Syncing movies to iPod nano

Article

Syncing movies to iPod nano

Ask iLounge offers readers the opportunity to get answers to their iPod-, iPhone-, iPad-, iTunes-, or Apple TV-related questions from a member of the iLounge editorial team. We'll answer several questions here each week, and of course, you can always get help with more immediate concerns from the iLounge Discussion Forums. Submit your questions for consideration using our Ask iLounge Submit Form. We reserve the right to edit questions for grammar, spelling, and length.

View the complete Ask iLounge archives...

Q: I have a new iPod nano (video), and I’m trying to get a movie to play on it. I downloaded the movie from the iTunes Store, and it shows up in the “Movies” category in iTunes. However, it’s not syncing into my iPod. I tried finding it in the “add file to library” category, but it wasn’t listed. What can I do?

- Emily

A: Even though you may be synchronizing your music content to your iPod automatically, the settings for Movies and TV Shows are controlled separately, so you may want to double-check the synchronization settings for your iPod within iTunes to ensure that this new movie is included.

To do this, connect your iPod to your computer, and then select it from the Devices list on the left-hand side of the iTunes window. You should see an iPod Summary screen in the main window, and a series of tabs at the top. Select the “Movies’ tab and you will see the settings for which movies are being synchronized to your iPod:

Ensure that the “Sync Movies” box is selected, and that your synchronization settings include the movie that you would like on your iPod—either All Movies, unwatched movies, or specific movies. Note that if your selection is “Unwatched Movies” then only those movies that you have not already watched will be transferred to your iPod.

Also ensure that “Sync only checked items” is not selected on the main iPod “Summary” tab, or if it is selected, that the movie in question has a checkmark in the box which appears beside it in your iTunes library.

If these settings are correct, and the movie is still not synchronizing to your iPod, you should also check to ensure that your computer is authorized to play the movie. Normally if you simply try to play it, iTunes should prompt you for your iTunes Store user name and password and then take care of the necessary authorization for you, but you can also force this manually by selecting Store, Authorize Computer from your iTunes menu.

iTunes will normally inform you if there is a problem transferring content to your iPod, but you may have also suppressed these warnings in the past. A useful troubleshooting step can be to reset all warnings for your iPod by right-clicking on it in the iTunes Source list and choosing “Reset Warnings” from the context menu:

Once you have done this, try re-syncing your iPod and see if any warnings come up explaining why the movie will not transfer from your iTunes library onto your iPod. If the warning involves “authorization” then the steps to authorize your computer explained above should generally fix this. If there are problems with the movie not being in the correct format, you should contact the iTunes Store customer service as this would generally indicate that you may have a bad download from the iTunes Store itself.

If you receive no warnings at all, even after you have reset the warnings, this generally means that the movie is simply not selected for transfer to your iPod, and you should check all of the sync settings again to confirm that they are properly set.

The most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I copy content from my iPod/iPhone onto my computer?

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

The Complete Guide to iPod, Apple TV and iPhone Video Formats

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Mac)

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Win)

Best Speakers?

Best Headphones?

Best Case?

Best In-Car Solution?

Best Battery Extender?

Find more answers in the latest publications in our Library. Free downloads developed by the editors of iLounge!

Ask iLounge Archives:

5-21-13: Inability to use Find My Friends without a passcode

5-17-13: Calendar info disappears after iCloud restore

5-16-13: Remove old iCloud backup after restoring to a new iPhone

5-15-13: Setting up a ringtone in iTunes

5-14-13: Using a Wi-Fi hard drive with an iPad

View the complete Ask iLounge archives...

« Sudoku reviews

Transferring play counts back to iTunes »

Comments

If you have a comment, news tip, advertising inquiry, or coverage request, a question about iPods/iPhones/iPad or accessories, or if you sell or market iPod/iPhone/iPad products or services, read iLounge's Comments + Questions policies before posting, and fully identify yourself if you do. We will delete comments containing advertising, astroturfing, trolling, personal attacks, offensive language, or other objectionable content, then ban and/or publicly identify violators.

Recent Reviews

New Deals

Shop for Accessories: Cases, speakers, chargers, etc.

iLounge

Article