How to Synchronize iPhone Voice Memos with the iTunes Library

[...] How to Synchronize iPhone Voice Memos with the iTunes Library [...]

Gil,

Great article. I’m also trying to iphone voice memos to text. One problem looms for me. I learned that one can not sync a 3GS iphone to more than one computer. Digital Rights Management, I was told, prevents .m4a files (the digital audio format produced by Voice Memos) from being downloaded via itunes to more than one computer, in my case a Mac and a WIN 7 PC. Apparently .m4a files are categorized as music files, which is why they end up in itunes under playlist.

Is this true? I’m just starting to try to solve this puzzle, but it seems the inconvenience is that if I pick the Mac to d/l the .mf4 files, and then use Scribe to transcribe the .mf4 files, then the transcriptions must be transferred to the WIN 7 box somehow. I read the Scribe format is .rtf so perhaps e-mail will solve the problem. Any of this make sense?

Bart,

Yes you are making sense. One of the limitations you will encounter with an iPhone is the inability to sync it or access any of its files from any computer other than the primary computer you normally sync to. Have you tried to email yourself the voice memo files? You can email/mms them to yourself. Let me know if you need help with this.

Bart,

Yes you are making sense. One of the limitations you will encounter with an iPhone is the inability to sync it or access any of its files from any computer other than the primary computer you normally sync to. Have you tried to email yourself the voice memo files? You can email/mms them to yourself. Let me know if you need help with this.

Hi, Great and thanks, but a question. So, I can get my voice memos on my itunes, and change their names, but if i try to sync that to my iphone it rejects the changes and will show the song title as the date of the voice memo, not the new name or anything. This is a problem because it then refuses to play from one to the other, and I recorded a friend playing music, now i cannot listen to it normally on my iphone, any help?

It looks like the Voice Memo on the phone is overriding the changes you are making. Have you tried copying the renamed files to another location and then adding them to the iTunes library as you would with any other music file? Let me know if this helps.

It looks like the Voice Memo on the phone is overriding the changes you are making. Have you tried copying the renamed files to another location and then adding them to the iTunes library as you would with any other music file? Let me know if this helps.

Gil
In reference to the problem as outlined above – one can not sync a 3GS iphone to more than one computer. Digital Rights Management, I was told, prevents .m4a files (the digital audio format produced by Voice Memos) from being downloaded via itunes to more than one computer. In my case it was a computer that failed. I now have several very precious sentimental voice memos on my phone which I cannot get to my computer. I have been searching for a solution without success. Yes they are to big to email to myself and besides which when I get voice memos back to my computer I cannot play them. Any solutions?

em rickey,
I can think of two ways that you can get those files off your iPhone. The first is to use a service for email like Gmail (25MB file limit) or Hotmail (50MB file limit) to send those voice memos. If that’s still not enough you could plug in your iPhone to your computer’s mic in and record the voice memo that way…I know it’s a little bit of trouble, but it could work.
If I run into anything else, I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for passing by and good luck. Please keep us posted on your solution.

em rickey,
I can think of two ways that you can get those files off your iPhone. The first is to use a service for email like Gmail (25MB file limit) or Hotmail (50MB file limit) to send those voice memos. If that’s still not enough you could plug in your iPhone to your computer’s mic in and record the voice memo that way…I know it’s a little bit of trouble, but it could work.
If I run into anything else, I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for passing by and good luck. Please keep us posted on your solution.

I beleive there is another issue here to. In reading the above messages, Im experiencing the exact same thing. I cant sync my voice memos and have lost my music. The only sync part that worked was during an update to a new version of itunes, the apps portion changes accordingly but I lost everything else (music videos, movies) and it will not synch voicememos. Goes through backup fine and the attempts to copy each file one at a time. The itunes times out on the first voice memo file.
* Ive tried different OS systems authorized computers and even a different phone had the same problems! I went back to the primary computer and tries again with no results. I wondering if it has something to do also with file location as Ive lost all of the folders under my phone. This copy right thing makes sence as well but I think is BS especially when Ive purchased everything for my use only.

That’s interesting. Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes? Also what version of iTunes are you running? Since I wrote this article 5 months I have gone through several iTunes updates, iOS 4 updates on my 3GS and now I’m using the iPhone 4 and I still have all of the voice memos created this way. When you say you tried on other computers and still had the same problem…did you wipe out your iPhone or was it just plugged in? Trying to figure out what the issue could be. Any info you provide can help. Thanks.

That’s interesting. Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes? Also what version of iTunes are you running? Since I wrote this article 5 months I have gone through several iTunes updates, iOS 4 updates on my 3GS and now I’m using the iPhone 4 and I still have all of the voice memos created this way. When you say you tried on other computers and still had the same problem…did you wipe out your iPhone or was it just plugged in? Trying to figure out what the issue could be. Any info you provide can help. Thanks.

