Why have my iTunes playlists on my iPhone disappeared?

Why have my iTunes playlists on my iPhone disappeared even though they appear when I connect the phone to iTunes on my laptop? I do not seem to be able to retrieve or reinstall them. I normally manage my music manually. Even recent CDs I imported which are showing up on iTunes on the laptop are not appearing on the iPhone. What am I doing wrong? I'm using the most recent versions of iTunes and OS software on laptop and iPhone.

Hello Janeburows,
You might have setup your iTunes in such a way that you store your Media files on your External Hard Drive and if that is the situation then whenever you delete anything permanently from your iTunes on your Computer when the External Drive is connected then the Content will get deleted from your External Hard Drive. To verify the Location for the Media files which you have on iTunes do the following.
Open iTunes > Preferences> Advanced and you will see it under iTunes Media Folder Location
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391

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Why are my ITunes playlists on my iPhone, iPad and Mac not the same?

I don't understand the ITunes. I have an Iphone, Ipad and new Mac Probook with Retina Display. When I add songs to ITunes my playlists do not synchronize. I have to manually delete the playlist on my Mac, create new ones, then synch with USB to each device. Isn't there an easier way to manage the playlists?

You can't drag and drop content onto smart playlists, only regular ones.
tt2

HT203167 why have so many playlists and purchased songs disappeared from my itunes?

ok, so im not understanding that once i got my iphone and got on the cloud (which i dont understand) my playlists are non existent and i have lost many, many songs i have purchased over the yrs. it's very frustrating and was wondering if there is anything i can do get them back. i don't wanna have to buy them all over again, if i can even remember them all. agh!!!!

Hey there Gabrielbeth1215,
It sounds like you are wanting to download your previous iTunes purchases. They are available for re download free of charge from the Cloud. Here is an article to help you get them re downloaded:
iTunes 11 for Windows: Download previous purchases from the iTunes Store
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12491
Click iTunes Store near the top of the iTunes window.
Click the Purchased link at the right of the iTunes Store homepage (below Quick Links).
In the page that appears, select a category.iTunes shows you which of your purchases are available for download. You can view all of your past purchases, or just the ones not currently in your iTunes library. Items already in your library aren’t available for download.If you select Music, you can view your purchases by song, artist, or album. If you’re viewing by album, click an album to see which songs on it are available for downloading.To search for an item, type its name or a keyword in the search field, and then press the Return key to view your search results.
To download an item, click its Download button .To download all available items, click Download All.
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Take care,
Sterling

Why have my playlists on my iPhone disappeared?

Why have my iTunes playlists on my iPhone disappeared even though they appear when I connect the phone to iTunes on my laptop? I do not seem to be able to retrieve or reinstall them. I normally manage my music manually. Even recent CDs I imported which are showing up on iTunes on the laptop are not appearing on the iPhone. What am I doing wrong? I'm using the most recent versions of iTunes and OS software on laptop and iPhone.

Jim....
Thanks for the help. However, I am afraid that this didn't change the problem.
I replaced the "iTunes Library.itl" file and still my playlists are gone.
....sT

I recently lost my windows laptop due to a virus. I had backed up all files onto a drive(files only). However no itunes playlists. i have all my playlists on my iphone and pics etc however when im trying to sync to my new computer itunes deletes all data

I recently lost my windows laptop due to a virus. I had backed up all files onto a drive(files only). However no itunes playlists. i have all my playlists on my iphone and pics etc however when im trying to sync to my new computer itunes wants to deletes all data off of my iphone so i click cancel
i want to update to iOS 5 and still have itunes be able to copy my playlists from my iphone. for free. why does apple provide a recovery from iphone option?

If you have a backup, restore the ENTIRE iTunes folder to the computer. This restores the library and device association files. If for some reason you chose to only back up the media and not the entire iTunes folder, then the only option is to let iTunes wipe the drive and re-sync.

My iTunes playlists on my iPhone have disappeared?

My iTunes playlists on my iPhone have disappeared even though they appear when I connect phone to iTunes on my laptop. I do not seem to be able to retrieve them? I normally manage my music manually. Even recent CDs I imported to iTunes are not appearing on the iPhone. What am I doing wrong? I'm using the most recent versions of iTunes and OS software on laptop and iPhone.

Thanks! I called the number (I'm in Canada) but the automated service kept referring me to go to the website. I was starting to get frustrated, so ill just wait for them to contact me. I'm not in a rush.
Thanks for your suggestions!

How do I transfer music from my itunes playlist to my iphone?

How do I transfer music from my itunes playlist to my iphone?

Maddening!!!!! What used to work now doesn't!
Where did simple drag and drop go? Apple invented it!
I have an iPhone 5s and want to transfer Playlists from my desktop iMac to the iPhone. I have had these products since their first releases years ago. I am a computer power user. What used to be a simpe "drag and drop" of your Playlist (yes, in Column View which I have turned on now) to your iPhone was easy and you were set. It is now impossible to do. Or easily!
There are been other posts on this. I have tried them all. None work or the explanations are not adequate.
WHY IS THIS SAME **** HARD WHEN IT USED TO BE DRAG AND DROP?
PS: Fire the iTune Product Manager who did this version..get Jony Ive on the case to fix the User Interface Design ASAP!

Lost iTunes playlists from my iPhone 5

I suddenly lost my iTunes playlists from my iphone 5. I have not upgraded to ioS 7.1 for two reasons--I don't like the layout, and I only have 1.2 GB of the required 4.1 GB free. Please help!! I have all my songs still in my library on my phone, along with everything except for my playlists. I hope they are hidden, not deleted. Everything is intact on my iTunes account on my desktop computer.

