How to use Finder instead of iTunes on Mac to manage your devices

Manage Devices in Finder Mac

If you’ve updated your Mac to macOS Catalina, then you’ll notice a specific app missing; iTunes. You’ve probably heard that iTunes was going away, but now that it’s truly gone, you’ll have to manage your devices differently.

You might have used iTunes to back up or restore your iPhone, sync specific items with your iPad, or simply manage your devices.

The bad news is that you can’t use iTunes on Mac to do this anymore. But the good news is that there is another way and it’s super easy.

Here’s how to use Finder instead of iTunes on Mac to manage your devices.

Connect your device to Mac

Grab your lightning cable and connect your device to your Mac. If it doesn’t open automatically, open Finder using the button your Dock or the menu bar.

Now you should see your connected device in the Finder sidebar. Go ahead and click it and we’ll get started with what you can do!

General device management

At the top of the Finder window, you’ll see your device’s name, storage, and battery level. Right beneath, you have tabs for General and then various media types like Music, Movies, TV Shows, Files, and more.

The General tab gives you a basic maintenance area for your device. And it should look quite similar to what you used to see in iTunes. You have three sections for Software, Backups, and Options.

You can also see the storage used on your device by moving your cursor over the sections of the colored bar at the bottom and have a convenient Sync button.

Manage iPhone in Finder Mac

So, managing your device in Finder is pretty close to doing it in iTunes.

Syncing media

As you move through and click the various tabs to the right of General, you can see your other items just like before and sync what you like. Make your picks and click the Apply button at the bottom of that section to sync.

Sync TV Shows from iPhone to Mac

Keep in mind that if you’re using iCloud for things like your music library or calendar and contacts, you’ll see a message that you’ll need to disable that on your device in order to sync with your Mac.

iPhone is Using iCloud for Music Library

When you finish with everything you need to do with your device, click the Eject button next to it in the sidebar before you unplug your cable.

Eject iPhone from Finder Mac

Will you miss iTunes for device management?

Managing, syncing, and backing up your device is just as easy with Finder as it was with iTunes. What do you think about this change that came with macOS Catalina? Will you miss iTunes for device management? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!