[2024 Solved] What to Do When You Can't Drag Music to iPhone

Music can be considered as one of the most important sources of relaxation. But sometimes, music can also serve as a way to stress you out. This is especially true if you can’t drag music to iPhone. After all, you can’t possibly listen to music if you can’t transfer the music file in the first place.

Unfortunately, there are many reasons why this happened to you. Plus, it’s happening to a lot of users as well. So to bring you joy once again, this article will be talking about the reasons why you can’t drag music to iPhone and how you can fix it.

Before We Drag Music to iPhone

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A tip for you: Download FoneDog Phone Transfer to transfer your files among different devices. If you want to know more tips to drag your music, you should keep reading this post.

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Why You Can’t Drag Music to iPhoneDrag Music to iPhone with a Third-Party Software InsteadMore Tricks When You Can’t Drag Music to iPhoneWrapping Up

Why You Can’t Drag Music to iPhone

Whenever you can’t drag music to iPhone, you can assume that this is due to several reasons. Fortunately, most of them can be solved with a simple solution.

Here’s a look at some of the reasons why you can’t drag music to iPhone:

• Improper App Configuration. Many times, you’ll find that the issue was caused because a vital feature was disabled or a degrading feature was enabled. This can lead to many of the features to malfunction due to this improper setting.
• Incompatible Software Version. When iTunes is outdated, it will often result to many bugs and errors. There are also cases where the software is updated but under development, in which case it still results in a lot of bugs.
• Outdated Operating System. In other scenarios, the problem isn’t rooted to the software, but the operating system itself. This can either be an outdated iPhone or an outdated PC.
• Incorrect Format. The rarest case is when the audio file is in the wrong format. This rarely happens due to the fact that it is fairly easy to determine what format your device is compatible with.

These are the different reasons why you can’t drag music to iPhone.

With that said, how can you fix this problem? Let’s start with your first option.

Drag Music to iPhone with a Third-Party Software Instead

The easiest way to most problems is to use a solution that was designed specifically for that issue or problem. And in our case, this is to use third-party software. For that reason, we recommend FoneDog Phone Transfer.

So what is FoneDog Phone Transfer? FoneDog Phone Transfer is a specialized software that allows you to use your PC as a means to transfer all sorts of files from one of your devices to another. This includes file transfer from or to mobile devices including versions up to Android 9.0 and iOS 13. The best part about this is that it allows you to transfer data without any data loss.

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In addition, the software supports all kinds of file types, including photos, documents, videos, and most importantly, music.

Lastly, it supports most formats of music including MP3, OGG, WAV, and more.

Now here’s how you can use the FoneDog Phone Transfer if you can’t drag music to iPhone.

Step 1: Connect Your Device to PC

Upon downloading and installing the FoneDog Phone Transfer software on your PC, launch the software. Then connect your mobile device to the computer using a USB cable.

Once the computer recognizes your device, the software will, too, and it will show some of the information about the device on the software interface.

Step 2. Select File Type

On the left side of the software window, you will see a selection of file types that you can transfer. Select the type of files that you want to transfer. In our case, select Music.

Step 3. Select Files

You will then be given a selection of files at the center of the window. On its left side you will see different directories. Choose which directory your file belongs to, then click on the box at the top-left corner of the item to select it. You may also select the Check All box to select all items.

Step 4: Wait for the Process Completed

Once you are done selecting the files, it is time to click the transfer the files. You can do this by clicking on the Export to PC button or select an iPhone device found at the top of the file selection panel.

With this, you will be able to transfer all kinds of files without a moment’s delay.

Although it doesn’t exactly solve your issue when you can’t drag music to iPhone, it still poses as a plausible option in case you keep on facing the same problem over and over again.

Either way, you should still learn some ways to finally solve the problem.

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More Tricks When You Can’t Drag Music to iPhone

Switch to Manual Mode

As previously said, one of the many reasons why you can’t drag music to iPhone is because of the improper configuration of the iTunes app.

And one of the most common cases is when you aren’t in the manual mode. The manual mode allows you to manage your music manually, which makes dragging your music to your iPhone possible.

If this is disabled, then obviously you can’t drag music to iPhone. Here’s how you can enable this feature:

1. Launch the iTunes.
2. Connect your iPhone device to the PC.
3. Click on the iPhone icon that can be found on the top bar of the iTunes app.
4. Head to Options.
5. At the bottom of the list, check on Manually manage music and videos.
6. Check if you can drag music files to your iPhone device again.

Remember that this often happens because the default setting of iTunes is usually not in the manual mode, so you have to make sure to switch it to this mode eventually.

Either way, this should help you when you can’t drag music to iPhone.

Turn Off iCloud Music Library

Another feature that can potentially mess up your iTunes is the iCloud Music Library.

The manual mode of the iTunes app is completely incompatible with the iCloud Music Library. For that reason, even though you’ve already switched to the manual mode, you still can’t drag music to iPhone.

Fortunately, the iCloud Music Library is a feature that you won’t have much chance to use anyway. So it’s better to disable it as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

Without further ado, here are the steps on how you can disable the iCloud Music Library:

1. Go to Settings >Music.
2. Tap on the iCloud Music Library option to turn it off.

Remember that the iCloud Music Library feature is present on your iPhone so there’s no need to use iTunes in this option.

With the iCloud Music Library, in addition to the Manual Mode, you should be able to solve the problem, but there’s still one feature you should take care of.

Disable iTunes Match

The last feature that you should monitor is the iTunes Match.

iTunes Match is a feature on the app that allows you to upload lots of songs from your Mac device to the iCloud server. By doing so, you will be able to access them whenever you need to use your iPhone.

However, again, the iTunes Match won’t allow you to manually add your music files to an iPhone device as long as it is turned on.

