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Transfer Applications from iPhone to iTunes

Written on July 22, 2008 by Jenny Kortina and 249 people have commented

I was having a lot of trouble getting my iPhone applications to sync with iTunes. I tried doing backups and full syncs to no avail. Finally, in a moment of desperation, I righted clicked on my iPhone and chose the option “Transfer Purchases” and to my suprise and glee I successfully moved my applications onto to my computer.

To transfer applictions to iTunes from your iPhone:

  1. Right click on your iPhone in the left hand explorer bar
  2. Select “Transfer Purchases”
  3. You should see a progress bar in iTunes and your phone should read “Sync in Progress”
  4. If everything went as planned, all of your applications that were purchased on your iPhone should now appear in iTunes

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Comments (245)

  • Marvellous !

    I was getting a bit worried about why mine weren’t getting sync’d either.

    Thanks for this tip !

    N

  • Weird, I was just encountering this problem and posting on the Apple discussion forums about it. Unfortunately, although others suggested this over there, it doesn’t work for me and others. Some (notably, more recent ones) applications on my iPhone just won’t transfer to iTunes. Also oddly, the “Applications” section in iTunes tells me I have one “1 update available” for my applications, but when I try to view it, it tells me no updates are available, but the “1″ refuses to go away.

    I’d be tempted to try to restore my iPhone, but I’m not sure that I’ll be able to get back various apps I’ve paid for on my iPhone.

    • I was also having trouble getting my apps to transfer to iTunes. I did a bit more searching and found that you need to make sure that the computer you are working on is “authorized” first. I disconnected my iPhone, authorized the computer, attached the iPhone again, and then was able to right click on the iPhone and transfer my purchases.

      I am using iTunes 8.2.1.6 and my iPhone is on 3.0. Hope this helps. I also have to agree with lin2log, this is hands down the best phone I have ever had. I usually get bored with new “toys” after about 3 months of use and this is almost a year old and I still feel like a little kid.

    • Whew, authorizing my computer worked. Man, they need to make this stuff more self-explanatory. Apple software sucks. I lost my apps twice before looking this up to figure it out.

    • we are on the same boat! and it appears that my iPhone cannot be synced. it says that an “unknown error occured (-53)”

  • Wonderful! I was just trying to sync my apps last night to no avail.

    Now if only I could stop my iPod Touch from crashing 5-6 times a day.

  • @ Sherkaner: Even if you do the restore you will be able to re-download all your apps for free…but that may be a pain if you have a lot like me.

  • Thanks for this! Very useful after my hard drive crashed on my MacBook (only a week after getting an iPhone) without unfortunately a Time Machine backup.

  • Found this when i googled “applications transfer iphone itunes”
    Just wanted to say thanks!

  • Ah, ha. Excellent. Thanks!

  • thanks so much!
    i was starting to get irritated myself.

  • I can only second what Sherkaner wrote TO THE T. iTunes merely goes thru the motions (at EVERY sync) but not ONE of the approx. 5 “on-the-phone-only” apps show up on my computer. I also have the “update-button-number” that won’t disappear every so often.

    I’m glad (in a morbid way I guess) that I’m NOT ALONE!! Seems to me, that the whole ecosystem “iPhone” is still VERY MUCH in the making and is only very shaky at best!

    But, nonetheless, my iPhone or rather THEE iPhone is the best damn phone I have ever had or seen, bar none!! I can live with few non-lethal quirks and this still very much fledgling stage. I’m not moronic enough to think things could or will ever be PERFECT. I trust, given maybe another 6 months and a few incremental update’s, Apple will progressively make this into an even more amazing product than it already is…

  • My problem was that the computer was not authorized. As a result of that (I assume), iTunes was removing the apps from my iPhone when I synced. It would warn me with a message about copying the apps from the iPhone to the computer, but I would check the Transfer option and it removed them anyway. Each time, I stopped the syncing, but would lose an app anyway. Since I have them on my home mac, I believe I’ll be able to regain them.

    Once I tried to implement the tip, it gave the more valuable warning about the computer not being authorized. I authorized it, transferred the apps to the computer, and now all is well. Thank you very much.

    By the way, Imram and I think alike. I found this when I googled “transfer iphone applications itunes”

    • THX for the advice on authorizing the computer first… I even removed iTunes and reinstalled it to no avail until I found this blog.

  • My problem is there is no Applications tab on my itunes :( I’m still using 1.1.4 version of iPhone…

    Can someone help me plz…

  • my problem is when i transfer purchases it says ur computer in not authorized…
    how di i authorize it for free….
    plzzz help i hav got like 30 games from my friends comp now i wanna add other apps from my laptop

  • So basically you’re asking us how you can best STEAL software that you haven’t paid for. That’s clever. Since if you HAD bought it, you would merely need to log into iTunes with your account and you could simply reload everything for free.

    And it’s great to see that comment’s here are CENSORED without warning. Hooray… that really speaks highly of this blog.

    NOT.

    Just lame.

    • you can purchase thru the phone direct, so not all of it could be theft, (while possible)
      but they said they paid for them, this doesnt automagically tell itunes to download them to itself.

      that may work if u do a full backup using itunes, then that transfer purchases option, then after such you could restore after a try and not loose anything.

      i did it on my 3g

    • What if i downloaded the apps straight from my iPhone. How would they end up in my iTunes library? Magic? Dumb ass.

  • Thanks so much…it worked after trying all night long!!!

