MP3 players do not require much technical experience for usage. They are user-friendly and appeal to even the most inexperienced computer user. Downloading music onto an MP3 player is simply a process of synchronizing your music from the computer to your device via a USB sync cable.

Connect the MP3 Player to the Computer

Open your computer's media player application. Establish a connection between the computer and the MP3 player. Plug the USB sync cable into one of the computer's USB ports, and connect the other end of the cable to the MP3 player's adapter port. The computer will immediately begin working to detect the connection. Once it is detected, an AutoPlay window will pop-up on your screen, or the MP3 player's device icon will appear at the bottom of the menu options in the left pane of the application. If the AutoPlay window opens, close this window as it is non-essential.

Import Your Music to the Media Player Application

In the media player application's window, click on the "File" tab at the top of the application, and select the "Add to Library," or "Import to Library." (The wording for this action may vary depending on the media player you are using.) Use the file directory that will appear to add any folders to where your music is stored on the computer. Click on the "Import" action to extract any music files from these folders, so the files can be accessible in the media player. When it closes, your library will now hold all of the songs from these particular folders.

Download Music Onto the Player

Now you can move onto to the downloading aspect. Downloading is also considered synchronizing. Keep this in mind so you'll know exactly what it means when you see it in the media player. Click on the "Sync" tab in the media player's navigation menu. A new pane will appear on the right side of the application. Select the songs you want to download to the MP3 player. Press and hold down the CTRL key on the computer's keyboard, and click on each individual music file you want to download. Once you have selected the songs of your choice for downloading, release the CTRL key. All of the music files will still be highlighted. Click and hold down the left mouse button and drag the highlighted list of music files to the right Sync pane. Check the indication bar to make sure you have not over-exceeded the amount of storage space for the MP3 player. (If you have, you will need to remove some music files individually. Right-click over the file you desire to remove, and select the "Remove from List" action.) Click on the "Start Sync" action. The Sync pane will then shift to middle pane and display the music download's progress. Once all files have been downloaded to the MP3 player, a notification will be displayed.

Source:

Syncing Digital Media to a Portable Device, Such as an MP3 Player