Just updated iTunes to the latest version or moved your iTunes music library? Unfortunately, you found that your iTunes playlists seem to have disappeared. Do not feel upset, you can recover iTunes playlists easily if you had synced them to your iPhone, iPod, or iPad before.
In this guide, we will show you how to restore lost iTunes playlists on Windows PC within 3 steps.
With the help of Syncios, you can recover iTunes playlists on your PC freely and effortlessly, it's fully compatible with Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows7, Windows XP, or Windows Vista.
Step 1. Download and install this iTunes Playlists Recovery tool on your PC
Download
Win Version Download
Mac Version
Please make sure that iTunes has been already installed on your computer for running this free iTunes recovery tool properly. But you do not have to run iTunes.
Step 2. Connect your iPhone/iPad/iPod with PC and run Syncios Free iTunes Playlists Recovery tool
After your iOS device, iPhone, iPod, or iPad that you've synced iTunes playlists to with PC were connected, run this iTunes playlist recovery software, it will detect your iOS device.
Step 3. Recover iTunes Playlists on PC
1. Transfer media files from iPhone/iPad/iPod to PC
Press "Media" tab under “ My Devices”, choose the music in related playlists you want to recover, and then simply tap on “Export” to transfer music to computer.
2. Transfer music from PC to iTunes Library and create new playlist in your iTunes
Hit "Add File to Library" to add media files you've exported into iTunes Library. Create new playlist to your iTunes, the playlist can be the same as on your device. Click the new playlist from left panel, and then press "Edit Playlist" option, the imported media files will be listed on the main windows.
Choose files you need, and drag them to the new playlist on the right panel of iTunes.
This smart iTunes Playlists Recovery tool also can extract files from iTunes backup files to PC, Why not download and enjoy it!
Download
Win Version Download
Mac Version
Supported Apple Devices and iOS Versions
| iPhone | iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 plus, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS |
| iPad | iPad Pro; iPad mini 4, iPad mini 3/2/1, iPad with Retina display, The New iPad, iPad 2, iPad |
| iPod | iPod touch 5, iPod touch 4, iPod touch 3, iPod Touch |
| iOS | iOS 5, iOS 6, iOS 7, iOS 8, iOS 9 |
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I cleared all of the albums and playlists off my iPhone and restored it by syncing from my Mac in order to correct the apparently common problem of the album artwork getting scrambled when setting up an iPhone 12 by copying data from an older iPhone. However, before restoring the tracks, my Mac backward-synced the playlists in the Mac Music app from the phone, deleting all the ones I'd had on the phone. I've tried restoring iTunes Library.itl, iTunes Library Extras.itdb, iTunes Library Genius.itdb, and iTunes Music Library.xml in the iTunes folder and Music Library in the Music folder from a time machine backup from before they were deleted, but the playlists are still gone when I reopen the Music app. Is there any way to get them back?
Posted on May 27, 2021 9:11 PM
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Answer: A:
First do you have a subscription to either Apple Music or iTunes Match? Second do you have a specific date in mind for when your library was last correct? The old iTunes files aren't relevant if you're running Music. You should restore the Music Library.musiclibrary file from backup, taking your machine offline first if you have either Apple Music or iTunes Match, option-start Music to explicitly choose your restored library. If you have Apple Music or iTunes Match you now need to export your playlists as XML files, then you can go back online, allow the library to update to the current version in the cloud, then import your exported lists.
tt2
Posted on May 28, 2021 3:05 AM
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In response to mantis74
First do you have a subscription to either Apple Music or iTunes Match? Second do you have a specific date in mind for when your library was last correct? The old iTunes files aren't relevant if you're running Music. You should restore the Music Library.musiclibrary file from backup, taking your machine offline first if you have either Apple Music or iTunes Match, option-start Music to explicitly choose your restored library. If you have Apple Music or iTunes Match you now need to export your playlists as XML files, then you can go back online, allow the library to update to the current version in the cloud, then import your exported lists.
tt2
May 28, 2021 3:05 AM
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In response to turingtest2
Thanks a lot! I didn't know about option-clicking the app, and that solved the problem when I did it.
May 28, 2021 11:42 AM
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User profile for user: mantis74
Question: Q: How do I recover Music playlists from Time Machine backup?
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In response to cmealha
May 18, 2020 7:27 PM
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In response to LACAllen
Yes I do. Hoping there’s a file I can restore that has playlist info in it.
May 18, 2020 9:05 PM
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In response to cmealha
Look for iTunes Library.itl
May 18, 2020 9:22 PM
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In response to cmealha
Typically you would restore ~/Music/Music/Music Library.musiclibrary from backup to restore the state of your Apple Music library database.
tt2
May 19, 2020 3:30 AM
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In response to turingtest2
I tried that but there seems to be no change. It seemed that the recovered file was being overwritten by whatever was in iCloud. Do I need to sign out first?
