Songs are graying out in iTunes playlist for no apparent reason

Here's an odd problem . . . iTunes, on my iPad, is graying out songs. For instance, when in any playlist, if I select one of the songs, iTunes runs through the list and grays out all the songs in the list. If that playlist was an album, then selecting the album afterward brings a screen that says: "has no content", or words to that effect.
It is similar to others' posts about songs disappearing, but not exactly . . . Anyone experience this?

I've seen the same thing reported in the itunes for Windows forum as well: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1707050&tstart=0
I have the same problem after installing itunes 8. Some, not all, playlists stop playing after one track when in shuffle mode. All the boxes in front of track names are ticked, and all my playlists (so far) seem to play through when they are not in shuffle mode. I've experimented with the buggy playlists by switching back and forth between shuffled and non-shuffled mode; if I start playing in shuffled mode, click the shuffle button to play songgs in order and then click it again, the new shuffled order always puts the currently playing track last. The clickybox "Skip when shuffling" (sorry, it's probably called something else - my itunes is localised into Swedish) is not ticked, and I've restored the number of times I've played and skipped each track, several times. This has to be a bug.
I see several people posting about the same thing but so far no general answer. Apologies if I've missed something.

Similar Messages

Some songs are grayed out in Itunes with ICloud/Download symbol, why and how do I fix it?

A random variety of my songs are grayed out so they won't play and it shows the ICloud download symbol next to them. In the top left hand corner, it shows the cloud symbol with horizontal lines moving, as if it's in the process of downloading, but it has been on all day and there is no movement to shift the grayed out songs to functioning songs as if they have been downloaded.
Does anyone have any suggestions??
Thanks!!

Delete the incomplete tracks from your library, sending them to recycle bin, then download them again from your purchased history. If the problem persists use the "report a problem" links from your account history to contact the iTunes store support staff.
Are the incomplete tracks ones that you had previewed before purchasing the album? If so there may be a bug that needs reporting. See this recent post which explains why I ask the question...
tt2

All my songs are grayed- out in itunes

I got a new itouch. I used my cousin's itunes to sync songs and videos (since i was spending christmas/news years there) now that im home, i "erased and sync" and even restored it so i can sync with MY itunes. The problem is now that some of my songs are on my ipod, in itunes they are grayed-out (as in i cant click on it). Can anyone tell me why and how i can fix it? Do i have to restore my ipod as new or something?

H Again: OK, new things to try. I see you are on Windows, so it may look a little different than what I see. With your iPod Touch (IPT) connected, click on the IPT name in the left pane, you should now see several tabs, click the "summary" tab, one of the options at he lower part of this pane is "Manually manage music and videos". Now click on the "music" in the left pane, under your IPT. Are the songs accessible now? It did change on mine when I made this change.
Stedman

Transferred itunes library from Windows XP PC to new Windows 7 PC. plugged in 3rd gen Ipod. Ipod icon appears along with playlists, music etc. Songs are grayed out and won't play. Please help!

I recently transferred itunes library from windows XP PC to new Windows 7 PC. The transfer was successful, however when I plug my 3rd gen Ipod Nano into the new PC, the Ipod icon appears along with the music, playlists, etc. The songs are shown but are 'grayed out' and wont play or sync.The 'Devices & Printers' window in new PC shows icon for Ipod driver & is OK. The icon for the Ipod appears but depicts a delta shaped warning icon that states that the Ipod is'not operating properly'. Tried troubleshooting. The troubleshooting message states the the Ipod is 'disconnecting'. Can you help me with this problem?

Then, I dropped the entire itunes file from the old PC (XP) into an empty external drive.
That "itunes file from the old PC"? Is that the iTunes folder, from the old PC, that was in the user home folder's Music folder?
All of the library, playlists, etc. from the ipod as they always have been are shown, by they are 'grayed out' and will not open or play.
That's on the iPod, correct? Are all of your old playlists in iTunes, from the old PC, still there in iTunes on the new PC? Are the songs in iTunes still playable?
This document provides the steps to transfer a complete iTunes library between two computers. See the section called External drive.
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer - Apple Support
There are many steps, but this is a summary. (1) On the old PC, consolidate all of your iTunes data into the iTunes folder. (2) Copy this iTunes folder to the external drive. (3) On the new PC (that has iTunes installed but NOT running), replace its existing iTunes folder with the one from the old PC (on the external drive). When you run iTunes, it uses the iTunes folder from the old PC, and it should look like iTunes on the old PC (with all the playlists, ratings, play count, etc.), and your iPod will see the iTunes library as the same iTunes library (because it is the same library).
If you did something different, and the old PC is still accessible, you may want to try it using the method from the linked document.