  • I tried getting apps for my iphone. My comp said I had to download the new 7.7 itunes. I did. It still said I needed to download it. I downloaded it 4 times. Help! Is it me or my computer??

  • I have the same problem as others. I have two apps I purchased on iTunes and it won’t let me transfer them to my iTunes. I’m not sure what to do about it — if I should download them iTunes or if I should restore the phone and start over (which seems like a pain). I don’t want to pay for them again.

  • Worked for me. You’re that kind of fortunate geniuses.

  • Thank you for this. I wasn’t sure how to transfer management of my iPod Touch apps to iTunes on our new iMac. This thread came up first on Google. Problem solved.

  • Thank you for this. I wasn’t sure how to transfer management of my iPod Touch apps to iTunes on our new iMac. This thread came up first on Google. Problem solved.

  • Thank you so much! I just got a new iTouch and MacBook and I was getting so frustrated that I had to keep syncing the iTouch to my husband’s PC. Thank you Thank you Thank you!

  • Omg, thank you very much. I would be so pissed if my ipod was to crash or reboot without my bought apps. Thank you thank you.

  • When I downloaded the iPhone 2.1 software to my iPhone (and synced for the 1st time), the applications on my phone don’t work. I’m guessing because the applications didn’t transfer/sync to my computer. Now it says “your computer is not authorized to play these applications”.

    How do I authorize my computer?

  • WOW, so simple, thanks

  • store>authorize computer

  • hi,
    im having problems syncing my applications that ive downloaded from itunes on my pc onto itouch. The problem is that there is no “Application tab” for me to click on to transfer purchases from itouch when its synced to the computer….(theres summary, music, movies, tv shows, podcasts, photos and info.. no Videos and Applications)
    i need help! any would be nice! thanks.

    • this is the same problem i’m having. there’s no application tab in the device section.

      help?

    • Try going to the app store in iTunes and downloading a free app. Maybe that will cause the tab to appear.

  • i’ve tried “transfer purchases to itunes,” i’m authorized. this is so frustrating. i’ve finally emailed apple about it, but there’s no telling if i’ll hear back.

    anyone know any other tips that haven’t been mentioned here?

  • i just got an ipod touch 8G i have downloaded apps from the store but have no idea on how to load them on to my ipod. i have tried tons of things like transferring purchases but nothing seems to work! i would really appreciate the help!

  • Finally…

    After unchecking and checking the sync applications in the applications tab of the iphone and right clicking on the iphone to select the transfer purchases with no luck. I finally double clicked one of the application icons in the applications folder of my library which allowed me to authorize my account. I was then able to check the sync all application and transfer purchases without any problems.

    Hope it helps the others that are still having problems and thanks to those who previously posted.

  • Every now & again you get a clear and precise answer to a question googled. This was exactly one of those of-so-few occasions.

    Many thanks!

  • Had to go into iTunes -> Store tab -> Authorize computer, takes 30sec – 1 min to authorize and will confirm with ex.” 2/5 computers were authorized” …then re-synched phone they are now on there. Success.

  • is it possible to have more than 5 authorized computers?

  • Thank you so much, I have been trying to do this all night since my hard drive failed last night. I almost thought I was going to have to buy them all again. Thank you!

  • Thanks for the tip, but I returned my new #G model because it was blanking the screen while I was talking to anyone and then I could not turn it off or on until the other person hung up. Anyway the three apps that I bought originally on the edge Iphone showed up with the little circled 3 next to the app store icon on the new flawed 3G, but when they transferred over the phone to the new one I no longer have the icon with the circled three so I do not know how I can get what I paid for back. Any tips on this one.

    Thanks

  • So I have a question about one detail.

    Lets say my hard drive had errors. I reformat. I select to “Transfer Purchases” from my iPhone. The application I downloaded to my iPhone are now there. The only thing that scares me is this: When i go to sync my apps, it warns me that all applications and data they contain will be deleted and replaced with what is in iTunes. Does that mean that preferences, notes, voice recordings, etc that are in my apps will be gone? Or is that data imbedded in the apps that are in my iTunes?

    I thought that maybe if I deleted all the apps from iTunes and tried to sync…maybe it would automatically transfer the apps to iTunes along with the data they contain, but iTunes warns me that if I wipe out the apps in iTunes then sync…it will wipe out my apps on the iPhone.

    If someone had similar experience, let me know how it worked out. I basically want to know what happens when you transfer apps from the phone to iTunes, then sync. Does the data get erased? Do you have to re-arrange the apps on the iPhone back to the way they were? THANKS!

    • I just did this and all my prefs and data were retained (whew!). I got a new Mac and wanted to setup my I phone on it. I did the Transfer Purchases thing and then in the Apps tab, I clicked the sync applications checkbox. It gave me the warning that it would overwrite all my apps. After checking the box all my apps were arranged in a different order. So before I hit the apply button, I arranged the apps in iTunes the way I had them on my iphone. Then (throwing caution into the wind ;)) I hit apply. It synced fine. I have now gone though all the apps on my iphone and they all still have their prefs and data. Sweet! I’m a happy camper.

  • that last comment is what just happened to me, my computer crashed, and I had to reinstall Itunes, and now tells me the same thing, the apps will be deleted since the apps on my iphone were from another itune library……what can I do ?

  • I have same problem like other did. I can sync address, calendar & music but not application. I even delete itunes application and re-install again but still now working. What can I do?