I did try uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes. Im running 9.2.0.61 version of iTunes. I still have all the voice memos on my phone and in my library however the newvoice memos will not transfer into the library onto my computer. All files play from my phone which indicates no file corruption. (When you say you tried on other computers and still had the same problem…did you wipe out your iPhone or was it just plugged in?) Just plugged in, I cant restore it beacuse that will erase all media includingm the New memos i need to transfer onto my computer library. We even tried with a separate phone with unrelated voice memos, still the same issue. Tried XP, Visa and Apple OS even wipped the XP completly and restore all applications. As far as the digital rights managment, people indicated in the forums to try the primary computer again for synch purposes. Still doesnt work. Never had any problems synching voice memos before in previous versions of itunes, next step is to revert back to old versions and try this again.

Funny how when we updated to the new version of itunes, the new feature for applications to be placed in folders is available on the phone however All of the Music on my phone was wipped along with videos. Nothing was synced or restored/added.
With the assistance of an Apple tech we determined the backup was completed per the file created. We removed this to the desktop and tried the process again. A new backup file was created however the next stepp for syncing would result in the system timing out/itunes not responding while copying a voice memo file. It is not the file becasue when I repeat the synching for this computer or any other, itunes attempts to copy/synch any one of the voice memos files. Still working on figuring this out. I alos thought about removing the files from my phone which I have saved to my Itunes library and other media and then attempting to Synch.

Thanks
B

B,

Keep us posted on this…seems to be an odd situation you’ve come across, hopefully Apple can help you resolve it. If I come across anything I’ll make sure to post it here. Please keep us posted, thank you.

B,

Keep us posted on this…seems to be an odd situation you’ve come across, hopefully Apple can help you resolve it. If I come across anything I’ll make sure to post it here. Please keep us posted, thank you.

Hey Gill.
I’m in desperate need of your help.
I have no idea what’s going on with my iphone 3gs but I can no longer load my lectures from Voice Memos into my Itunes 9.2.1.4.
I used to have no problems loading my lectures into itunes but as of recently, I can’t.
The new Voice Memos I have wouldn’t appear in itunes.
I think it’s probably because I accidentally deleted ‘Voice Memos’ Playlist in my iphone through itunes?
Please please help. I really need my lectures and would hate to lose them!
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Feel free to reply me at [Email deleted to protect your privacy]
Thank you so much.

Sandra,

I hope the emails have helped you with this problem. Please let me know if you need any other help.

Sandra,

I hope the emails have helped you with this problem. Please let me know if you need any other help.

I’ve just discovered I can no longer synch voice memos from iPhone 4 or iPod Touch as they are now recorded as AAC files, rather than Apple Lossless as they previously were.

I have the latest iTunes and latest OS 4 (including the updated OS on iPhone). Windows 7 on the PC.

My Nano still synchs and the files are Apple Lossless, and I have a file from 31 July recorded on my iPhone 4 which synched okay which is an AAC file.

The AAC files did not show in the voice memos playlist on the iPhone or iPod Touch, just in the music folder, when I first connected to iTunes, two days later they are now showing.

I had also never tried the ‘trim memo’ function, that does not seem to work on these files so presumably only works on the lossless.

Is there now some hidden setting which changes how these are recorded? I can’t find anything in iTunes itself or on either device which permits me to change how these are recorded.

DA,

I’ve been through the upgrades myself and have not encountered these issues. I looked around and can’t find a way to customize the file type when recording voice memos…where do you see that the files is now a lossless aac format? Thanks.

DA,

I’ve been through the upgrades myself and have not encountered these issues. I looked around and can’t find a way to customize the file type when recording voice memos…where do you see that the files is now a lossless aac format? Thanks.

Hi Folks
I am having trouble – when I link my 3Gs upgraded to v4 iPhone to itunes (9.2(61)) it doesn’t show my voice memos correctly on the computer (when I click on voice memos under Devices) – the list shown is one from several weeks ago, yet the new voice memos are happily there and playing on the phone.
When I first synced the phone with itunes after using voice memos a folder was created within my itunes folders called Voice Memos and the memos were in there automatically. That folder too is not updating. I would like to take the memos off my phone, name them and store them – and then probably delete them from my phone but I can’t find a way to even see them on my computer…

If you are having problems try:

http://www.macroplant.com/iphoneexplorer/

It has saved my writing career in regards to getting very long (2hr+) voice memo interviews off the iphone.

Jai
Melbourne , australia

Hi I was wondering if you could help. I lost my library long time ago and reinstalled Itunes. Is there a way for me to just transfer voice memos without deleting all of the songs from my ipod.