My old computer crashed so I got a new computer and installed Itunes but some songs are grayed out.

My old computer crashed so I got a new computer and installed Itunes but some songs are grayed out

What actions, if any, did you take to transfer your iTunes Library from your old computer to your new one? Unless you do so, the only songs that will automatically be available to you are your previous iTunes Store purchases - and even then this is dependent on both where you are (not all regional versions of the Store provide this facility) and whether the songs you've purchased are still available from the Store.
As leofanti points out, iTunes Match is not a backup service for your library.

I downloaded an album on Itunes. The songs play on my IPAD but on my IPOD they wont play. the album is there but all the songs are grayed out.

I downloaded an album on Itunes. The songs play on my IPAD but not my IPOD. They are on the IPOD but they are grayed out.

- Delete and redownload by:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store
- If you can't delete
Try:
- Reset the iOS device. Nothing will be lost
Reset iOS device: Hold down the On/Off button and the Home button at the same time for at
least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
- Unsync all music and resync
- Reset all settings
Go to Settings > General > Reset and tap Reset All Settings.
All your preferences and settings are reset. Information (such as contacts and calendars) and media (such as songs and videos) aren’t affected.
- Restore from backup. See:
iOS: How to back up
- Restore to factory settings/new iOS device.

All the files are grayed out in iTunes

My iPod died a few days ago and it was replaced (5G 30GB). I’ve connected the new one to iTunes on my computer (WinXP pro) and all the files seemed to transfer correctly to the new iPod. In iTunes, however, it you select the iPod on the left, all the files are grayed out and you can’t click on them. With my old iPod you could. I also noticed a little locked symbol down at the bottom to the right of where it shows you how much space is left on your iPod hard drive. I’m guessing that the new iPod drive is somehow locked. I can’t find anything in iTunes that controls this. Is there a way to unlock the iPod drive so you can click on the ipod files in iTunes?
Asus P4C800 Windows XP Pro

Grey text when you look at the content and lock symbol at the bottom of the screen simply shows that your iPod is set to "automatically update songs and playlists". . If you want to access your iPod directly, play it through your iTunes, connect it to a second computer etc. you just need to change the update method to "Manually manage songs and Playlists" in the iPod preferences. For more detail see this tutorial: Managing Your Songs Manually
One thing to be aware of with manually updating is that the iPod also has to be manually ejected before the "Do Not Disconnect" message will go away. Safely disconnect iPod
For info: iPod 101
The iPod offers three ways to transfer music from your computer. You can select one of the following update modes from the iPod Preferences menu in iTunes (Edit=>Preferences=>'iPod' tab):
1) Automatically update all songs and playlists. This is the default mode, in which your entire music library, including playlists, is automatically synced to your iPod. If the music library on your computer exceeds the iPod storage capacity, you are prompted to select a different update method.
2) Automatically update selected playlists only. With this option, iTunes automatically copies the playlists you have selected to the iPod when you connect it to the computer.
3) Manually manage songs and playlists. You can also choose to transfer music to the iPod manually. This allows you to drag and drop individual songs and playlists from iTunes to the iPod.

When I try to burn a play list to a CD some of the songs are grayed out and then not burned to the disc. How can I fix this problem?

why are some of the songs on the play list I am trying to burn to a CD "grayed out" when I start burning the CD and there for not included in the finished CD? How can I fix this problem. Btw, I have been using iTunes for years and this problem just came up quite recently. Thanks

Howdy sarthur,
Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities.
To help resolve this issue where you're unable to burn a disc successfully in iTunes, please follow the troubleshooting in the article linked to below.
Can't burn a CD in iTunes for Windows - Apple Support
Take care,
Alex H.

Song download grayed out in iTunes-- plays on iPhone

I recently pre-ordered an album on iTunes. One track was supposed to be instantly downloaded. I hit check for available downloads and the song showed up in my iTunes library, but grayed out with a dotted circle to its left. However, I just looked on my iPhone and the song is on the device and I can play the song. The songs I purchase automatically sync to my iPhone but I don't understand how to get the song to show up and be able to be played on my computer in iTunes. Thanks for your help!
EDIT: Somehow the problem fixed itself. Sorry for posting the question in haste. Maybe iTunes was just syncing or something. Anyways, glad it's working.
Message was edited by: mch93

You can transfer purchases from your phone or delete & redownload the song from your computer.
Open iTunes Store > Purchased (in the Quick Links section on the right)

Previous downloaded Icloud songs are grayed out and won't play on the computer or download to my Ipod ???

