How to Download and Use iTunes on Windows 10 and 11

It can be a pain in the neck if you don't know how to connect your Windows laptop to your Apple device. The good news is that it's not as scary as you might think. With the iTunes app on Windows, it's easy to take care of all the music and videos on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. Even if you have the most recent version of Windows 11 on your PC, installing and using iTunes is still the easiest thing ever. Here's everything you need to know to download iTunes for Windows 10 and 1 and start using it to manage all of the media on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad.

What is iTunes for Windows?

You can move everything on your iPhone to your PC using the iTunes app for Windows. You don't have to only listen to music on Apple devices if you have Apple Music. You can also listen to your music on a Windows computer with iTunes for PC. But that's not all iTunes can do.

You can also organize your music and download new songs from your computer. If you haven't already, you can also sign up for Apple Music through iTunes.

You can also get to the iTunes store through the iTunes app. You can buy or rent movies, music, TV shows, audiobooks, and podcasts from your Windows PC. You can also download free podcasts.

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

How to download iTunes for Windows 10

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

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

You can get the iTunes app for Windows 11 at the Microsoft Store.

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.

One of the best things about getting an app from the Microsoft Store is that you can do this. It can't be set up any other way.

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.

Sign in to the iTunes store will appear in a box. Then, enter your Apple ID and password, and click Sign in.

You can also make a new Apple ID right in the iTunes app. You'll need an Apple ID to buy things from the iTunes store. Click the Create New Apple ID button at the bottom of the box. Then, follow the steps on the screen to make a new account. It requires entering information like an email address, password, and billing information (card and address details).

Navigating iTunes

To start using iTunes, the first thing you need to do is learn how to use its interface. When you first start iTunes, it will open your Music library for you. But iTunes remembers what you chose, so when you open it again, it takes you to the last category you were in. Click the Music button on the toolbar below the menu bar to switch to other types of media, like movies, TV shows, etc.

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

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

For Music, your library includes songs from your Apple Music library and playlists, songs you've bought from iTunes, and songs you've added from your computer. The left panel lets you look through your library and playlists.

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

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

Before you can use the Podcasts app on your PC to listen to Podcasts, you must first set up Podcasts in the iTunes app. Press Ctrl + 4 on your keyboard or click the "Podcasts" button in the iTunes app to switch to podcasts.

There will be a screen that says "Welcome to Podcasts." All of the options will be checked by default, but you can choose which ones to keep and which ones to uncheck before moving on. Then, click the "Continue" button.

The library of podcasts will have your podcasts. Even if the content doesn't show up right away. If it still doesn't show up, close and reopen the iTunes app.

You can also get new songs and videos for your PC from the iTunes store. Click on the tab that says Store.

Click the one you want to listen to. To listen to an episode, click the Play button.

Click "Get" to add it to your collection.

Adding Music and Movies from PC to iTunes Library

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

Adding music on your computer

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

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

The box labeled "Open" will appear. Click Open, and then choose the songs or folders you want to add to your music library. The songs will be added to your library, and you can sync them to an Apple device.

Taking movies or videos from your computer

iTunes can read video files with the file extensions.mov,.m4v, and.mp4. Go to the "Movie" section and choose "File" from the menu.

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

A box that says "Open" will appear. Select the video file or folder you want to add to your library.

The file will be in the Movies library of the iTunes app under "Home Videos."

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

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

"Video Info" will appear in a box. From here, you can also change the name of the video and other details, such as the year, genre, director, etc. You will have more say over how your library is set up. Click on the "Options" tab.

Then, click the drop-down menu next to "Media type," pick 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, you don't need to look any further if you want to turn your CDs into digital files. You can add all the songs to your iTunes library and listen to them at any time without having to put the disc in. You can even get them on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch.

Insert the CD into the computer's disc drive. The CD should automatically open to the content. Click the CD icon at the top if it doesn't.

By default, iTunes will ask if you want to add the CD to your library in a dialog box. To move on, click "Yes."

But you can change what happens when you put in a CD by changing your preferences. On the menu bar, click "Edit," then click "Preferences."

Click on the tab that says "General." Then, click the text box next to "When you put a CD in" to open the drop-down menu. There are five options: "Show CD," "Play CD," "Ask to Import CD," "Import CD," and "Import CD and Eject." Pick the option you want and click "OK." Your choice will be used the next time you put a CD in.

Click "Import CD" in the top right corner of the screen to import manually.

The "Import Settings" box will pop up. To bring it in, click "OK."