Nosic,

You should try installing this application (http://www.gilsmethod.com/access-iphones-images-recordings-information-iphone-explorer) to access the voice memo’s directly. Let me know if it helps.

Thanks so much for recommending iPhone explorer!! It worked!!! Hoooorayyy!!

Ivy,

Glad it worked for you and thanks for the feedback.

thx!
that was helpful.

Glad you found it useful. Thanks for the feedback.

Hi,
I am using iPhone 4 and iTunes 9.2.1.
I have ticked the “include voice memo” option and synced my phone, but the voice memo wasn’t imported. Is there any other way to import voice memo to the computer? It’s a 45mins record so email option…failed (obviously).
I really need this record, please help me…
Thank you so much!

Thanks for your question. Are you finding that you have this issue with just the 45 min memo or all memos. Also have you considered upgrading to the latest version of iTunes. Thanks.

when i do step 3 it asks me if i want to sync music or cancel…if i click sync will it let me choose options before syncing or will it sync automaticaly? all i want to do is sync a few voice memos from the iphone to itunes, and not get anything from itunes to the phone
thanks

Even checked include voice memos, Then isn’t syncing to your computer, Then the fix is:

Just create new playlist named Voice Memos and sync your phone again.

When i click Music I do not get the screen you show above where I can select ‘Include Voice Memos’ Please help I have recording all my lectures

hi
I change my computer and install new iTunes version
when I want to sync my I phone on it says erase and sync but I don’t want my memo erased
Could U help me ?

this is horrible that i HAVE to sync my fucking phone. excuse me but this pisses me off.

Google “CopyTrans”. Amazing. iTunes can suck my balls

Does anyone know how to convert voice memos to text?

Wayne,

Thanks for the help!

I have exactly the same problem.

43 Min memo on iPhone 4 with 4.2.1 installed and iTunes 10.1

I am using iphone 4 with 4.2.1 and itunes 10.1 and am not seeing any of my voice memos even showing and certainly not being transfered to my PC.

The voice memo i want is 43 mins long, but there are several on there and none in view except through the Voice Memo app on iPhone

I’m having the same problem, but it does not happen every time. Now for example i cannot get the 4 voice memos (5 to 10 mins each) in my iphone synced with Itunes.

However the other day I got another voice memo transferred no problem. But the day before that i was not able to transfer that same memo.

So weird, and annoying. If you know how to fix this please let us know. I can listen to them on the iphone, but it really is not optimal, especially when i need to move through the memo….

This worked once and I transferred 3 voice memos to iTunes. Now, the same procedure does not transfer new voice memos over. They’re still on the iPhone, but don’t come over to the ITunes library.

Did you verify that Voice Memo sync is enabled in iTunes? Also what version
of iTunes are you using? Thanks.

This didn’t help me at all. My problem is that the syncing process never erases old ones on the iphone, no matter what combo of boxes I check. They couldn’t even get it to during a workshop at the apple store. I’m hoping someone at the genius bar can help, but it doesn’t look good.

I think there’s an app for that.

THANKS!!!!!!

I prefer to answer here in the discussion section because this appears to be
a hot topic. You mentioned that when you try to sync the Music from iTunes
to your iPhone you see a message stating that all content on the iPhone will
be deleted. This will only appear if you have never synced the iPhone with
that iTunes library, remember Apple only allows Sync between one iTunes
library per iPhone so if your iPhone syncs with another iTunes library and
you try to sync to another you will see this message. Let me know if this is
the case. Thanks.

I have an iPhone 3 and iTunes 10.1.1, same problem. A playlist has appeared, but there’s nothing in it. The issue affects a 1h15 memo and smaller ones.

Have you tried to email yourself the Voice Memo? I would suggest heading
over to Apple’s Support forum and try to resolve this issue with their
techs. Please follow up to let us know if there was a solution.

Try this. It worked for me. I have had to do it more than once over the last few months because the problem recurs, even with the latest iPhone update installed. I found the solution on the web, but I it was not easy, and now I cannot relocate it.

1. Unplug Iphone from Mac after failed Sync.
2. In iTunes, select File –> Library –> Organize Library –> Consolidate files
3. Plug in IPhone & Sync

The voice memos should be there.

Nick,

Thanks for the suggestion, hopefully this will help others with the issues
they are having.

Like the GilsMethod.com Facebook page for a
chance to win an iPod Touch and other prizes.