I know this is probably a frequent question but I am having trouble finding a solid solution. I had Icloud songs on my computer but recently they went gray and won't play or download to my Ipod. Any help???

Hi sweatt,
Welcome to Apple Support Communities.
You may find these steps helpful for resolving the issue you're encountering:
iTunes Store: Troubleshooting iTunes Match
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts4054
Songs containing DRM (Digital Rights Management) may not appear, or may appear grayed out in iCloud. This can occur if your computer is not authorized for playback of that content. Try authorizing your computer, then manually update iTunes Match.
To determine what Apple ID your computer needs to be authorized for, locate and select the song in your iTunes library.
Choose File > Get Info.
In the Summary tab, locate the Account Name field in the right column and write it down.
Click OK.
Choose Store > Authorize this Computer.
Type in the account name from the Summary field and its password. Click Authorize.
Choose Store > Update iTunes Match.
Best,
Jeremy

ITunes loses my library and playlists for no apparent reason!

I opened up my iTunes today, and my library and playlists are not there! This is the second time it's happened in the last week. The last time I solved it by doing: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1967 and it worked temporarily, but it was my old-old playlists and stuff. What can I do to get my most recent library and playlists back? I see them in my folder....why is iTunes not connecting with my folder? I hope you can help.

Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash
Hopefully it's not been too long since you last upgraded iTunes, in fact if you get an empty/incomplete library immediately after upgrading then with the following steps you shouldn't lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping. Note that in iTunes 11 an "empty" library may show your past purchases with links to stream or download them.
In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these and copy it into the iTunes folder. Rename iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl and then rename the restored file as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. Should all be good, bar any recent additions to or deletions from your library.
Alternatively, depending on exactly when and why the library went missing, there may be a more recent .tmp file in the main iTunes folder that can be renamed as iTunes Library.itl to restore the library to a recent state.
See iTunes Folder Watch for a tool to catch up with any changes since the backup file was created.
When you get it all working make a backup!
Should you be in the unfortunate position where you are no longer able to access your original library, or a backup of it, then see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
I've noticed more of these missing library posts of late and a common factor to most since I started asking is AVG Anti-Virus. It seems in some cases it might be at least part of the reason why the library file disappears. Try excluding the iTunes folder from any AV scanning process.
tt2

Has anyone had thier Itunes wiped for no apparent reason since the new ios?

All of my music and books were deleted from my Iphone 5. Any help? Will anything else do that if it wasn't the above? There was also an Itunes upgrade

Any iTunes purchases can be redownloaded.
For Music: Open iTunes > More > Purchased > Music
For Books: Open iBooks > Store > Purchased
Anything that wasn't purchased from iTunes will need to be resynced from your computer.

Running out of disk space for no apparent reason

My system drive is almost full but I can't find the files that are causing the problem. When I add up the numbers they only come up to 55GB and I have 120GB drive with only 6GB available.

How much available space do you see when you right click on your hard disk (usually Macintosh HD) and use Get Info?
How does that compare to the free space at  > About This Mac > More Info… > Storage?
If there is a large difference it could be Time Machine snapshots that can use up to 80% of your disk. This is not a problem, it is a feature. To gain the disk space back, plug in your Time Machine disk and run a backup.
See The Storage Display: http://pondini.org/OSX/LionStorage.html .
Also see:
Where did my disk space go: http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html
and Time Machine FAQ, What are Local Snapshots: http://pondini.org/TM/30.html .
If it is not Time Machine snapshots or you otherwise want more disk space then see which files you can clean up, remove or offload.
See https://discussions.apple.com/message/24012341#24012341 .

Songs are "greyed out"

i loaded songs on this ipod (belongs to my friend) from my itunes. now she's not able to play these songs and the songs are "greyed out" in the playlist i created.

I plugged in my device (iPhone 4) and went to file, next go to the devices section and click transfer purchases from device section (it will have your devices name) then wait patiently. All my songs went from grey to black and were synced onto my phone. I really hoped this helped and didn't just magically work for me!
~gabi

All sogs on ipod grayed out in iTunes

Greetings.
After connecting my iPod to a pc the iPod is updated with songs but all songs are grayed out and can not be selected or played in Itunes. Not sure why this happening or if I should expect it to happen but thought I'd ask what might be causing this.
Thanks.
alan

Matt, they're grayed out and the lock is shown when you have your iPod set to Automatic updating in iPod Options, the default. If you wish to set this process to Manual, they won't be gray and the lock will go away.
Automatic updating makes the iPod/iTunes experience much better, however, in my opinion.

Songs are graying out in iTunes playlist for no apparent reason

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for