Authorizing and Deauthorizing Computers

In this lesson for iTunes on the Mac, we look at how we authorize and deauthorize computers when playing media, such as music, purchased from the iTunes Store.

Why Authorize and Deauthorize
When you purchase music from the iTunes Store, it is authorized to play on five computers. The computer that you purchased it from is automatically authorized, so you do not have to authorize that computer to play purchased music. If you want to play that music on another computer, what you’ll need to do is authorize that computer.

If you sell or recycle a computer and it is no longer going to be used to play any of your purchased music, what you’ll want to do is reauthorize that computer, so it frees up one of the five authorizations for another computer.

Authorizing a Computer
There are a couple ways to authorize a computer. One way is just to play the song that was purchased. When you play it, it will ask for the username and password of the account that is was purchased under. Once you type it in, that computer is now going to be authorized to play any music or media purchased under that account.

Another way to authorize a computer is to go to Account in the menu bar and select Authorizations, from there you select Authorize this Computer.

Deauthorizing a Computer
To deauthorize a computer, you go Accounts in the menu bar. Select Authorizations, and you’ll see an option to Deauthorize this Computer. You can also deauthorize an Audible account if you listen to books through Audible. Once you deauthorize a computer, iTunes will no longer play any purchased music.

See this Lesson in Action
If you want to see this lesson in action, take a look at the video above.

Lesson tags: Mac Tutorials
Back to: Tutor for iTunes for the Mac > Media Settings and Restrictions