Skip to main content

How to share your Apple Music library on Mac, iOS, and more

Apple Music
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Over time, it’s not uncommon to build up a large library of music and media on your Mac. If you want to share that content with other people so that, for example, your family members can listen to your music library, it’s a fairly simple process on Apple’s devices.

You can do that through Apple’s Home Sharing feature, or by sharing playlists you’ve created in Apple Music. Here's how to share your Apple Music on MacOS.

Recommended Videos

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

20 minutes

What You Need

  • Apple device

  • iTunes

Set up Home Sharing

Apple devices have a feature called Home Sharing that’s designed to let you share, stream, and import various media files from up to five devices — be they Mac, PC, iOS, or Apple TV devices — that are connected to your Wi-Fi network.

Step 1: Make sure any device you want to share with is signed in using the same Apple ID and has been authorized to play purchased items on that Apple ID.

Step 2: On your Mac, open System Preferences by clicking the Apple icon, then click System Preferences.

Step 3: Click Sharing, then click Media Sharing in the left-hand sidebar.

how to share apple music library mac ios 1 set up home sharing 768x632
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 4: Tick the checkbox next to Home Sharing.

Step 5: Enter your Apple ID username and password.

Step 6: Click Turn on Home Sharing. You’ll now see a dialog box telling you Home Sharing has been enabled.

Use Home Sharing on a Mac

Now that Home Sharing has been enabled, you’ll want to start sharing your content in Apple Music.

Step 1: Make sure that any device that wants to access or share an Apple Music library is turned on, is not asleep, and is running Apple Music.

Step 2: Open the Music app and sign in with your Apple ID (if you aren’t already).

Step 3: Click the down arrow next to Library in the left-hand sidebar.

how to share apple music library mac ios 2 use home sharing on a 768x432
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 4: You’ll see a list of libraries that have been shared with you. Click the one you want to access and you’ll see it loaded into Apple Music. Any playlists that have been created in the shared library will also be shown in the left-hand sidebar.

Use Home Sharing on iOS

Home Sharing can also be accessed from your iOS or iPadOS device. Here’s how.

Step 1: Open the Settings app on iOS, then scroll down to Music and tap it.

Step 2: At the bottom of the window under Home Sharing, tap Sign In if you aren’t already signed in with your Apple ID. If you are signed in, you’ll see your Apple ID’s email address displayed on your screen.

Step 3: Open the Music app, then tap Library in the bottom toolbar, then Home Sharing.

Step 4: Choose a library and wait for Music to download it to your device. Once that’s done, you can play the shared content.

Share your media with guests

What if you want to share your music library with someone else who has a different Apple ID? Fear not, as that’s just as easy to do.

Step 1: Open System Preferences on your Mac, then click Sharing.

Step 2: Click Media Sharing in the left-hand sidebar.

Step 3: At the bottom of the window, tick the checkbox next to Share Media with Guests.

Step 4: Click Options on the right-hand side.

how to share apple music library mac ios 4 your media with guests 768x632
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 5: To require a password when people try to access your media library, tick the checkbox next to Require Password, then enter a password in the adjacent box.

Step 6: You can choose to either share all your media items or only selected ones. For the latter option, click Selected Playlists, then choose exactly what media types you want to share.

Use Family Sharing

Home Sharing is a great way to sync all the Apple devices in your home, but what about syncing with the people in your life? That’s where Family Sharing comes in.

First, let’s make a quick distinction. Home Sharing is about syncing media between devices, whereas Family Sharing is about sharing purchases between accounts. With Family Sharing, you can sync your purchases on the App Store, Apple TV, and even Apple Music with five other accounts — be they friends or family.

To set up Family Sharing on Apple Music, you will have to switch to the Family Plan. That’s $17 a month, up from the $11 for the individual account. Each person then gets their own profile on Apple Music, where you can send them playlists and songs as well as see what they are listening to.

Make sure you know how much Apple Music is currently before you make any changes.

Show friends what you are listening to

If you and your friends really love music and you want to continually share what you are listening to, Apple Music will let you do that. Users can go to your profile and see what you are listening to at that moment. They can also view any playlists you have made public. You can turn this feature on in macOS and iOS.

