Apple has a system in place that allows your computers to access your media, including music, books, apps, and iTunes Store purchases. At any given time, only five computers can be authorized to access this content. If you already have five devices authorized and want to add another Mac or PC, you’ll need to deauthorize one of the existing devices first. Also, if you're planning to send your Mac in for repairs—especially if a major component might be replaced—you should deauthorize it beforehand. Since there's no way to deauthorize a specific computer remotely (you can only deauthorize all at once), this task must be done directly on the device.

Although the authorization and deauthorization system for Apple Music, iTunes, Books, and other digital purchases feels outdated and unnecessarily complex—like something from a paranoid PC vendor in the 90s—it remains part of Apple’s ecosystem today.

Let’s walk through how to authorize or deauthorize a Mac using the Apple Music app. This method applies to modern Macs running macOS Mojave, Monterey, Big Sur, Ventura, or later versions. Older Macs used iTunes for this process.

How to Deauthorize / Authorize a Mac with Apple Music

On the Mac you wish to authorize or deauthorize:

1. Launch the Apple Music app on the Mac you want to manage

2. Open the ‘Account’ menu and verify that the correct Apple ID is displayed

3. From the same ‘Account’ menu, select “Authorizations”, then choose either “Deauthorize This Computer” or “Authorize This Computer” depending on what you need to do

4. Enter your Apple ID and password when prompted, and confirm the action

Once completed, the Mac will either be authorized or deauthorized accordingly.

You may encounter some error messages while trying to authorize or deauthorize a computer.

“You cannot authorize more than 5 computers” Error

One common message says: “You cannot authorize more than 5 computers. You have already authorized 5 computers with this Apple ID. To authorize this computer you must first deauthorize one of the other computers.”

If you see this message, you'll need to either deauthorize all computers at once or manually deauthorize one on its own.

“This Computer is not Authorized” Error

Another possible message states: “This Computer is not Authorized. In order to complete this request, you need to authorize this computer. To authorize this computer, go to the Account menu and select Authorizations.”

In this case, you must explicitly authorize the current computer.

Sometimes, especially when you've reached the maximum of five authorized computers and are trying to add a sixth, you can get stuck in an endless loop between these two errors. To break free, deauthorize all computers, then re-authorize each one individually.

The whole process of authorizing and deauthorizing is smooth, logical, and universally loved by users, so naturally you’re thrilled to take part in it as well. What a joy.

Drop a comment below if you’ve had any unique experiences or thoughts about managing authorizations on macOS.

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