Missing Playlists on Mac

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Level 1

8 points

Missing Playlists on Mac

Hi

I hope someone can help me recover all my playlists. I have spent many years building them and with over 10,000 songs in my library I really don't want to start again from scratch.

I lost them after I recently restored my Mac after problems with upgrading to Big Sur. I have time machine backups prior to the restore and have restored my music from these, but this didn't work as I had hoped. I have all my songs in Music but I don't have any of my playlists (or ratings, loved/unloved, notes etc)

I have Music on my Mac but I am not a subscriber. I still have my playlists on my iPad and iPhone.

Many thanks in advance for any help you can give me with this.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.2

Posted on Mar 7, 2021 10:41 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

turingtest2

Level 10

273,115 points

Mar 12, 2021 9:04 AM in response to TraceyK27

See Empty/corrupt iTunes/Music library after upgrade/crash - Apple Community. Your playlists would be stored in your Music Library.musiclibrary file. Can you restore a suitable copy from Time Machine from before this incident?

tt2

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Answer 2

ryane77

Community Specialist

Mar 9, 2021 10:24 AM in response to TraceyK27

Hi TraceyK27,

We understand you're missing playlists within the Music app on your Mac after the Big Sur upgrade, but the music content has been restored.

If your macOS is now up to date, follow the steps in this link to locate and restore your iTunes Library file, which may include the settings and playlists previously arranged:

Change where your iTunes files are stored on Mac

This will require a backup previously saved as you mentioned are available through Time Machine.

Recover files using Time Machine and Spotlight on Mac

Thanks for posting in the Apple Support Communities forum.

Enjoy your week!

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Answer 3

TraceyK27 Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 12, 2021 8:56 AM in response to ryane77

Hi Ryane77

Thank you for your advice. Unfortunately it hasn't worked.

My music still doesn't have any playlists or ratings or loved. The songs are all there, but none of the customisation I have done over the last 10 years or so.

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Answer 4

TraceyK27 Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 12, 2021 9:42 AM in response to turingtest2

Hi turingtest2

You're an absolute Hero.

I came out of Music and emptied my music folder and then copied all my songs back into it.

I then followed your advice to press the option(alt) button as I opened up Music and selected my old library and everything seems to be back to how I want it to be.

Thank you so very much for your help. You're a star.

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Answer 5

turingtest2

Level 10

273,115 points

Mar 12, 2021 11:27 AM in response to TraceyK27

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2

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Missing Playlists on Mac

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