How to set an Apple Music song to start and end at custom times
Find out how to edit the beginning and closing times of a particular song on Apple Music, so you get to listen only to that favorite part, while skipping the start and end portions.
Ask yourself this question: how many times have you come across a song that has awesome lyrics or music somewhere in the middle, but the beginning or end is long and not enjoyable!
I have often noticed that a particular section of a song sounds great in an Instagram Reel or TikTok video, so I go to listen to the full track on Apple Music, only to find that the rest of the song isn’t very palatable.
To address such situations, I define the start and end times of a song in Apple’s Music app and listen to just the favorite part.
It’s a terrific lesser-known feature that I use a lot, and so should you!
A few points to keep in mind
- You can make this change only in the Apple Music app on your Mac or Windows PC.
- Changes you make to the song on your computer will automatically sync to your iPhone or iPad, provided you have Sync Library enabled (which it likely already is).
- Even if you don’t have an Apple Music subscription, you can set custom start and end times in the Music app on your Mac. And when you sync your iPhone or iPad, the changes will reflect in the iOS Music app.
- You need to define the custom end and start times for each song individually.
Set start and end times for a song on Apple Music
1) Open the Music app on Mac. The steps for Windows PC are similar.
2) Play the song in your library to find the start and/or end times you want to set.
3) Then, select the song and press the Command + I keys or right-click and choose Get Info.
4) Go to the Options tab.
5) You’ll see start and stop options. Check the box for either or both as needed and enter the time in the boxes next to them. I want the song to start at 35 seconds (0:35) and end at 4 minutes 00 seconds (4:00), so I will do that.
6) Finally, click the OK button.
This change will reflect immediately in the Music app on this computer. And if you have an Apple Music subscription with Sync Library enabled, it will also reflect on your other devices after a minute or so. And if you sync music directly from your computer to an iOS device, the changes will reflect after you sync it manually.
From now on, when this song plays (either manually or automatically after one song ends and this one is in the queue), it will start playing from the time you set in step 5 above, as well as end according to that.
Even if you set this song to play on repeat, it will play only the portion you specified using the start and stop boxes.
Remember that this isn’t a new feature by any means. You can also use this method to create 30-second ringtones for your iPhone, but remember that it’s no longer mandatory as iOS 26 lets you use any audio file as the iPhone ringtone. And if the music file exceeds 30 seconds, you can trim it right on your iPhone.
Also, check out:
- How to organize your Apple Music playlists into folders
- How to pin music to the top of the Apple Music app
- How to reduce the space taken by Apple Music on iOS
Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2026/04/06/custom-song-times-apple-music/