Your iTunes library will be filled with all of the songs on the CD. You can stop at any time by clicking "Stop Importing."

Uncheck the songs you don't want to import, and only the songs you want will be imported. If there is nothing to uncheck, go to the menu bar and click "Edit." Then, click "Settings."

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On the "General" tab, click "List View checkboxes," and then click "OK."

Next to each track, there will be a checkbox. Click the boxes next to the songs you don't want to hear anymore. Then, click on the "Import CD" option.

You can also play the songs on the CD without adding them to your iTunes library by using iTunes as a media player. Just double-click on a song to play it.

Putting content on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod

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

iTunes is the only official way to transfer content from your computer to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod. You can either have the content sync itself or do it yourself.

Using a USB cable to sync content

Connect your Apple device to your computer with the USB cable. Make sure that anyone can use your thing.

You'll see a box on your computer that tells you to look at the information on your iPhone or iPad. Click "Don't stop."

Then, a message will appear on your Apple device. Tap "Trust" when asked.

All of these messages only show up when you connect your device to the computer for the first time. If you've done this before, you can skip over these.

When you first use your device, iTunes might also ask you to set it up. This won't change anything on your device. Just set up the device on iTunes so that iTunes will remember it.

In the upper left corner of the iTunes window, click the icon for your device.

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

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

To synchronize the content, click the "Sync ContentType>" box.

You can also choose 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 library or just certain playlists.

For each type of content on the left panel, follow these steps. 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 finished. Click "Apply" to sync the content you've chosen.

When you connect your Apple device again, the content you chose will be synced by itself. Even if auto-sync is turned on, you can still manually sync content.

Using Wi-Fi to sync content

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

First, connect your Apple device to your computer using the USB cable. You can now sync over Wi-Fi.

Click on the icon that looks like a device in the top left corner of the iTunes window. On the left side of the screen, click the "Summary" tab.

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

When Wi-Fi sync is turned on, the icon for the device stays in the iTunes window even after the USB cable is removed. The icon will stay there until "Eject" is clicked.

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

Once you've turned on Wi-Fi syncing, how does it sync? There are several ways to sync over Wi-Fi when your computer is on.

If you have automatic syncing turned on, iTunes will use the same sync settings for different types of content that you chose for the USB cable. Either plug your Apple device into a charger and turn it on, or plug it into a charger and then turn it on. When the computer is on and both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, this will start to sync.

Another way to start syncing over Wi-Fi is to click the "device" icon in the iTunes app. On the left side of the screen, click the "Summary" tab. Then click the "Sync" button at the bottom right of the window.

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

Syncing the Content by Hand

You can turn off automatic syncing and do it yourself if you don't want to. You can always sync content by hand, even if auto-sync is turned on. Manual syncing gives you more control, but it takes longer than automatic syncing. Either a USB cable or a Wi-Fi connection can be used to sync it.

But you have to do it yourself if you want to add music, movies, TV shows, or podcasts to your device. You can't add photos, contacts, or any other kind of information when you sync by hand.

Go to the left side of the screen and click on "Summary" to turn off auto-sync. Then, go to "Options" and uncheck "Automatically sync when this [device] is connected." Then, click on the "Apply" button.

You can drag and drop each item onto your device if you want to sync things by hand. Choose the category from the drop-down menu in the iTunes window. It could be anything from music to movies to TV shows.

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

Or, move the mouse over the thing when you are there. Then, click on the menu with three dots. Go to the menu and choose "Add to Device." Then choose the device from the drop-down list.

You can also manually delete the items. Go to your device and pick what you want to do. Then, click on the "Delete" button.

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

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

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

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

To get to "Summary," use the menu on the left. Under "Automatically Back Up," choose "This Computer."

It is also possible to encrypt your backup. Your account passwords, Health, and HomeKit data will only be saved if you encrypt the backup. "Encrypt local backup" should be checked.

There will be a box that says "Set Password." Make sure there is a password on the back-up. You will need this password when you try to restore your backup. You won't be able to get the backup if you forget the password.

Then, click "Back Up Now" to do a manual backup of the device. But if you turn on automatic backup, when you connect your device to the computer, a backup is made.

You can also use iTunes to back up to iCloud instead of locally on the computer. Choose "iCloud" under "Backups" and then click "Back Up Now."

Click "Restore Backup" to get the device back to a backup from before.

So that's it. With iTunes on your Windows 11 computer, you can do a lot. iTunes can do everything, from putting your whole Apple device library on your PC to adding things from your PC to your Apple device. This should help you make it through.