Transfer music & folder structure from Win11 to iPad A16 (11th gen)

NOTE: Please use the search function above before posting to avoid creating duplicate topics.

  • Device model (e.g. ipad 2025 a16):
  • Version of operating system (e.g. ipad os 18.5):
  • Version of djay latest):
  • Hardware/controllers used (denon sclive 4):

ok, this is probably easy to you guys but im stumped. i have my music sorted into seperate folders on my windows desktop (party, dance, ect) and want to move them onto my new ipad so i can use it with my denon sclive 4.

apple says to use the apple devices app and that moves the tracks over onto the ipad but not the folder structure. just the tracks. i want to keep the tracks in the sorted folders with the tracks in each relevant folder. how do i do this? on android its easy, i just copy the folders over and they stay contained but in ipad im lost. im brand new to apple as of today so please be gentle
Your question:

Hi @cassidy110, please try the following:

  1. I think your best option is to use the Files App on your iPad.
  2. Simply copy the folders and folder structure from your Windows device onto an external USB drive.
  3. I’m pretty sure the A16 iPad has a USB-C socket, so you should be able to connect your external drive to it via a USB-C hub or directly if you have a USB-C external drive.
  4. Now open the Files App on your iPad and create a new folder called something like “MUSIC” in the On My iPad location.
  5. Copy the folders from your external drive into this MUSIC folder.
  6. Now open djay and navigate to the Files source on the left hand side of the Library.
  7. Use the “+” icon to select the Folder(s) you’d like to make available in djay.
  8. You can now either play your music from within these folders in the Files source or take further steps to add these folders to the My Collection source.

For more details, please refer to this linked FAQ: https://help.algoriddim.com/hc/en-us/articles/360009357980-How-do-I-play-or-add-songs-from-external-media-like-USB-sticks-or-hard-drives-iCloud-Drive-or-the-Files-app-on-djay-for-iOS

Give this a try for now and let me know how that works for you.

thank you bud. after 13 hours of playing aroud and swearing enought to make my irish ancestors ashamed of me i actually found another way that works. i used the apple devices app and went to the files tab. it shows the djay folder so i copied it to there. this froze my pc for a few mins and the copying folder icon stuck over all other windows for a while whilst it transfered. then i went into djay, ond on the libary tab i switched on files. then added a folder and clicked on “on my ipad” then opened the djay folder where the custom mapping is stored. my folder was in there so i added that and everything populated exactly the way i wanted.

the apple devices app gave me no indication it was actually doing anything, no progress bar, no animation or warning but it eventually moved the files and it worked . thank you for your advice. i didnt even think about using the hub for usb sticks, dont know why. might have been faster lol.

You’re welcome @cassidy110. Glad you sorted it out.