Archive. This is an archive of the Apple Support Community. Discussions are being restored and soon you will be able to read and post here again.
curiousbetsy
User level: Level 1 (4 points)

Music app not automatically adding songs from "Automatically Add to Music" folder

Songs placed in the "Automatically Add to Music" folder are not being automatically added to Apple Music.

I remove them and replace them in the folder and they are still not added. Dragging them manually into Apple Music works, but I want an automatic process as this will be laborious for many songs.

Song filetype is always .m4a


I have checked and the music Media Location is Music/Music.Media.localized (as default), and the "Automatically Add to Music" folder is within this folder and called "Automatically Add to Music.localized".


I've deauthorised and reauthorised my Apple Music (honestly to solve a separate issue). I would try reinstalling but I'm not sure how.


I am running Tahoe 26.6.2 on a MacBook Pro M1.

Posted on Nov 4, 2026 10:13 AM

2 replies

tillu_code
User level: Level 4 (2,112 points)

Nov 4, 2026 6:01 PM in response to curiousbetsy

On the Mac, check Music > Settings > Files and make sure "Copy files to Music Media folder when adding to library" is ticked. Also look inside the Automatically Add to Music folder for a subfolder called "Not Added" - files it can't import (protected or odd-tagged ones) get moved there. Quit Music, drop one .m4a in the folder, then reopen Music. If it still doesn't work, check Music is not set to a different Media Folder location in the same Files tab.

curiousbetsy Author
User level: Level 1 (4 points)

Nov 4, 2026 10:53 PM in response to tillu_code

Hey, thanks for the reply. I tried everything you said:


  1. The "Copy files to Music Media folder when adding to library" was already ticked.
  2. I've looked previously and the Automatically Add to Music folder had no subfolder. Now when I go to check, the Automatically Add to Music folder has actually disappeared (and I think it may have disappeared after manually adding a song to Apple Music by dragging it into the window).
  3. I can't Quit and drop a file in and reopen right now, as the folder has disappeared, but I have tried this previously and it didn't work unfortunately.
  4. Music is set to the correct Media folder, there is only 1 inside ~/Music/Music


I'm wondering if perhaps my Import Settings under Music > Settings > Files could be related? I'm not sure if my current setting (AAC Encoder, iTunes Plus) is default or if I've at some point changed it.


Thanks for the help.

Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256388783