  • ok not sure what happened, I rebooted my computer and some how, my application appeared in my itunes, so cannot explain how, but now syncing my apps, I had to add the new one that i added not long ago, I lost a few, but was easy to put them back, I click on sync app then i saw the app from app store and then added the one I got somwhere else, i got tired ot trying so I took the chance, and it works fine, but of course, make sure you make a list of the apps first, and you can always download diskaid to copy the apps from your iphone to your computer and back to your phone after you synced….good luck to you all..

  • Thanks a lot for that great tip!
    I spent the whole morning trying to figure this out and getting stressed about buying applications all over again.
    This has saved me a lot of worry and time, thanks once again:)

  • @Derek
    Thanks for your finding, it shure did help me.
    They say something about Apple quality software and stuf…. This is a very lame error from Apple programers part, aldo iTunes is so slow….

  • Heya guys…i found this site via google but it appears i have a slightly different problem…my apps appear on the apps tab but there is no way i can check the little sinc box cuz itunes don’t allow it (the lill box is grey and uncheckable)….any help is soooo very welcome…
    thx…:-D

  • Wow, it worked so thanks. I am helping someone out on the IPhone – so much thanks to your post.

    Otherwise my G1 kills the IPhone on usability. Of course it is a lot less dummy proof. There was no dialog to denote file location. So my back up is some where on the PC.

    Ouch. Hopefully the restore knows where Itunes put this stuff (I tell ya, it ain’t in the folder with the apps we just backed up). I only found the apps stuff because I was smart enough to watch the file names and search.

    Again OUCH.

    Viva la open source.

  • thanks for the tip
    i was worried there for a second becuase i tunes wouldnt sync my apps

  • thanks a bunch!

  • Thanks so much for that, my wife and i just got iPhones and we use 2 computers. It’s good to know little things like this =D

  • I have downloaded my apps directly to my phone, but they won’t go onto my computer… even when I click transfer purchases. Any recommendations? I want them on my computer in case I lost my phone or something happened to it – thanks

  • Thank you, thank you, thank you. May your days be full of sunshine for you being the first search hit on this…I almost went crazy. THANK YOU.

  • I had the same problem with authorizing a new macbook with my existing iPhone so I could transfer all my apps from the iPhone to the new macbooks iTunes. You have to authorize your computer by going to the “Store -> Authorize Computer” menu item.

    Apple seems to let you authorize up to 5 computers with iTunes – no idea on why the limit. But all that said and done once you have the computer authorized you can go to the “File -> Transfer Purchases from …” menu item to transfer your iPhone to your iTunes.

  • Hey Andy, thanks a lot man…this was really helpful. without authorizing the computer, u cannot transfer the apps…I was trying all the sites to get an answer to transfer the apps from iphone to itunes…this is the perfect answer…Greate

  • Hi,

    I’ve installed a free applications from iTunes store in my Office computer. and i copied applications to my home computer’s iTunes Library which there’s no internet connection to authorise..

    So is there any trick to sync application without authorization (No internet connection).?

    Is there any solution where i can bring from the Office iTunes Library to Home library..?

    Cheers,

  • I have done both suggestions numerous times and I still can’t get all my apps to transfer to the iTunes library, it is bewildering at this point. As for the iphone “applications window” in itunes it only shows 1 application and that is the one I re-downloaded this morning directly from the itunes app store. I figured i’ll just re-download all my apps that way but when I got to a “purchased” app it wanted me to pay for it again even though its in my purchase history and i downloaded and paid for it through my iphone. Not sure which direction to go from here, I wish you could mount the phone as a disk and just drag and drop the apps that way, but I guess were not supposed to do to much physical labor, ie, all the automation itunes supposedly has… reminds me of brazil and some vaccum tubes, ha ha.

  • thanks for this. i just got a new comp and didn’t know how to transfer my apps to it.

  • There is clearly a bug with the apps not showing up in itunes. My girlfriends works fina and I can’t get one of mine to show up even after following all directions I can find on the internet. FYI, I have the latest version of itunes.

  • Hi all, hoping someone can help? I synced my iphone 3g apps with my macbook, didnt seem to be a problem, except it removed them from my iphone! i have tried to sync again to get them back onto the phone but it doesnt work. i have tried disconnecting and reconnecting the phone to try and select the apps individually within itunes to sync but again doesnt work. its only the apps i want back on the iphone – any ideas anyone??

  • This problem has been driving me mad for ages…thanks so much for the hint!

  • This is annoying. My computer IS authorized. I have never purchased any songs from iTunes. I’ve only purchased Apps. I deauthorized my computer and authorized it again. I still encounter that same “Some of the purchased items on the iphone could not be transferred to your itunes library because you are not authorized to play them on this computer” error… Any help? People keep saying play one of the songs purchased from iTunes, but I’ve never purchased a song from iTunes, just applications… Now what?

  • Thanks! Now transferring all of my apps to my new PC is waaaaaaay easier

  • You the Man!!

  • iTunes fraking SUCK!!! Suck, suck, SUCK, SUUUUUUCK :O !!!!! Arghhh, it makes me so mad that I constantly have problems with it, one way or another! It’s a piece of crap software, period. I just wonder when Apple’s gonna wake up and completely rewrite it and redo its stupid policies that go with it, ha?! Syncing is stupid, I think. It’s only needed in certain cases, not as the main pillar of the iTunes crapware. I love the iPhone but maa-an, iTunes really piss me off. It’s slow and craps out so often and so UNRELIABLE it hurts!!! If there would be one thing preventing me buying iPhone – it DEFINITELY would be the crappy iTunes!!! (2nd being tied up to the AT&T, the cohort of shady government in spying and abuse of rights besides being the monopolistic abuser in general).