Try the program Dragon Naturally Speaking

got this solution from wayne4 in the ilounge forum and it worked for me (THANKS WAYNE4!!!). i record hour-long lectures from school using voice memos on ipod touch 2g: itunes will recognize your old voice memo only if you trim it and it will have a new time stamp. go to each old memo and TRIM it by just 1 second. then go ahead and sync it in itunes (make sure “include voice” is checked in your music tab for your iphone/ipod. then itunes will create the voice memos playlist and the memos will be synced.

My voice memos made it to iTunes on my pc where I wanted to rename and organize them. Trouble was I couldn’t get them to sync back to my iPhone. I changed each file in “info” from a voice memo to a “music” file and they synced!

Glad to see that you were able to use that option to sync.

Nick,

Thanks for helping out.

I wrote a guide that walks you through this process – http://www.gilsmethod.com/how-to-transcribe-iphone-voice-memos-with-dragon-naturally-speaking

Have you tried sending the Voice Memos to yourself via email. If you’re switching from another computer, the best thing to do is to transfer your iTunes directory as well, this should negate this issue.

Are you running the latest version of iTunes?

Thanks for the tip.

Thanks. After being nervous for a long time your help solved all problems.

Thank’s

I would not only like to listen to my memos on my computer, I would like to be able to send them to someone else. (I am using the Voice Memos to recorded 1/2 hour long conversations.) Where can I find these Memos in Windows Explorer?

Im trying to put voice memos from my iphone to itunes- this is my second itunes account (because I got a new computer) itunes is saying it can only sync with one computer.. Im afraid if go ahead and sync to my new computer it will erase all my voice memos..WIll they be erased? or is there a way around this problem?

Thanks so very much! It worked like a charm! Thank goodness for the Internet and people like you, or I would have been lost.

Iphone 3 latest update, Other than edit each of my thirty voice memos that are all less than 4mins each, I am still unable to transfer my voice memos to iTunes, I have done all of the suggestions above…What can I try now?

Yay thank you! I was going crazy trying to figure out why the sync would not work. You’re a huge help!!

Good stuff. I am interested in importing iPod Touch 4g voice memo’s into iMovie… I want to narrate a movie that I shoot.

Follow the steps in this guide and simply add the voice memo to the movie in
iMovie.

i want my memo’s, i don’t want to sync my phone. why is this complicated?

You need to use sync in order to get the memos out of your iPhone. You can also use an app like iPhone explorer to pull content from your iPad without syncing. Just search google for that term and you will find e application I am revering to. I’ve also written about it here.

Here’s the write up – http://www.gilsmethod.com/access-iphones-images-recordings-information-iphone-explorer

Sent from my iPad

Google search for “iPhone Explorer” download it- it’s free and all your problems will be sorted. You can then search for your memos on your phone when it’s synced to the PC and drag n drop them to a file on your PC.
You can also move and look at your pics too.
Brilliant if your iPhone isn’t syncing with iTunes properly and you want to recover music etc.

how to I get my voice memos off my ipod video into itunes? I cant seem to find a include voice memos button on itunes!

but how can i DOWNLOAD the files to my PC ????
TnX

When you synchronize the files they will be stored in your iTunes library…

Get the downloadable program for your computer called “iPhone explorer”. It works perfectly and I had no problems at all.

got i! tnX ALL!!!!

This was helpful. Thanks!

Thank mate Excelent! Work like a dream. So happy.

Thank you so much Nick! You saved me so much time on this.

actually you can just hit TRIM, so you won’t lose any second!

Thank you very much! I needed to get voice memos from my iphone 3g. This was very very helpful!

How can I email a voice message that has been synced to iTunes?

All you have to do is located in on your computer. If you’re on a Mac,
right-click the voice memo and then click Locate in Finder. If you’re on
Windows I believe it says open file location or similar. Once the window
opens containing the voice memo you wish to send you can right-click and
choose email from the list of options, if available. Otherwise copy the file
to a location like the Desktop or the Documents folder and add it as an
attachment in a new message.

Hope this helps.

i lost my IMPORTANT

i lost my VERY IMPORTANT voice memo, how can i find it? it appears on my i phone but it says 0 sec (i recorded 2 hours). I tried Nick’s suggestion. but my losted voice memos werent in the i tunes library, pls help meee

Can you play back the voice memo? Also did you previously sync your memos to iTunes?

Sent from my iPad

I tried this like hundred times. It didn’t work! Mine is about 1h 10 m. It can’t even be played on my iPhone.

It might be corrupted. You should try iPhone Explorer to see if you can
access the file from your iPhone on your computer – Access All of Your
iPhone’s Images, Recordings, and Other Information with iPhone
Explorer

Regards,

*Gilberto J Perera*, Microsoft MVP
Editor-in-Chief, GilsMethod.com | Tech How-to
Guides for the Rest of Us™
Like the GilsMethod.com Facebook page for a
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