In addition, the iTunes Match which should’ve been disabled by default, because of an update, remained turned on automatically.

Regardless, you should try turning off iTunes Match by following these steps:

1. Open iTunes on your PC > Account > View My Account.
2. Make sure to enter your Apple ID password when you are asked for it.
3. Scroll down to the Cloud section.
4. Now click on the iTunes Match option to turn it off if it is currently enabled.

With this, you have already made sure that your iTunes app follows the perfect configuration for you to be able to drag your music files to iPhone once again.

However, that’s not the only solution that will help you when you can’t drag music to iPhone.

Create a New Playlist

Although the reason for the existence of this solution isn’t clear, it was proven by many users on several forums that creating a new playlist somehow fixes the aforementioned problem.

Just like our first option, this isn’t exactly a solution.

Creating a new playlist is simply a way to avoid facing the problem.

The idea is that when you create a playlist and add the music you want to transfer, it will sync automatically, but you can choose the music manually.

Here’s how you can create a new playlist and add your music on it:

1. Using your phone, open Apple's in-built music app.
2. Create a new playlist on this app.
3. Now on your PC, open the iTunes.
4. Connect your iPhone to the PC.
5. On the iTunes app, navigate to the Device.
6. Select Music.
7. Choose the playlist that you just created.
8. Finally, select the Autofill option.

With this, you don’t even have to face the problem which users that can’t drag music to iPhone are facing.

Instead, you can avoid the problem by simply using a method to trick the system.

Update Your iTunes App

There are also times when you can’t drag music to iPhone because the iTunes app is not updated.

Of course, this is understandable since most software doesn’t work properly when outdated.

Although iTunes usually inform you if an update is available, sometimes the feature just doesn’t work. In such cases, you have to update your iTunes app manually.

The steps for doing this on your Windows and Mac are the same, so let’s remember that these steps apply to both Mac and Windows users.

1. Open iTunes.
2. On the menu bar, click on Help.
3. Then select Check for Updates.
4. Now just follow the onscreen instructions that will be shown by the app.

With that, you can easily update your iTunes app on your Windows or Mac. But outdated software is not the only reason why you can’t drag music to iPhone.

Use an Older Version of iTunes

Remember that it’s not only outdated software that results in our current problem now. The issue can also be caused by an incompatible version, regardless of whether it is updated or not.

So if the previous solution didn’t work, you should try switching to another version instead.

You can switch to a version of your choosing by following these steps:

1. Launch your iTunes.
2. Save your current music library since there’s a chance they will get lost. To do this, head to File on the menu bar, then Select Library followed by Export Library.
3. Now open Terminal on your Mac.
4. Type in sudo rm -rf iTunes.app/.
5. Enter your password if you are prompted to.
6. Open a session of Finder then go to your Music/iTunes.
7. There should be a “iTunes Library.itl” file here. Move this file to your desktop.
8. Head back to the folder then go to the folder named “Previous iTunes Libraries”.
9. Now select the file that was created most recently then copy that file.
10. Move this file into the Music/iTunes folder and change its name to the previous file you just moved, which is “iTunes Library.itl”
11. Now head to the official Apple website.
12. Find the iTunes version that you want to get.
13. Download the file and install it on your computer.

With this, you’ll be able to keep the iTunes Library that you had before and at the same time replace your iTunes with an older version that works perfectly.

Update Your iPhone

Up until now, we’ve only talked about how to solve the problem assuming you can’t drag music to iPhone due to the iTunes app.

But what if the problem lies on your iPhone instead?

Most of the time, this problem is often due to having outdated software on your iPhone. and for that reason, you should learn how to update your iPhone. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Go to the Settings.
2. Tap on General.
3. Go to Software Update.
4. Turn on the Automatic Updates.

This will notify you if there’s an update and it will automatically execute the update command if you are connected to the internet.

This is only available for iOS 13 or later. Now, what if you can’t do the manual method and your version is not iOS 13? Fortunately, you can do it by using a computer:

1. On your computer, open iTunes.
2. Connect your iPhone to the computer.
3. Select the iPhone icon on the iTunes window.
4. Head to General.
5. Click on Check for Update.
6. Select the Download and Update.
7. Enter your password if prompted.

With these methods, you’ll be able to update your iPhone in no time. Now what if you’ve done all of this to no avail?

Check the Audio Format

The problem can be caused either by the iTunes app or the iPhone.

However, users that can’t drag music to iPhone tend to forget that the problem can also be caused when the audio format is incompatible.

iPhone devices cannot possibly support the countless formats out there. So it’s only fair to first check the format of the audio file before trying to drag it to your device.

To give you a general idea, here’s a list of formats supported by Apple:

• MP3
• WAV
• AIFF
• AAC
• Apple Lossless

If the format of your music doesn’t belong here, then you can be sure that the problem lies in the file. To fix this, you can just use a converter to turn it to one that is supported by your device.

But how can you check the audio format exactly?

Simple, you just have to go to the file, right-click on it, then select the Get Info option. There, under the Kind section, you can see what type of file it is.

Phone Transfer Transfer files among iOS, Android and Windows PC. Transfer and backup text messages, contacts, photos, video, music on computer easily. Fully compatible with iOS 17 and Android 14. Free Download - 1.61MB

↑↑↑↑↑↑
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Wrapping Up

Listening to music is one of the joys of iPhone users. After all, one of the benefits of being an Apple user is that you are able to access iTunes, which is a magnificent media player. But sometimes it doesn’t end well.

One such case is when you can’t drag music to iPhone. Due to this, you won’t be able to listen to music anymore. That’s why it’s important to always check the condition of your iTunes app as well as your iPhone regularly.