Apple Music canceled.
Library gone. Now what?

What happens to your library when you cancel.

Apple lays out the policy in their support article on missing or grayed-out songs:

That's the policy. The exception is the timing. Apple holds on to libraries for a window after cancellation in some cases (anywhere from a few days to several months), and the rules for that window aren't published. Some people come back after a year and find their library intact. Others lose everything within a week.

Treat the grace period as a gift, not a guarantee. Once you cancel, the library is on borrowed time.

What survives, what doesn't.

The split is a clean rule: anything you own stays with you regardless of subscription. Anything you stream from the Apple Music catalog goes when the subscription ends.

For most people, the painful part is the right column: years of curation built around streaming-only tracks. That's where backup tools matter.

If your library is already gone — three things to try.

These are the steps that have actually worked. None are guaranteed, but they're worth running through before you accept the loss.

1. Resubscribe and toggle Sync Library

   Resubscribe to Apple Music (even just one month). Then go to Settings → Music and toggle Sync Library off, wait 30 seconds, and toggle it back on.

   If your library data is still on Apple's side, this will pull everything back. It tends to work for people who resubscribe quickly. It doesn't work if Apple has already cleared the data.

2. Check other devices that haven't synced yet

   If you noticed the deletion on your iPhone, your Mac or iPad may still hold the previous version of your library, but only if it has been offline since the deletion. Turn off Wi-Fi and cellular on the secondary device immediately, then open Apple Music and check.

   If the library is intact, take screenshots or write your playlists down before reconnecting. (The library disappeared guide has more on this.) No promises (this won't always work), but it's saved a few people.

3. Restore from a Hezel backup, if you made one

   If you ever made a backup with Hezel, even from years ago, open the app and restore. Hezel's backups live on your iPhone and don't depend on your Apple Music subscription. You'll need a fresh subscription to actually play the songs, but your library (every song, playlist, and music video) comes back the moment you resubscribe and restore.

   If you didn't make a backup, this option doesn't apply. There's no way to set one up retroactively.

What doesn't work — even when other articles claim it does.

Apple Support can't recover a deleted Apple Music library. Once the data is cleared on Apple's side, there's no rollback for them to offer. Many people have asked; the answer is consistent.

iCloud backups of your iPhone don't help either. Those keep your apps, settings, photos, and messages — not the catalog tracks in your Apple Music library, which were always streaming references rather than actual files.

The 30-day grace period isn't promised. It exists for some accounts, not others, and the timing varies a lot. Don't plan around it.

If you're about to cancel — back up first.

Apple Music is a streaming service, not a backup service. That's what Hezel is for.

Hezel is free. Download it from the App Store, and tap Back Up Now. Every song, playlist, and music video is captured locally on your iPhone. The whole thing takes seconds.

Then cancel whenever you're ready: Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions → Apple Music → Cancel Subscription. Your backup stays on your iPhone, regardless of what happens with the subscription.

When you start Apple Music again, whether tomorrow or three years from now, open Hezel, find your saved backup, and go to the Restore tab. Hezel works out what's missing and offers to put it back. Most things come back exactly as you left them.

Things you might be wondering.

Five seconds now. Years of curation saved.

If your library is still here right now and you might cancel, even months from now, make a backup before you forget. The free tier is enough.