  • Just got this working. I just got a new mac and my applications weren’t showing up. I tried what was suggested here with no luck. I was authorized and all.

    So I decided to see if the applications were anywhere on my computer… and they were! They were all in my iTunes folder under the folder Mobile Applications. There were multiple copies of each application, presumably each update for the app. So I just imported that folder into iTunes, it began to ask me if I’d like to replace my current version of with the older copy. I clicked yes for some, no for others… it didn’t really matter.

    What this did was brought back the Application tab. If any files were replaced with the old, I just clicked Check for Updates to make sure I got the most recent.

    Basically it seems like the apps are already on your computer, so when you tell iTunes to transfer the purchases it says “ok, well i’ve got them already, no need to do that” But for some reason the tab is gone.

    Hopefully this will help some

  • So… Once you sync your phone with iTunes you then need to go to the Applications panel. Double click an app and re-enter your password. Then it is “authorized”. That is so frickin RETARDED! Apple is retarded. You know who the biggest retard is? Me. I keep buying their crap.

  • Thanks so much!! This was exactly what i needed.

  • Youhou !!! thank you so much for the trick. I was desperate to get my applications back on my computer.

  • Hey aplH8r….Thanks for the input…that is exactly what I needed. I too was having difficulties syncing apps. Wish I would of read your post before I restored. Thanks!!

  • thanks for this

  • Thank You!!! So simple, but I would have never thought to right-click the device LMAO

  • I suspect this is INCREDIBLY obvious — but how do I do this in reverse? I accidentally deleted something off my iPhone (3G) but can’t figure out how to get it BACK on from the “applications” section on my itunes (where it IS showing up.)

    HELP! (And thanks!)

  • (ignore my previous question… I really am a moron and just figured it out on my own… Sorry…)

  • I found a lot of the information on this forum helpful, however I’m trying to download an app that I bought thru iTunes onto my iPhone. When i tried to download thru my iphone, it said that it was too large, so i opted to do it via my computer. Now it will not let me transfer to my iphone. Am I stupid, or just confused. Thanks!!

  • what if when i sync my itouch but there is no application tab on the syncing devise thing?

  • Post # 30 cured my problem. Thanks to Jessie and all those who have contributed.

  • thankyou very much for this tip. My itunes lost all apps during my nightmare virus situation. THANKS!

  • Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have no idea how much joy you just brought me.

  • Thank you! Every time I purchase a new computer I always have a problem getting all of my iTunes content transfered properly. I finally got all of my music transfered after having to battle with 5 out of 5 computers authorized and then my applications wouldn’t merge. This solved it, thank you!

  • Thanks, That was a lifesaver. I knew that option was there but feared it would erase everything on my Touch since it was authorized on a different computer and none of the apps were on the new computer. Syncd right up just fine.

  • Somehow this is not working for me. If I buy an app on the iPhone and then sync with my iMac, the status bar *says* it’s downloading apps from my iPhone, but they never appear in iTunes. I have got around this by redownloading the apps through iTunes (luckily, unlike music, you can do this multiple times with no additional charge) but it seems like a bug. I have made sure to reset my warnings on the phone, and have made sure my iMac is authorized, but nothing seems to help. Any ideas?

  • OMG OMG OMG!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I had an iPod that was stolen out of my car (yes, they broke the window and everything!) and just recently purchased an iPhone. My computer was down for almost a month with my iTunes library and I wasn’t going to wait to play with my iPhone. In order to purchase some of the apps, I synched it with my work laptop as a temporary fix.

    Now that I spent time and money on the applications and loading all kinds of information into these neat apps only to find I couldn’t transfer them to my desktop! Needless to say, I was pretty upset!

    Thank you for posting this and making my life easier!!!

    Warmest regards,
    Arial Burnz

  • I didn’t read all of the posts but regarding not being able to transfer and sync apps with the iphone. You need to authorize your phone with that computer. Do this by clicking “store” on the menu at the top and click authorize computer. Follow the instructions from there and finally, click transfer apps from the right-click menu of your iphone icon.

  • Thank you! Finally someone able to to helpfully explain how to transfer my iphone apps.

  • if you can’t get your apps to sync from iTunes to your iTouch, check to see if the “applications” tab shows up on the iTouch window in iTunes. If not, then you need to purchase the updated software for your iTouch. It’s about $9.95.

    Once you’ve downloaded the newer version of the software (free if your iTouch is already running 2.2 or something like that), then the download for the apps will sync right up.

    good luck!

  • THANK YOU!!

    Does anyone know how to do the same things with songs? I’ve just added iTunes to my work laptop and HAVE been able to get my apps to sync… but now if I try to transfer any of the music from my laptop it warns me about deleting all of my existing music! I know you all have a clever solution!!

    Thanks in advance!

  • ***Tip to anyone whos stuck*** If this method does not work go to the top menu and find authorize computer and then try it again. it took me about a hour to work it out…

  • thank you so much i don’t know why i didn’t think to check that.

  • hi..got problem with my formatted PC. it shows would you like to transfer APP to PC?so it shows transfering figure. But once I check on my iphone, there are no longer APPs available? Is that means I’ve removed it from my Iphone or there are still in my PC? How can I get back all those Purchased items? Pls someone help me…

  • Thanks very much!! Just updated my iphone and had to restore the damn thing and lost all my apps!!!! No i can sync the apps to save me going through hell to download them all!!!!

