Reordering playlists manually

Article

Reordering playlists manually

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.

View the complete Ask iLounge archives...

Q: I can’t seem to move songs around within certain playlists. Is there a song limit for playlists? It seems that in a longer playlist I can’t rearrange songs but in shorter ones I can. Any suggestions?

- John

A: To be able to manually re-order songs in a playlist, you must not be sorting the playlist in any way and you must not have Shuffle mode enabled for that playlist. A sorted or shuffled playlist cannot be manually reordered since either of these settings specify a pre-determined order for the tracks in the playlist.

You can tell if you are sorting the playlist by another column simply by looking at the column headings—the current sort column will be highlighted in blue.

To return the playlist to its natural “unsorted” order, simply click on the left-most column heading, above the first number column. This column heading will turn blue and the playlist will return to its default order.

Further, the Shuffle option is set on a per-playlist basis rather than globally, so you should ensure that this is turned off as well. You can check this by looking at the buttons in the bottom-right corner of the iTunes window. If Shuffle mode is enabled for the current playlist, the Shuffle button will be highlighted in blue:

Simply click on the Shuffle button to disable Shuffle mode. As an aside, Shuffle mode also behaves a bit differently depending on whether you are sorting the playlist by another column or not. When the playlist is not sorted, enabling Shuffle will actually re-arrange the track listing into a random order, while disabling Shuffle will return the tracks to their original order. When sorting the playlist by another column, however, enabling or disabling Shuffle mode leaves the playlist displayed in its sorted order, however when Shuffle is on the tracks will actually play back in a random order.

Once you are sorting the playlist by its natural sort order, you can then reorganize the tracks as desired simply by selecting a track and dragging up or down in the playlist to change its position.

If you want to reorganize the tracks from a sorted or shuffled order you can copy the currently-displayed track order to the default play order simply by sorting the playlist how you would like, and then right-clicking on it in iTunes and choosing “Copy to Play Order” from the pop-up menu. You can then click on the left-most column heading to return to the default play order, and the tracks will remain in the same order as they were previously shuffled or sorted in.

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:

5-17-13: Calendar info disappears after iCloud restore

5-16-13: Remove old iCloud backup after restoring to a new iPhone

5-15-13: Setting up a ringtone in iTunes

5-14-13: Using a Wi-Fi hard drive with an iPad

5-13-13: Backing up and restoring an iPod classic

View the complete Ask iLounge archives...

« iPod touch video accessories

Organizing iPhone apps »

Comments

1

On the ipod touch..do you have to suscribe to a monthly account fee through apple to access the internet/email like you do on phones with limited minutes etc

Posted by William E. English on November 25, 2008 at 9:13 AM (PST)

2

my ipod classic displays all the songs i have on it but not all the artists - any ideas how to fis

thx

Posted by tony diamond on November 27, 2008 at 7:18 AM (PST)

3

I have an ipod nano 1st gen 4GB. I want to update to the new one and give my old ipod to my sister. Will she be able to keep the music that is downloaded on it or will it delete the music when she connects to itunes.

Posted by Terri on December 5, 2008 at 12:05 PM (PST)

4

I just got a new ipod for christmas and i plugged it into my computer and everything and i was trying to sync songs to it ... it wasnt really working though and it was saying there was no device to synce to so i click the “Removable Disk” icon on the task bar, near the time, and i “formatted” it? i dont but now everytime i disconnect my ipod from any computer it resets completely

Posted by mimi on December 30, 2008 at 2:24 PM (PST)

5

Ipod won’t sink. After being restored. the itunes does not recognize the ipod

Posted by Darryl Steinhauser on December 31, 2008 at 8:47 AM (PST)

6

My Ipod is stuck on the apple logo and will stay stuck there it will not let me even access the lock screen….what do i do?

Posted by Cheyanna on February 1, 2012 at 5:35 PM (PST)

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