With Zune, you control exactly what syncs from your collection to your Zune player.

There are two sync settings: Smart sync and Manual sync.

• Smart sync
  
  With smart sync, any changes you make to your media will automatically update in both your collection and on your player. You can set the Zune software to sync to your Zune player all media of a particular type (all your music, for example), or you can select to have only media you choose sync with your player.



• Smart sync - All music: when selected, Zune will automatically sync all changes to your music collection with your player.



• Smart sync - Music I choose: when selected, only the specific music that you choose will sync between your music collection and your player.



• Manual sync
  
  With manual sync, you must add and remove all music, video, and pictures to your player selection-by-selection; Zune will not automatically sync any changes made to your collection with your player. You may want to choose this option if you make frequent changes to your collection that you don't necessarily want added to, or removed from, your player.
  
  

  The benefits of choosing manual sync include:

• Having greater control over what specific songs, videos, and pictures are added to, or removed from, your player.



• Your player syncs only when you want it to, saving time if you make a lot of changes to your collection.



You might prefer using smart sync if you'd rather have all media of a particular type (all your music, for example) on your player at all times, or if you'd like any changes made to your collection to automatically update on your player.

The first time you sync, Zune will add all your music, pictures, and podcasts to your player by default, provided there's enough space on your player. If there's not sufficient space, you'll need to choose what to sync and what to leave off your player. If you don't want to load all your media, just adjust the sync settings accordingly before you connect your player.

Note
For Zune 4 and Zune 8 players, you choose what syncs by default.

Zune only syncs friends that you specifically choose. When you have a lot of friends who like to share, your inbox can end up with more music than you can fit on your Zune player.

However much space you have on your Zune, you can always change your sync settings.

When you decide what you want to sync, just drag the items from your collection to the player icon in the Zune software and sync starts immediately. You can choose a category—artist, album, picture folder, podcast series, playlists—or choose individual tracks, a video, or other specific items. If you have your options set to Smart sync and make any changes to your collection—download a CD or change song information, for example—your player will sync automatically. If you select Manual sync, changes made to your collection will sync to your player only when you choose to start syncing.

If no player is connected, the media you choose to sync always applies to the Zune that was connected most recently. If you want to sync with a specific player, hover and select the player icon in the Zune software and select a player from the list.

If you want to change what media you're already syncing, see Sync Groups.

If you want to single out individual items (for example, a song or a picture) in your collection to exclude, see Skip Items from Sync.

Change Sync Settings

Sync FAQ

Skip Items from Sync

Sync from Your Zune to Your Collection

Sync Specific Items

Sync Your Zune to Another Computer