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How to view Apple Music lyrics on a Mac, iOS device or Apple TV

With iOS 10, iTunes 12.5, and tvOS 10, you can read lyrics while listening to songs in the Music app or in iTunes. When lyrics are available (and they’re not for all songs), you can read them in the Music app on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch; in iTunes on your Mac or PC; or in the Music app on your Apple TV.

You can’t view lyrics in Airplane Mode or when you’re not connected to the Internet. And, if you have explicit content turned off, lyrics might not be visible to you if they contain explicit words. Before you can view lyrics, you need to update your iOS software, get the latest version of iTunes, and update the software on your Apple TV.

To view lyrics on an iOS device, while listening to a song, tap or swipe up on the player at the bottom of the screen to open Now Playing. To the right of Lyrics, tap Show.

To view lyrics on a Mac (or PC), while listening to a song, click the following icon at the top of iTunes, then click Lyrics. 

To view lyrics on an Apple TV, while listening to a song, swipe up on the Touch surface and select this icon:

 

If lyrics aren’t available for a specific song or you want to add your own, you can add lyrics to songs in iTunes on a Mac or PC:

Open iTunes.

Find the song that you want to add lyrics for and click to highlight it.

From the menu bar at the top of your computer screen or at the top of the iTunes window, choose Edit > Get Info.

Click the Lyrics tab, then select Custom Lyrics at the bottom of the screen.

Enter your lyrics, then click OK to save them.

Custom lyrics that you save in iTunes on a Mac or PC are visible across all of your other devices as long as you’re signed in with the same Apple ID on each device.

Dennis Sellers
the authorDennis Sellers
Dennis Sellers is the editor/publisher of Apple World Today. He’s been an “Apple journalist” since 1995 (starting with the first big Apple news site, MacCentral). He loves to read, run, play sports, and watch movies.