Q: I have deleted my Recently Added folder from iTunes and am wondering if you could tell me, if I can get it back again on my iTunes?
– Holly
A: There’s actually nothing particularly special about the Recently Added playlist in iTunes. It is actually simply a Smart Playlist that iTunes provides by default, and you can easily re-create it with the same settings, or even tweak these settings to your own preferences.
Simply choose File, New Smart Playlist from the iTunes menu. A new Smart Playlist creation dialog box will appear. Fill it in as shown:
When done, click OK, and name it “Recently Added.” Note that you can easily change the settings above as well to your own preferences. For example, if you want your Recently Added playlist to contain more or fewer tracks, simply change the “Date Added” from the standard setting of 4 weeks to whatever your actual preference is. Other criteria can also be added to limit your selection in other ways, such as only selecting tracks from a certain genre, only those tracks that have not been listened to recently, or a specific number or duration of tracks.
Feel free to experiment with the Recently Added Smart Playlist or even create other ones. It’s a great way to organize the music in your iTunes library automatically and is one of the most powerful features found in iTunes.