  • AWESOME Thanks

  • Works great for me, but SUPER slow on the 1st gen iPod touch.

  • This is regarding #59 Lisa: who says;

    ” . . . So I decided to see if the applications were anywhere on my computer… and they were! They were all in my iTunes folder under the folder Mobile Applications . . .”

    I have this exact problem, however when I go in to my iTunes Folder on my computer there is no such folder as “Mobile Applications” Please can anyone help me this is very frustrating as I have purchased 3 applications on my iPhone which were all working perfectly fine until my iPhone crashed and I had to backup and then restore it but then when I went into my phone after rebooting it, only 1 of my applications was showing, and the other 2 are nowhere to be found (not even on my iTunes anywhere. The only record I have that I have ever purchased these apps is on my iTunes Shop account under Purchase History. Please help if anyone knows how I can get my purchased apps back on my phone/iTunes/both!!

  • @ Del # 87

    C:\Users\YOURACCOUNTNAME\Music\iTunes\Mobile Applications

    there they are :)

  • Wow. That right-click solution worked perfectly. Thanks for publishing this answer!

  • In my iTunes it is not working…I have authorized my computer but when I try to transfer application it shows that is being transgered but when it finished it is not.

  • hi..got problem with my formatted PC. it shows would you like to transfer APP to PC? pls help me……………..

  • im having the opposite problem.. i cannot get purchases from itunes to my iphone. i want to bring them from my comp, to my phone.. cant do it

  • i dont know how to transfer games from itunes applications to my apple iphone could you please let me know because i purchased the games and i can not transfer them i only transfered the songs

    many thanks

  • Thanks for the help!
    For those using iTunes on Mac, with no right click capability, place cursor on the iPhone icon on itunes, hold the ctrl (control) key, and click. That will open the same menu described here.

  • Thank you so much, you are a lifesaver! I don’t see why there isn’t a checkbox for this procedure where the Applications tab is…

    Thanks again!

  • Thank you! You solved alot of frustration =)

  • Thanks for the tip.. but this still doesnt work. Been trying to fix for months.

  • Thank you very much!

  • OmG! LIFE SAVER!

  • oh GOD! in fact i am not getting a application button in my itunes…

  • Thanks, that work great!

  • Brilliant! Thanks so much. I’ve now got all my apps back in iTunes after having to reinstall.

  • Thanx heaps for this…. so simple

  • AWESOME!!!! Thank you so much…i just got a new mac and started to worry that I would not be able to get my gazillion apps on there. This worked perfect. THANK YOU!!!!!

  • Brilliant tip! that problem really annoying!

  • How do you get more authorized computers after you exceed the 5 allowed with the iphone?

  • BINGO!!!. TKS MAN. SIMPLE, EASY, AS IT SHOULD BE.

  • THnkz bro it workd

  • I have this same problem but with an ipod touch.
    i just bought a laptop but my apps dont want to get tansfer :( :( :(

  • I knew there had to be an easier way. Thanks for saving me a few hours :)

  • Ok as some have mentioned, I have authorized my computer but still when I try to transfer the things I bought it tells me my computer is not authorized. I have tried deauthorizing it and authorizing it afterward but it still doesn’t work. PLEASE HELP!!!!

  • Thank you so much to #28. I tried all of the things listed in the little FAQ up top but your suggestion is what ended up working.

  • do you know why i havent an ‘applications’ tab on my iphone device page?
    just trying to sync over some applications and games but finding it a mystery

  • Thanks for the answer

  • “I have downloaded my apps directly to my phone, but they won’t go onto my computer… even when I click transfer purchases. Any recommendations? I want them on my computer in case I lost my phone or something happened to it – thanks.”

    I had the same problem, very frustrating! When you do a sync/backup, it should simply include your apps as well, you shouldn’t have to also transfer purchases. Regardless, I right-clicked the iphone on itunes to transfer purchases, and that didn’t work. But I selected “File” and then “Transfer Purchases”, that worked?! Apple really needs to fix this.

  • Thanks for the great tip.
    BUT – I would appreciate a whole bunch if someone could point me in a direction of how to transfer my applications that I downloaded onto my iTunes to my iPhone 3G.
    When I click the Applications tab, it says “Sync applications” and gives me a list of my downloaded apps but I can’t highlight it!
    Any help would be great. Thanks!!

  • thank you so much i was about to go crazy

  • Hello,
    I just downloaded Ituned8 and synced my ipod touch with it, First of all I lost all my purchased songs and then I lost all my purchased application.
    I looked all over my computer to maybe find them restored somewhere but I couldnt find them.
    I did click on transfer all purchased but it didnt work. :( does this mean that I should purchase them all over again?
    Is there anyway that I get my purchases back?

    Please help.

    Faezeh

  • Another question, I cant sync my photos, I have done it before with Windows vista but when I changed my windows to XP, it seems impossible. I can select the folders and everything, it just doesnt sync

  • hey,is there any way i can transfer my applications (which were installed on my friend`s computer by his account) to my itunes of my computer.
    ive tried using “tranfer purchases”option but it dosent actually allow me to transfer them because it says my computer is not authorized for it.
    I know that because im not the one who purchased them lol but am still trying to find a solution for this.
    do reply.
    thans a lot.

  • it helps me alot to solve my problem…thanks alot…

  • Think it’s bad now?

