Top 7 Fixes for Apple Music Not Working on Mac

Things can go wrong with Apple Music on your computer and smartphone. We’ve written a handful of troubleshooting guides to fix numerous Apple Music issues; You can view them on this page. The focus in this guide is to get Apple Music to work properly on your Mac.

So, if some parts, features or functions of Apple Music are not working properly on your Mac, refer to the solutions below.

Note: These solutions apply to both iTunes and Apple Music; it depends on how the app is tagged on your Macbook (or macOS version).

1. Force Quit Apple Music

Let’s say you can’t play songs on Apple Music, or the app freezes or malfunctions in general, we recommend force quitting the app as the first action. You can do this from the Macbook’s dock or Activity Monitor.

If there is a small dot under the Apple Music icon in the Dock, it means the app is still running in the background. To force quit the app, tap the icon with two fingers and select Quit.

Follow the steps below to exit Activity Monitor from Apple Music.

Stage 1: Tap the search icon in the upper right corner of the menu bar to start the Spotlight search. Alternatively, Spotlight search can also be quickly launched using the Command + Space bar keyboard shortcut.

Step 2: Next, type Activity Monitor in the Spotlight search bar and press the Return key on your keyboard or double-click Activity Monitor from the result.

Stage 3: Find and select Apple Music or iTunes from the list of apps in the CPU section of Activity Monitor. Then tap the x icon in the upper left corner.

Step 4: Select Force Quit on the popup that appears on the screen.

This will close all Apple Music related processes on your Mac. Now, launch Apple Music again and check if the app is now working and playing the songs correctly.

2. Re-enable Sync Library

Apple Music syncs your song library with other devices connected to your account. If there is a problem with the app’s syncing process, you may not be able to play the songs. AHowever, an easy way to fix the library sync restart is to disable and re-enable the sync library. This also helps fix Apple Music issues on iPhone (and iPad). Here’s how to do this on a Mac.

Stage 1: Launch Apple Music and tap iTunes in the upper left corner of the menu bar.

Step 2: Then choose Preferences from the context menu.

This will open the iTunes settings menu.

Stage 3: In the General tab, uncheck ‘iCloud Music Library’ and tap OK.

Step 4: Wait a few seconds and then repeat steps 1 – 3. After that, check the ‘iCloud Music Library’ option and tap OK to save the changes.

This will reinstall and update your iCloud Music Library and eliminate any sync-related errors that were causing Apple Music to not work properly.

3. Delete Apple Music Library Cache

Some users can get Apple Music to work again on their Mac by deleting the cache files/folder of the app. If none of the above methods help, you should try this. Make sure the iTunes app is closed before continuing.

Stage 1: Use the ‘Command + Spacebar’ keyboard shortcut to start Spotlight search. paste directory (~/Library/Caches) in the search bar and press the Return key on your keyboard.

This will launch the folder containing the cached files for all the apps installed on your Mac.

Step 2: Then find the folder with iTunes or Apple_Music at the end and double-click it to open it.

Stage 3: Select all the files in the folder and move them to the trash.

Alternatively, you can back them up by moving them to another folder on your computer.

4. Update macOS

The iTunes app is optimized to run on Macs running OS X version 10.10. Apple Music may not work properly if your device is running anything lower. Additionally, Apple releases software updates to fix bugs affecting Apple Music and other apps. And this is your best chance to get Apple Music working again if all other solutions fail.

Follow the steps below to update your device’s macOS.

Stage 1: Tap the Apple logo in the upper left corner of the menu bar and select ‘About This Mac’.

Step 2: Next, select Software Update.

Make sure your device is connected to the internet.

Stage 3: Tap Upgrade Now on the software update page to download and install available updates.

5. Check Storage

Like any other app, Apple Music has minimal storage requirements for efficient performance. To use Apple Music or iTunes, Apple recommends that you have at least 400 MB of free disk space on your computer. Here’s how to check your Mac’s storage status.

Stage 1: Tap the Apple logo in the upper left corner of the menu bar and select ‘About This Mac’.

Step 2: Go to the Storage section and check the amount of available storage space.

If it’s 400MB or less, you should delete unnecessary files to free up storage space on your Mac. We have a few helpful guides that we’ve linked below. Check them out.

• 8 Ways to Free Up Disk Space on Your 128GB Mac
• Permanently Delete Files on Mac
• 2 Best Ways to Find and Delete Duplicate Files on Mac
• 5 Surprising Ways to Keep Your Mac Running Like New with CleanMyMac X
• 7 Best Useful macOS Apps to Optimize Your Mac
• How to Delete Attachments Correctly to Free Up Disk Space in Mac’s Mail App?

6. Check Apple Music Subscription

This is pretty clear: You cannot access/play songs from Apple Music with an expired subscription. Launch the App Store and check if your Apple Music subscription is active.

Stage 1: Open Apple Music and tap your profile name in the lower left corner.

Step 2: Then click View Information in the upper right corner.

Stage 3: On the Account Information page, scroll down to the Subscription section and tap Manage.

This will reveal your Apple Music subscription status.

Step 4: Check if your Apple Music subscription is Active. Otherwise, tap the Edit button to subscribe or renew your subscription.

7. Check Server Status

Finally, check if the Apple Music server is up and running. Apple’s service interruption or interruption may cause iTunes or Apple Music to malfunction. To check if Apple Music and other related services (e.g. Apple ID, iTunes Match, Apple Music radio, Apple Music Subscriptions, and iTunes Store) are online/available, visit the Apple System Status page.

Play the Music

As mentioned earlier, many things can go wrong with Apple Music on your Mac. However, the good thing is that problems are always solvable. Always. At least one of the above methods should work the magic for you. Try them out and let us know which one it is.

Next: Did you know that you can stream Apple Music via any web browser? Read the article below to find out what the Apple Music Web player does differently and whether you should get started.