When you connect iPhone or iPod touch to your computer, items are automatically synced according to your preferences set in iTunes. You can, for example, enter phone numbers and addresses of friends and family members on your computer, connect iPhone or iPod touch to sync, then unplug iPhone or iPod touch and tap a friend’s name on the touchscreen to call.

You can sync

* Contacts—names, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, and so on
* Calendars—appointments and events
* Web bookmarks
* Music and audiobooks
* Photos
* Podcasts
* Movies and TV shows
* Applications

You only have to set which items are synced in iTunes on your computer once. After that, just connect iPhone or iPod touch to start a sync.

Contacts, calendars, and bookmarks are synced from (or to) your computer, so if you add, change, or delete them on iPhone or iPod touch, they are changed on your computer, and vice versa. You can also sync contacts with your Yahoo! or Google Address Book.

Email account settings (on iPhone only), music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and photos are synced one-way, from your computer to iPhone (though you can import photos taken with iPhone to your computer).

If you like, you can set iPhone or iPod touch to sync with only a portion of what’s on your computer. For example, you might want to sync only a group of contacts from your address book, or you may want to sync only songs from certain playlists so you don’t fill up iPhone or iPod touch with all your music.

Setting Up Syncing

You use iTunes on your computer to set up which items are synced. Make sure you have the most recent version of iTunes ( On a PC, open iTunes and choose Help > Check for Updates. On a Mac, open iTunes and choose iTunes > Check for Updates.
Step 1: Connect iPhone or iPod touch

1. Connect iPhone or iPod touch to your computer using the included cable. You can connect the cable from your computer directly to iPhone or iPod touch, or connect the cable from your computer to the Apple Universal Dock (available separately) and put iPhone or iPod touch in the dock. By default, iTunes opens automatically.
2. Select iPhone or iPod touch in iTunes under Devices on the left hand side and click the Info tab.

Step 2: Set Up Which Items Are Synced

Click the respective tabs in iTunes to specify which media and information you want synced from your computer to iPhone or iPod touch.

Step 3: Sync iPhone or iPod touch

Click Apply in the lower-right corner of the screen. Your computer syncs with iPhone or iPod touch according to your settings.

The first time you sync iPhone or iPod touch, you are asked if you want to merge data, replace data on the service, or replace the data on your computer. After that, anytime you connect iPhone or iPod touch to your computer, iTunes opens and syncs with iPhone or iPod touch according to your settings.

You can adjust sync settings anytime iPhone or iPod touch is connected to your computer. You can only connect and sync with one iPhone or iPod touch at the same time. If you need to sync more than one iPhone or iPod touch, disconnect one before connecting the other.

Note: Syncing won’t delete any contact in Yahoo! Address Book that contains a Messenger ID, even if you’ve deleted the contact from your address book on iPhone or your computer. To delete a contact containing a Messenger ID, log in to your Yahoo! account online and delete the contact using Yahoo! Address Book.

Setting up email accounts
Email account setup with Mail is easy. If you’re setting up an email account for the first time on iPhone or iPod touch, simply touch the Mail icon on the Home screen. If you’re adding an additional account with software version 2.0 or later, touch the Settings icon on the Home screen, select Mail, Contacts, Calendars and select Add Account.

If you’re setting up a Microsoft Exchange, MobileMe, Gmail, Yahoo! or AOL account, touch the icons for those services on the Add Account screen and enter your account information. If you’re setting up an email account from another provider, select Other. In software version 2.0 or later, Mail can automatically setup many popular POP and IMAP email accounts using just your email address and password.1 As Mail looks up settings that match your email account you may see a note appear that will describe any limitations you may experience in using your email account. If Mail cannot find the settings needed to setup your email account, refer to the documentation from your email provider on how to manually setup an email account.

Syncing email account settings to iPhone or iPod touch
You use iTunes to sync your email account setttings to iPhone or iPod touch. iTunes supports Mail and Microsoft Entourage on a Mac, and Microsoft Outlook (2007 or 2003) and Outlook Express on a PC.

Note: Syncing email account settings to iPhone or iPod touch copies the email account setup, not the messages themselves. Whether the messages in your inbox appear on both iPhone or iPod touch and your computer depends on the type of email account you have and how it’s configured. You may need to enter your password on the device after syncing account settings.

If you don’t have an email account
Email accounts are available from most Internet service providers with a paid subscription. Email accounts are also available from using Apple’s MobileMe service.

Free accounts are also available online:

- mail.yahoo.com
- www.gmail.com
- www.aol.com