Try a reset by pressing and holding the home and power buttons until the white Apple logo appears. No data will be lost.
All playlists and content should be in iTunes on the computer, if nothing else, sync the device to the computer.
rhonda28 wrote:
I have not upgraded to ioS 7.1 for two reasons--I don't like the layout,
That's irrelevant.
rhonda28 wrote:
I only have 1.2 GB of the required 4.1 GB free.
There is no free space requirement to update the device via iTunes on the computer. This is also the preferred method to update iOS.

I have an itunes acct with my iphone and my ipad and my daughters ipod - the account recognises all three as mine - can I open a separate itunes for my daughter and change the ipod to that - and still use my pc forall updates forbo th accounts ?

I have an itunes acct - with my iphone and ipad linked. Also my daughter has an ipod -so I orignally linked it to my acct and it identified it as MY ipod.
I now want to open a separate acct for my daughter - can this be done on the same PC/laptop and then change her ipod over to her acct ?

Sure.
See here for Creating Her Apple ID > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5622
It should be Noted that anything Downloaded with a Particular Apple ID is tied to that Apple ID and Cannot be Merged or Transferred to a Different Apple ID
And here for > How to Use Multiple iDevices with One Computer
Also have a read here...
https://discussions.apple.com/message/18409815?ac_cid=ha
And you may find this Video Link of Interest...
http://macmost.com/setting-up-multiple-ios-devices-for-messages-and-facetime.htm l

When playing an iTunes playlist on my iPhone 5, suddenly it switches to playing music from the cloud.

When listening to an iTunes playlist on my iPhone 5, it suddenly switches over to playing a song
from the iCloud instead.

Hi Clairecrozier,
Thanks for visiting Apple Support Communities.
You may find the steps in this article helpful:
Can't connect to the iTunes Store
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1368
Best Regards,
Jeremy

I have installed iTunes Match on my iPhone & laptop. May I now safely delete the music files from my phone and still access my music from the phone? Thanks

I have installed iTunes Match on my iPhone & laptop. May I now safely delete the music files from my phone and still access my music from the phone? Thanks

Read this
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12492

How to transfer an iTunes playlist to my iPhone?

How do I transfer an iTunes playlist to my iPhone using iTunes 11.04?

Same as always.
Open itunes, connect iphone, select what you want, sync

Can't update iTune playlists on my iPhone 5

I can't update the iTune playlists on my iPhone 5. When I check selected playlists on iTunes and connect the iPhone, it synchs but doesn't update the new playlists.

To fix this you should first quit all applications running in the background.
Instructions:
To shut down extra background apps, the first step is to access the multi-task bar on the phone. This is done by pressing the Home button two times quickly. A popup menu appears that shows all the background apps the iPhone has in memory. Items are displayed 4 at a time. If users scroll to the right, they will eventually see all apps that are currently open.
In order to manage background apps, users need to press down on one of the app icon in the Bottom until a red circle with a minus sign appears on each item.
Users should tap the minus sign next to each application they wish to close.
When users are done, they can simply press the Home button to return to the main screen.
After quitting ALL Application, power down the phone.
We will not do a normal shutdown, We are going to do a Hard Reset/Restart
Intructions:
Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears. Release the Buttons.
Hope this helps!

Playlists created on iPhone disappear when I sync

Hi,
I have my iPhone setup to sync my calendar at work & my music at home.
Work computer is XP 32 bit, home computer is Windows 7 64 bit
The new version of the iPhone software 4.x allows you to create music playlists on the phone - hey - great!
So far so good.. but when I create a playlist on the iPhone, then sync at work the playlist on the iPhone disappears. Remember there's no syncing of music on the work computer so why does it "appear" to delete the playlist??
So I go home and sync the music and suddenly my play lists appear in iTunes and on the phone again.
What will happen when I sink at work tomorrow? I'm betting the playlists will disappear again.

You probably included some podcast in playlist. There was bug that was fixed in iTunes 10.1/iOS 4.2 (http://discussions.apple.com/post!reply.jspa?threadID=2564664). Try again.

Order of iTunes Playlists different on iPhone than Mac

Upon upgrading to iOS 5 a little while ago, I noticed that the alphabetization rules had changed for my Playlists on my iPhone, yet remained the same on my Mac. I have a number of playlists that would remain at the top of the list of Playlists (ie ".Essentials" or "_Recent Additions") because of the punctuation before them. iOS 5 changed the way they are ordered, so that Playlists are ordered by letter ("A"), number ("2"), and then punctuation ("_"), rather than the reverse. iTunes on my Mac still follows the original rules. Is there any way to change these rules? I know it's a nit-picky thing, but it drives me crazy to have to call the playlists I want at the top "AA--Recent Plays" in order to keep them up there. A simple ".Recent Plays" is much cleaner. I saw someone had this issue when they upgraded to iOS 3.0 a couple years ago, but got the wrong answer. I had iOS 3 yet didn't have that problem. I don't know why Apple arbitrarily would change this but the fact that in iOS 4 this issue didn't exist gives me hope there may be a solution. So, Apple nit-pickers, can I change the alphebetization rules or will I suffer through playlists that start with double A's ("AA")? Please help!

It IS a NANO issue, and I think I have found a temporary solution. It works for me, anyway:
1. You have your smart playlist that works in iTunes but gets messed up on the Nano... in this case let's call it "Recently Added."
2. UN-check this from the Nano sync list. Do not delete the playlist, keep it in iTunes, but do NOT have it updated in the Nano.
3. Make a new smart playlist. The one and only rule should be: Playlist - IS - Recently Added.
4. Name this playlist something slightly different, such as "Recently Added for Nano."
5. Have iTunes update the new smart playlist into the Nano.
This works for me as long as I don't have the original sync'd.

Why have my iTunes playlists on my iPhone disappeared?

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