May 19, 2020 5:58 AM
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In response to cmealha
Ah, if you have iCloud Music Library then go offline, restore the library once more, export the playlist as an XML file, go online which will remove it again, then import the exported list.
tt2
May 19, 2020 6:10 AM
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In response to LACAllen
Is this still used? The file I have is 6 months old which corresponds to my getting a new iMac and upgrading to the latest versions of everything.
May 19, 2020 6:56 AM
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In response to cmealha
No, the .itl file would be the last impression of your pre-upgrade library. Potentially useful as a recovery library if Catalina made a mess of the upgrade, or the Music library is lost and unrecoverable from backup. Given you have iCloud Music Library you will need to restore a backup of your Music Library.musiclibrary database while offline, export any content you need to restore, then reimport it once your library has synced to the cloud again.
tt2
May 19, 2020 7:27 AM
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In response to turingtest2
Thanks. I'll give that a try as soon as I can.
May 19, 2020 7:39 AM
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In response to cmealha
I did try restoring the "Music Library.musiclibrary" file but now luck. In addition, some songs are showing duplicated and as not found even though the physical files are where they should be. Uploading screen shots.
May 19, 2020 3:18 PM
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In response to cmealha
Your screenshot of Finder shows no folder called iTunes in the path, which is referred to in the other screenshots of track information. Have you moved content, or changed the path to the media folder in preferences? Or is the intermediate folder simply hidden from this view?
tt2
May 19, 2020 7:37 PM
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In response to turingtest2
TT,
Apple Support has had me do a few things, including changing the Music Media folder location in preferences. I've changed this to ..../Music/iTunes/iTunes Music to correspond to the directory structure in Finder and I ran the consolidation. Somehow nothing is being found. I'm attaching screen shots of the directory structure and the Media folder setting.
My plan is to restore from backups done on May 14. I have the following questions.
- Should I delete the iTunes directory before recovery? I am asking because previous attempts still show files after May 14 in the library.
- What should I restore? Should it be the entire ../iTunes or ../iTunes/iTunes Music directories and the ../Music directory containing the Music Library.musiclibrary file?
- I am currently logged out of iCloud. Should this be the case when I recover?
- Are there any files in the Users/../Library/iTunes directory that should be deleted?
I tried recovery once before just recovering the .../iTunes/iTunes Music directory and the ..Music/Music Library.musiclibrary file using the replace option but it did not seem to work correctly. The backup show the same directory structure as the screen shot so I'm not sure where the individual songs' file locations are getting corrupted.
At this point I am no longer worried about recovering my Playlists. I just want to get my library whole.I appreciate your responses. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if you have any questions.
May 20, 2020 9:17 AM
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In response to cmealha
Hi,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. If you're not worried about playlists then it might be best to put all of your content in the new default layout for the Music app before you import it to the library. I.e. move the folder iTunes Music into ~/Music and rename it as Media, reset the media folder in Music > Preferences > Files to ~/Music/Media, then use File > Add to Library... to import the media folder.
If you wanted the playlists one approach might be to use Music to access the old .itl library which would create a new Music library based on the old .itl from December. That should bring in the state of the library at that date. As before, given you have a subscription service involved, you need to go offline before you connect to the older library. You can export the playlists and/or turn off iCloud Music Library [AKA Sync Library] before you go back online, then you should be able to go back online, enable iCloud Music Library and merge in any changes, reimporting the exported lists if required.
tt2
May 23, 2020 4:05 AM
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In response to turingtest2
Please don't apologize. I appreciate the time you take to respond.
At this point I'm trying to understand the structure of how Music works. I believe that Apple Support had tried having me change the library location as you explain but I was surprised that the content had not moved from the ../iTunes/iTunes Music directory to the ../Music directory. I believe they had me use the consolidation option.
I also noticed that even though I recovered from May 14, the Music app showed songs that were added after May 14
I did some experimenting and deleted my entire ../Music/iTunes and ../Music/Music directories thinking that I would no longer see anything in the Music app. To my surprise, all my songs were still listed. Where does the Music app keep the database of songs?
I'd like to stay away from using the Add to Library function as I would like to keep the original Date Added
During all this, I made sure that the Sync Library option is turned off in Preferences and that I am signed off of my account so that I'm only dealing with songs that reside on my computer.
At this point, I am not longer concerned about Playlists but am looking to restore my Library. Any insight is appreciated.
Carl
May 23, 2020 8:10 AM
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In response to cmealha
P.S. How do I open the old .itl file with Music. That sounds like a great idea as most of the playlists I'd like to recover have been fairly static since December.
May 23, 2020 8:17 AM
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