    I have 100+ apps on my iPhone and when I right-click and Transfer Purchases, it goes through the list of them but doesn’t actually transfer them.

    Can’t wait to hear what Apple has to say about this one.

  • Thank you for this post. I was searching google and this works perfectly. My computer is authorized with my apple account (for anyone having trouble do this first) and then transfer your apps.

  • Thank you so much for this awesome tip! I was seconds away from throwing my laptop and iphone out the window from frustration when I stumbled across this page.

    And thanks also to Dorian for the C:\Users\YOURACCOUNTNAME\Music\iTunes\Mobile Applications path.

    Ah, I love the internet. :)

  • i love you man.
    u da best

  • extremely useful! except if I knew this before, It would have been alot less annoying ;)

  • After 20 minutes of googling this exact problem… I am now sitting here thinking… its so obvious!

    Apple the company that doesnt believe in a “right click” would hide something this important in that menu….

    THANKS FOR THE TIP….!!!!

  • Doesn’t work for my JB’d iPhone. Get the following message for free apps:

    For ones in iTunes
    “” was not installed on the iPhone because you are not authorised for it on this computer.
    - where ” are the various apps I have.
    For ones on iPhone
    “” could not be transferred from the iPhone “iPhone” because you are not authorised to play it on this computer.

    Possibly because it’s jailbroken?

    Writing this I found this solution –> You need to authorise your computer via iTunes Store > Authorise Computer … Works for iPhone to iTunes but can’t see the apps I had first in iTunes on my iPhone.

  • I just upgraded from a 8gb iPod touch to a 16gb iPod touch and was worried I couldn’t transfer my apps (I paid $6-10 for some of them). Thanks for helping me.

  • Thank you… this helped so so much!!!

  • U THE MAN!!!!

    I’ve been trying for 5 hours and it turns out u only had to click one button XD

  • I just got my iPhone 3GS today and have tried for several hours to get my old phone apps transferred to it. Your information was a great help! Thanks

  • Thank you so much!!!!

  • Guys, I have been looking around for a few days when I have time to search this out on the web and you had the answer! I was downloading software and trying to find an application that could just copy my apps off the iphone and back to my machine. The function was there in itunes, I just didn’t realize it could be that simple. Thanks Again!! :-)

  • Wow! this is a bit complicated and time-wasting for something that is meant to be as simple as using iTunes to manage your iPhone! Thanks for the tip re iPhone – iTunes direction (i.e. right-click on iPhone in iTunes and choose Transfer purchases). But the problem I was having was in the other direction, where I purchased (my first paid app) on iTunes assuming it would be a simple or automatic matter to sync it with my iPhone. The Apple advice is to do this by syncing the applications (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1977) – but this didn’t work for me, the one stubborn app I was trying to sync was still in iTunes but not transferring across to iPhone. But here’s the trick, from Apple themselves: you can re-download purchased apps for free if you are logged into the same iTunes account! It is counter-intuitive because you have to purchase the app again but then it realised that you purchased it already and simply downloads it. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519. Well, I learnt something and am now synced and ready to use my new app. @Frustrated
    : if you’re still searching for a solution, hope this helps!

  • when i click “transfer purchases” it says copying then it does NOTHING! help i just got a new computer and cant sync it till i transfer my apps… which i have like more than 120. or so.

    • I did a bit more searching and found that you need to make sure that the computer you are working on is “authorized” first. I disconnected my iPhone, authorized the computer, attached the iPhone again, and then was able to right click on the iPhone and transfer my purchases.

  • Excellent, thanks

  • This is terrific and a big help!

    Thanks!

  • I was also having trouble getting my apps to transfer to iTunes. I did a bit more searching and found that you need to make sure that the computer you are working on is “authorized” first. I disconnected my iPhone, authorized the computer, attached the iPhone again, and then was able to right click on the iPhone and transfer my purchases.

    I am using iTunes 8.2.1.6 and my iPhone is on 3.0. Hope this helps. I also have to agree with lin2log, this is hands down the best phone I have ever had. I usually get bored with new “toys” after about 3 months of use and this is almost a year old and I still feel like a little kid.

  • Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

  • I just updated my ipod touch to the 3.O update and got a bunch of apps. But know I cant transfer them to another computer and I could before the 3.0 update is this becuase the 3.0 update still has some bugs? PLZ help

  • Thank You so much it was just that simple and i just did not know it was there . Racking my brain thanx alot good tip

  • Thanks so much for explaining how to transfer the applications for my iPhone from one computer to another. I just bought a new computer and am going to sell the old one and this tip was great! Thanks!

  • i’ve been trying to figure this out all day.
    i wish there was a way to do this with playlists too. but i spent the afternoon redo-ing playlists and then syncing.
    thanks for this though. i thought i was gonna have to rebuy all those apps. and i would not have been a happy camper.

  • This tip sure came in handy!! Thanks a lot!

  • Hi, I have a question about an imovie I purchased and downloaded. It shows up in my movies in my library, but I cannot transfer it to my iphone (the intent of purchase for my daughter). There is no movie tab to sync in itunes (only podcast, video, photos etc.)

    Anyone got any ideas?

    THANKS

  • sorry – ignore my question. I did not scroll down far enough in videos to see the movies section……

    THANKS

  • Such a simple solution to a major nightmare. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You rock.

  • my still will not sync. I have uninstalled/reinstalled itunes and all associated software. i have unauthorized and reauthorized my computer. i have re-downloaded every app. nothing works. any help??

