Here’s how to rip an audio CD on a Mac.

You Need a Disc Drive

Most modern Mac computers don’t have a built-in optical disc drive.

It’s designed for both Windows and Mac.

CD drive and a music CD next to a MacBook Air.

Corbin Davenport / How-To Geek

If you have an older Mac with iTunes installed, the process is roughly the same.

First, fire up the Music software.

If you don’t see it, try searching for iTunes instead.

ASUS external disc drive with the tray open.

The ASUS ZenDrive Silver is a basic and affordable external optical drive, with support for reading and writing DVDs and CDs. It’s designed for both Windows and Mac.

Next, insert the audio CD into your drive, if you haven’t already.

The Music/iTunes app might automatically ask if you want to import the CD.

you’ve got the option to click “Yes” to start ripping the CD.

Spotlight search result screenshot for “music.app”

you might click OK to start the import.

The files can also be found inside the Music directory in your Home folder.

Music app with a CD called “Night Visions” and an import prompt window.

Red arrow pointing to the Import CD button

Import settings for an audio CD in Music

Window displaying Imagine Dragons album ‘Night Visions’ with import progress bar.

Context menu open on a song with “Show in Finder” selected.