on, you'll see that the icon for the device stays in the iTunes window even after the USB cable has been removed. The icon will stay there until you click "Eject."

Even if you click "Eject," Wi-Fi syncing stays on; the icon just goes away. If your PC and Apple device are on the same network, the icon for your device will show up again the next time you open iTunes.

Now, how does it sync once you've turned on Wi-Fi syncing? When your computer is on, there are several ways to sync over Wi-Fi.

If you have automatic syncing turned on, iTunes will use the same sync settings for different content categories that you chose for the USB cable. Either connect your Apple device to a charger and turn on the plug point, or connect it to a charger and turn on the plug point. This will start syncing over Wi-Fi when the computer is on and both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

Clicking the "device" icon in the iTunes app is another way to start syncing over Wi-Fi. Go to the "Summary" tab on the left side of the screen. Then, click the "Sync" button in the window's lower right corner.

You can also sync content on your own over Wi-Fi.

Syncing the Content by Hand

If you don't want to automatically sync, you can turn it off and do it yourself. Even if auto-sync is turned on, you can always sync content by hand. When you sync manually, you have more control, but it takes longer than when you sync automatically. It can be synced using either a USB cable or a Wi-Fi connection.

But you can only add music, movies, TV shows, and podcasts to your device by doing it yourself. When you manually sync, you can't add photos, contacts, or any other kind of information.

To turn off auto-sync, go to the left panel and click on "Summary." Then, scroll down to "Options" and uncheck "Automatically sync when this [device] is connected." Then, click the button that says "Apply."

If you want to sync things manually, you can drag and drop each item onto your device. From the iTunes window, choose the category from the drop-down menu. It could be music, movies, TV shows, etc. 

Then, pick the item, drag it to the device on the left panel, and drop it there.

Or, go to the thing and move the mouse over it. Then, click the menu that looks like three dots. Go to "Add to Device" in the menu and choose the device from the drop-down list.

You can also delete the items by hand. Go to your device and choose the thing you want. Then, click the button that says "Delete."

Use iTunes on your Windows 11 PC to back up your iPhone or iPad

You can also back up your Apple device to your PC with iTunes. If your iCloud doesn't have enough space for your backups, you can keep a copy of your Apple device on your PC. If you ever lose access to your data, you can restore the device from the PC copy. You can also use iTunes backups to move data from one device to another when switching devices.

Connect the device you want to back up to your PC and turn on iTunes.

Then, in the top left corner of the iTunes window, click the device icon.

Use the menu on the left to get to "Summary." Select "This Computer" under "Automatically Back Up."

Your backup can also be encrypted. Only if you encrypt the backup do your account passwords, Health, and HomeKit data get saved. Check the box that says "Encrypt local backup."

A box called "Set Password" will show up. Make sure the backup has a password. When you try to bring back your backup, you will need this password. If you forget the password, you won't be able to get the backup. 

Then, click "Back Up Now" to back up the device manually. But when automatic backup is turned on, when you connect your device to the computer, it makes a backup.

You can also use iTunes to back up to iCloud instead of backing up locally on the computer. Under "Backups," choose "iCloud," and then click the "Back Up Now" button.

Click the "Restore Backup" option to bring the device back to a previous backup.

So there it is. You can do a lot with iTunes on your Windows 11 computer. iTunes can do everything, from putting your whole device library on your PC to adding things from your PC to your Apple device. This guide should help you get through it.