  • i tried this, and it took a minute or so to sync, but i still don’t have apps in the phone. it gets new songs, but no apps…?

  • mate you are a legend thanks for the help .. i bought this new mac book pro and only thing i have to do was authorize computer and then transfer purchases … cheers

  • Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

    This solved a lot of problems that iPhone support and genius bar couldn’t help me with. My iphone applications didn’t launch correctly after I installed 3.0.1. The opened for a second and closed right away. So I downloaded an app, and everything worked. Then iTunes stopped syncing with my iPhone. For some reason, it synced again, but my all my downloaded apps died again. Finally I did what you suggested (iTunes/Store menu/Authorize computer) and it synced the apps for the first time and the apps are working again.

    Awesome.

  • Thank you, this has really helped me!

  • thanx soooooooooooooooooooooooooo much it did it and i am so happy i love you

  • THANKS SO MUCH!!!! I LOVE YOU!!

  • can someone help me? i cant tranfer my apps from iphonr to itunes. i didnt buy it from itunes i downloaded them from my friends computer. any ideas how to transfer them into itunes

  • can someone please help me my iPhone is connected to my computer in iTunes it recongnises my iPhone i cant get any apps from iTunes onto my iPhone. i click my phone then i click applications and the text is grey and the box [ ] sync applications is grey and almost if it were locked you cant click it or anything. I’ve tryed reinstalling but just does the same thing. . . can someone please help me with this problem much appreciated. . .

  • NVM I FIXED IT :D IT WAS SOME CRASHES IN THE APP FOLDER I DELETED THE AND NOW IT WORKS :DDDDDD

  • HELP ME PLEASE!!!!! In itunes when I’m going to applications panel of iphone 3g, I can’t check “Sync Applications”, beacause that is inactive. I have autorize my computer, transfer applications, but I still can’t sync applications, please help me! Thanks! I

  • Beautiful! Thank you so much!!!!

  • great fix! thanks for sharing.

  • I would also like to thank you for posting this, was getting VERY annoyed with my iphone ruining another sunday having to tinker around with it.

    If only I could get it to recognise my service provider I could get on with cutting the grass……

  • Hey, thanks. What I couldn’t figure out was why mine would only say sync for like 3 seconds and then stop. But when I had my mom remove the installing apps restriction, it worked great. So for all those kids out there that there parents put blocks on there iPhones and only let you download apps with them seeing what you’re doing, try that to get your apps on your computer.

  • Ok, so for those of you who just reformatted or got a a new computer or whatever and the applications is not in your itunes sidebar. Just go into ~/music/itunes/mobile applications/

    and just double click one of your .ipa apps, and it will re-create the tab for you!
    Cheers!

  • really helped me a lot. last time i had lost my all the app which i was having on my iphone. but this time, i’m really happy to know that i can tranfer all my app to itunes. thanks

  • Exactly what I was looking for. I have a laptop and a desktop PC. I purchased a few apps on my laptops iTunes. then when I tried synchronizing the apps on my PC, those apps were getting removing from iPhone. I followed your steps and I am happy now :).

    Thanks for the help.

  • Thank you so much for this. Thank you!

  • Thanks! I was trying to figure out how to do this in anticipation of the new touch!

  • i followed the steps but there was no application tab that appeared…i need help here! tnx… =)

  • just adding another thankyou to the list! what an absurdly simple answer to such an annoying problem, i can’t believe they didn’t make it more obvious.

    how silly of me to assume i’d know what to do right away when transferring my iphone to my new computer! that would be too much to ask for!

  • THANKS A TON!

  • omg thank you so much for this. its ridiculous how this isnt made more obvious or how it doesnt give you a prompt to do this when you sync with a new computer.

  • So glad I found this tip!

  • Thank you so much! iTunes gave me complicated instructions…. well not very complicated, simply uninformative. They told me to find itunes store and authorize downloads. I was so upset since it didnt explain anything, but was I amazed when it was actually very simple, :D thank youuuuu!

  • My purchases transfer every time I sync – but they don’t ever show up in iTunes. The transfer process names every one, but none ever show up in the Applications folder in iTunes.

    Just verified that my iTunes is authorized.

    It’s been doing this for months and I’ve yet to find a solution.

  • Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

    Worked wonderfully!

  • This was very helpful. I spent the entire nite and half the morning trying to figure this out. Called Apple to be told they could only help me for $60.00 bucks unless I went to an Apple Store. Called the Apple Store and they can’t see me until Saturday.
    I feel much better now.

    Thanks.

  • Thank you so much. I had the same problem. Resolved in a tick. Thanks for sharing.

    Cheers.

  • it is helpful tip but when i try to transfer the apps it brings a dialog box with this message “some of the purchased items on the iphone coukd not be transferd to your itune library because you are not authorized to play them on this compuer”. so, how can i authorize?
    thanks

  • Yay! Thanks so much for the information – Very clear, concise and quick & easy to fix.

  • Thank you sooooo much!!! I never thought of right-clicking on the iPhone. I knew there was a way to keep your purchases. Why they don’t include a message in the sync options is beyond me. Thanks for your help!!!

  • Thanks man I completely restored my computer but forgot to backup itunes. I almost lost all my paid apps ($80 worth!) but thanks to this guide I was able to keep all my apps.

  • its very simple…..first “authorize computer” and then transfer purchases from iphone…..this worked for me….

  • They really need to make this more conspicuous.

  • Jenny for president

  • Wow! This is exactly what I needed! Thanks!