To turn the feature on in iOS:

Step 1: Open Apple Music and tap on the For You tab.

Step 2: Tap on the image icon in the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 3: Click Edit beneath your name and picture.

Step 4: Scroll down to the bottom and toggle Listening To on.

Step 5: To turn it on in macOS, open Apple Music and tap on the For You tab.

Step 6: Tap on the image icon in the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 7: Click Edit to the right side of the screen.

Step 8: On the right side, under Choose Who Can Follow Your Activity, select Additional Privacy Settings.

Step 9: Choose Listening To, which will cause a blue checkmark to materialize next to it.

how to share apple music library mac ios turn listening on macos 720x410
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Share an Apple Music playlist

When you share your music through Apple Music, you don’t have to worry about your guilty-pleasure downloads being revealed. Instead, you can select a certain playlist to directly share with someone instead of granting them access to your entire music library.

Before sending your playlist, make sure the recipient can log into their Apple MUsic account by having an active Apple Music subscription.

Step 1: With your iPadOS or iOS, find which playlist you’d like to share. There will be three dots below the playlist title that will give you the option to Share when you click on them. You’ll be able to send the playlist in various ways, like text messages, emails, via AirDrop, or even through Facebook.

Step 2: You’ll follow the same initial steps on your Mac — tap the three dots below the playlist you’re trying to share. After clicking that option, choose Share Playlist.

If you’re looking to share an iTunes library, you’ll find that’s no longer possible on your Mac. On Windows, however, iTunes lives on. Here's how to share a music library in iTunes on Windows.

Alternatively, you might prefer a different music streaming service. Which is best, Spotify or Apple Music?

Alex Blake
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Alex Blake has been working with Digital Trends since 2019, where he spends most of his time writing about Mac computers…
WWDC may not deliver the macOS magic I’d love to see. Here’s why
macOS Sequoia being introduced by Apple's Craig Federighi at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024.

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is just two months away, and that means I’m starting to look forward to what could be coming to the Mac at Apple’s big summer show. The problem is that every time I think about WWDC 2025, I can’t shake one feeling: that Apple Intelligence is going to dominate everything at the event.To be fair, I don’t think Apple can do things any other way. As I’ve written about before, this year’s WWDC is make or break for Apple Intelligence. Apple has to not only make sure that its artificial intelligence (AI) platform catches up with rivals like ChatGPT and Google Gemini, but that it actually offers a service that can outdo its competitors in some ways. It needs to convince the public that Apple Intelligence is a worthy contender for their AI needs.And if Apple gets it right, then Apple Intelligence might finally become the system it was always meant to be, with a revamped Siri that possesses incredible contextual awareness and useful additions to key Mac apps that help you in your everyday life.But while I’m really hoping that Apple Intelligence gets the shake-up it so clearly needs, I don’t want the likes of macOS 16 and iOS 19 to miss out as a result. After all, these are the core aspects of Apple fans’ favorite devices. Without meaningful upgrades here, we’re all going to be a little worse off.

Déjà vu

Read more
I love Apple’s minimalist Mac design, and the iPhone 17 Air needs to follow it
Apple Mac Studio 2025 top down view showing desktop.

It’s no secret that Apple’s products are among the best designed devices in the tech industry. Just one peek at the MacBook Pro or the iPhone 16 Pro and you know that you’re looking at quality.

There’s a reason for that, and it’s got nothing to do with blind luck. No, Apple’s design philosophy has long been to strip away the unnecessary elements of a device until you’re left with only the essential components. There should be nothing extraneous, no needless fluff. Instead, the product should be the core expression of a concept, such as a phone or a computer. That has led to some of its best designs.

Read more
WWDC 2025 date confirmed as we wait for iOS 19, macOS 16, watchOS 12 and more
Apple WWDC 2025 logo

Apple has confirmed the date for its annual World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC 2025), where executives from the Cupertino, California-based firm will reveal the next generation of its various software platforms.

WWDC 2025 will take place between June 9 and June 13, with the keynote presentation (which Apple is teasing as a "special event") set to happen on the first day of the conference. Apple has also confirmed that this year's WWDC event will be entirely online and all developers can join for free.

Read more