How can I back up or export my playlists?

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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.

Next: How can I fix an AOL conflict with iTunes?

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)