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How to Change Media Sync Options on iPhone/iPad
Don't know how to change the media sync options? This guide will explain what media sync options are and how to make changes.
By Lena / Updated on March 4, 2024
Case: Want to Change Media Sync Options on iPhone
How Do I Change Media Sync Options on iPhone?
Having problem downloading iOS 14.6. iTunes notification says please change your media sync options to make more storage available. But I'm not told how to do it or where to go. I have no idea what media sync is. Anyone know how to do this? Thanks.
- Question from an iPhone User
Are you in the same situation as this user? You tried to update your iPhone/iPad to the latest version but received a notification asking you to change the media sync options.
“Updating to iOS XXX requires at least XXX MB of free space on your iPhone. Please change your media sync options to make more storage available.”
Generally, you should ensure that you have at least 10% of the total storage space on the device before updating. Otherwise, you will receive such a message to ask you to free up space. However, where are media sync options and how to complete the task? Confused about this pop-up message? Don’t worry, this guide will tell you how to change media sync options on iPhone/iPad/iPod touch for iOS 16/15/14 update.
Where Are Media Sync Options
It is certain that the reason you received this message is that your device does not have enough storage space to install the iOS update. iTunes asks you to change media sync options to make more storage available for iOS 14/15. However, it does not tell you where to find media sync options.
In fact, there is no "media sync options" button that can be turned on or off. It means that you can configure iTunes not to sync your music, movies, TV shows, etc. to your iPhone. If you have a large collection, they will take up a lot of storage capacity of your phone. It is foreseeable that stopping the sync will free up a lot of space.
How to Change Media Sync Options
“change media sync options” means that you should stop syncing iTunes media files to iPhone/iPad. When synchronization stops, the files will be deleted from the device, thus freeing up more storage space.
If you do not want to change media sync options, you can go to the next part to learn some other methods to help free up storage space on iPhone/iPad.
Steps to Change Media Sync Options to Make More Storage Available
Make sure that you have installed the latest version of iTunes.
1. Click the Device tab.
2. Under Settings, choose the content type that you want to stop syncing. Here we take Podcasts as an example.
3. Uncheck the box next to Sync Podcasts.
4. Click Apply to confirm the settings.
How to Free Up More Storage Space
From the above, you know how to change media sync options to make more storage available for iOS 16/15/14. When you stop the sync, it will remove all data of a certain content type. If you do not want to delete all files, you may choose to delete selected files manually.
● You can go to Settings > General > iPhone/iPad Storage to delete large photos, videos and attachments.
● Or you can choose to delete some infrequently used apps. If you want to keep its documents and data, you can tap the Offload App option to make it.
● Photos, videos and songs always take up a lot of storage space. You can choose to delete some old items to free up more space. Before deleting, you can transfer them to computer as backup. One professional iOS data management tool named FoneTool can do you a favor.
It provides two backup modes: Selective Backup & Full Backup. You can preview and select the data you want to backup or backup the whole iPhone content with one click.
Eg. To transfer photos from iPhone to computer:
1. Launch FoneTool and plug in iPhone.
2. Click Phone Transfer > Locate iPhone to PC option and click Start Transfer > Choose the photos, videos or songs you want to save to computer.
3. Select a path to save your files from Transfer settings (You are allowed to transfer files to external hard drive or USB flash drive.) > Finally, click Start Transfer.
Now you can delete photos, videos or songs on iPhone to free up space. After the update, you can transfer these files back to your iPhone at any time. (Unlike iTunes sync, it will not erase any existing data on the device.)
It supports all iPhone/iPad models, including iPhone 14, iPhone 13, iPhone 12, iPhone 11, iPhone X, iPad Pro/Air/mini. You can click this download button to get the tool.
Conclusion
That’s all about how to change media sync options on iPhone and iPad. In short, you can delete files synced from iTunes to free up space. If you don’t want to change sync options, you can choose to delete apps, large files, old photos, or other files to create space for update.