The Easiest Way to Move Songs from an iPod to a Computer

By Tl Kleban

Probably the single most frequently-asked question from iPod owners is “How do I copy music from my iPod back to my computer?” You’ll hear this most from people who just purchased new computers but are stuck with their entire library on another computer and inaccessible.

Although Apple’s iTunes program is very good at keeping a computer-based library for transferring songs from your computer to your iPod, moving them in the opposite direction from an iPod to a computer is a bit more advanced and actually an advanced procedure even for users with a moderate amount of computer experience.

The way to get around this little roadblock is by enabling your iPod accessible for disk use. Here are a few steps how to accomplish this for both Windows and Macs.

• Well you can’t do much without connecting your iPod up to the computer, so do hook that up first. Windows users will find this project much easier to accomplish than those using Macs.
• Now that your iPod is connected to your computer and iTunes, go to the “Control Panel” and find the “Tools” section. You’ll be looking for the “Folder Options.” Now, under “Advanced Options,” click on “Show hidden files and folders.” Click the “Apply to all Folders” setting and hit “Okay.”
• Now, open up the “My Computer.” Find folder labeled iPod and double click on it. Your iPod will more than likely be found under external storage devices in the “My Computer” folder.
• Now that you are in your iPods file, try to find the folder that contains all of the MP3s. It is normally named "iPod Control” or something very similar to that. Locate the “Music” folder and browse through the subdirectories. You will see that all the file names will be random numbers and letters.
• Copy and paste the songs you want to move over to your computer. Another option you try is to drag the entire folder onto the desktop if you wanted to just move everyone song on your iPod over.
• Now that you moved all your songs from the iPod over to your computer in an MP3 format, you can easily add them to the iTunes library. This can be done by selecting all the songs and dragging them into iTunes or clicking “File” then “Add to Library.” Either way will work.
• For those of you out there who own a Mac, the process is slightly different. First off, you’ll need to enable your iPod for disk use. This is done by clicking the “iPod” icon in your iTunes and checking "Enable for Disk Use" under options in the “Summary” tab.
• You’re now ready to begin moving songs over from your iPod to your computer. This is simply done by dragging and dropping files from your iPod to your computer. Access your iPod like you would with an external hard drive, access the files and drag and drop them to your desktop or a folder to copy.

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