How to Deauthorize iTunes
Edited by Jack Herrick, Chris Hadley, Maluniu, christina and 24 others
When you buy DRM-restricted music or Apps from the iTunes Store, you can only use the item on an authorized computer, iPod, iPhone or iPad. Apple limits you to 5 computers that can use an authorized item. If you have a new computer, but your limit of authorized computers is full, here’s how you can deauthorize iTunes from an old computer so that you can authorize the new one.
Edit Steps
Method One: Deauthorizing One Computer
- 1Open iTunes on the computer that you want to deauthorize. If the computer that you want to deauthorize is no longer available, see the following section.
- 2Click the Store menu. From the drop-down menu that appears, select “Deauthorize This Computer…”
- 3Enter your Apple ID and password. Click the Deauthorize button. The computer that you just entered this into is now deauthorized, and will no longer count against your five computer limit.
Method Two: Deauthorizing Every Computer
- 1Open iTunes. You can perform this action from any computer that you can log into iTunes on.
- This method is the only way to deauthorize computers that you no longer have access to.
- You can only perform this method once every 12 months.[1]
- 2Click on your Apple ID. This will be visible in the top-left corner of the iTunes window. If you’re not signed in, this will be a “Sign In” button. Click it to sign in. Once you click your Apple ID, you will be taken to your account settings page.
- 3Scroll down to the Computer Authorizations section. Click the “Deauthorize All”. Every computer that was authorized to play your content will be deauthorized.[2]
- 4Reauthorize the computers you still use. If you want to use the iTunes-protected songs or applications, you will now need to manually re-authorize each computer one by one. Open iTunes on the computer that you want to authorize, click the Store menu, and select “Authorize This Computer”.
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Categories: Featured Articles | ITunes
Recent edits by: Ned Whitney, TJean, CQinPDX
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Español: Como desautorizar a iTunes, Português: Como Desautorizar o iTunes, Italiano: Come Revocare l'Autorizzazione ad un Computer da iTunes, Deutsch: Einen Computer in iTunes deaktivieren, Русский: деавторизировать iTunes