  • Hi. I hope someone can help. I have an iPod Touch and my boyfriend purchased some apps from his PC and his iTune account and put it on my iPod. I’ve since then learned how to download apps straight from my iPod Touch. But today, I connected the iPod to my Macbook and it was syncing in iTune when i saw it says ‘Remove peggle, Remove…..remove…’ it was removing all the apps my bf got for me! So i pulled the plug out and totally freaked out. The apps have definitely disappeared from my iPod itself, only the apps I purchased from my iTune account remained. I reconnected iPod to my Mac and sync again and I can see my remaining apps in my iTune but still cannot find the old ones my bf purchased. I’ve authorized the computer, I logged into my bf’s iTune account and whilst I can see his past purchase of my apps, I can’t find a place to ‘redownload’ so to speak. I don’t want to have to purchase it again cuz it seems silly I’d have to keep paying for apps if it was bought from one account to another. Can someone please help me?? Thank you!

  • omg thank you SO much

  • Saved my “life”! Too hard for Apple to just write a dialog box in sync that asks “would you like to copy applications in this phone to iTunes?”… I lost all my apps in the phone but thanks to this and the old hard drive I was swapping out I got everything restored and now working in the new Windows install! Thanks!

  • wow i was gettin pissed thanks got it now

  • I transferred by music purchases to my itunes on my work computer which is authorized, but it wouldn’t transfer my applications because it says this computer is not authorized. When I go to authorize the computer it says it IS authorized. I have no idea what to do…itunes says it isn’t authorized, but my computer says it is. The other thing I can’t figure out is why under “devices” in itunes my iphone applications won’t show up in the list when everything else does.

  • i am having the same prob that katie is havin i bought a iphone 3g off my friend that already had apps on it so i got a itunes account and tried to transfer my purchases to my itunes but it says that my computer is not authoeized so i go and authorize my computer and it says that it is authorized but when i go to do it again it keeps sayin that my computer is NOT authorized and i dont have my applications under my device ethier. WHAT DO I DO???

    • Both of you: you are trying to sync applications bought with another account. Your iTunes is not authorized with that account but with your own account. As far as I know, you cannot use applications bought from two different accounts on one device. You will either have to buy them on your own account or move your device over to your boyfriend’s account..

  • Thanks, thanks, thanks.

    :)

  • Thank you!!! I was about to start deleting apps from my iphone because itunes was not reading my purchased apps from my iphone. Thanks Alot!! really helped.

  • so will it not go on my computer b/c its a free app?!?!
    b/c i really hav to get my lectures on computer but i hav it on quickvoice and i did what it said….but it wont appear on itunes like it posed to! :(
    ANYONE HELP!!!
    actor04_08@yahoo.com

  • GOD BLESS YOU!!!! I HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING WITH WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE COSTLY APPS I BOUGHT FROM MY IPHONE. I’D SYNC UP AND IT WOULD SAY ALL BLAHH BLAAHHHH ON YOUR I[HONE WILL BE LOST AND REPLACED WITH THE LIBRARY FROM THE COMPUTER

  • Great!! Google likes your page : ))

  • omg THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! muah! XO, dreX

  • Thanks!!! I was also worried since I am using Windows instead of Mac at work. Now I can sync my schedule from work desktop and have it at home from my Mac.

    Cheers

  • Thank you so much…I been trying for the past hour to get this done. Two clicks is all it took!

  • THANK YOU! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you!
    :)

  • thanks for the post! helped loads.

  • Thank you!!! :)

  • Uber Uber thanks man. I almost deleted my applications by mistake. Like I said Uber thanks.

  • i sware you have helped me . you are too goooood the first search and my problem is solved . great dear great help i really dont know how to thank you.

  • I accidentally removed all the apps in my itouch when i was syncing it with the itunes on my laptop. I checked the mobile applications folder on my laptop where i’m supposed to find them but its not there anymore. So i just downloaded my favorite apps again through itunes. When i tried transferring them to my itouch, it says that the items could not be transferred as i am “not authorized for them on this computer” whatever that means. FYI, my laptop is authorized already so it must be something else. If it helps, i downloaded my previous apps using another computer. Now im stump and i dont know what else to do. Please help! Thanks! I would also appreciate it if you could also help me find the other apps i’ve lost without downloading them again.

  • I struggled with the same issues when I upgraded to Win 7. I finally looked on my iPhone and determined which iTunes account I had authorized and then went to iTunes on my computer and authorized the same account. then everything seemed to work and I was able to right click on my iPhone in iTunes and transfer my apps. I never realized I had so many accounts authorized in iTunes and wish that I could delete a couple of them

  • You are a GOD!
    I love you

  • I m having the same problem with #Celeste
    It keeps saying that my com is not authorized although i’d authorized it. Now im stuck here. pls Help?

  • Oh my gosh thank you so much. I was about to throw my itunes across the room then assault it with a tennis racket. Now i’m embracing my monitor with loving arms.

  • Thanks, you made my day! I actually used this one before but had forgotten about it!

  • Thanks!!! I can’t believe it was so simple. Apple really should have placed that in the applications tab.

  • Thanks so much.

  • Thanks, this is great info!

    Wish I had known this before I synced with iTunes 9. Thankfully the apps I lost were all free but I had to download about 30 of them again. The iTunes receipts were huge time savers.

  • Thanks, I was looking everywhere for this.

    I agree, life saver :)

  • Thanks for the Tips…for this I was looking for quite long

  • Thanks for the tip

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