Preserving or importing playlists into Excel

Article

Preserving or importing playlists into Excel

Ask iLounge offers readers the opportunity to get answers to their iPod-, iPhone-, iPad-, iTunes-, or Apple TV-related questions from a member of the iLounge editorial team. We'll answer several questions here each week, and of course, you can always get help with more immediate concerns from the iLounge Discussion Forums. Submit your questions for consideration using our Ask iLounge Submit Form. We reserve the right to edit questions for grammar, spelling, and length.

Q: I like to keep everything backed up on an external hard drive, but I haven’t seen a way to do this for playlists. I want to keep the playlists themselves (some are of sentimental value, e.g. from our wedding) but don’t want the actual tunes - they can stay in the library. Does iTunes store playlists in a file format anywhere on the hard disk, so I can back them up?

Alternatively, is there a simple way to export a playlist, for example to an Excel spreadsheet or database format? This may also help greatly in clearing up the clutter in my iTunes “Source” column, which is currently full of old playlists that I want to keep for future reference.

- Paul

A: There are several ways to do what you want. Take your pick:

As long as you’re backing up the iTunes Music Library files (in the “iTunes” folder you have selected), you’re backing up all playlists as well. Keep this intact, and you can restore this file along with your music in the event of library loss. Check out our Complete Guide to Backing up iPod & iTunes Music
To export a simple tab-separated text file of a playlist containing all the metadata you could ever want (track name, artist, album, filename, rating, playcount, etc.), simply right click (PC) or control-click (Mac) on the playlist name and select “Export Song List…”. This will write the file to the location of your choosing. Because this is a tab-separated file, you can easily import it into Excel.
Want to go straight to Excel without the intermediate file? Simply open a playlist in iTunes, select Edit—> Select All from the menu, and select Edit—> Copy. Then open Excel and “Paste” your data in. This is often more convenient, as you’ll only be copying the columns shown in iTunes, which are likely the ones you’d like to archive.

Enjoy!

Jerrod Hofferth is an iLounge Contributing Editor, with frequent contributions to our iPod 101 and 201 tutorials, plus occasional hardware and software product reviews. As “azdude_40gb,” he also serves as an Administrator of the iLounge Discussion Forums.

The most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I copy content from my iPod/iPhone onto my computer?

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

The Complete Guide to iPod, Apple TV and iPhone Video Formats

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Mac)

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Win)

Best Speakers?

Best Headphones?

Best Case?

Best In-Car Solution?

Best Battery Extender?

Find more answers in the latest publications in our Library. Free downloads developed by the editors of iLounge!

Ask iLounge Archives:

5-24-12: iTunes TV show size totals don’t match actual disk storage

5-23-12: Consolidating Multiple iTunes Libraries

5-22-12: Converting Purchased Videos to 1080p HD

5-21-12: Find My Friends always reports home location

5-18-12: Creating an iTunes Match library from an external hard drive

See the rest of the Archives...

« Moving playlists between iTunes accounts

Wall charging iPod minis »

Comments

If you have a comment, news tip, advertising inquiry, or coverage request, a question about iPods/iPhones/iPad or accessories, or if you sell or market iPod/iPhone/iPad products or services, read iLounge's Comments + Questions policies before posting, and fully identify yourself if you do. We will delete comments containing advertising, astroturfing, trolling, personal attacks, offensive language, or other objectionable content, then ban and/or publicly identify violators.

Recent Reviews

New Deals

Shop for Accessories: Cases, speakers, chargers, etc.

iLounge

Article