Q: Move playlists from iPhone to iTunes

I am having trouble following these instructions,  of course I am using the latest itunes (v 12) and with each rev they **** it up more and this is from an ancient time when itunes sort of worked.    To Be CLEAR:  The Playlists that I CREATED ON MY IPHONE  D O    N O T   S H O W   U P  anywhere   in the big master playlist in ITUNES on my LAPTOP.  So I don't see how I can "SELECT the playlist I want"  because IF IT WAS THERE I wouldn't have a problem to begin with.    

W H E N YOU T Y P E IN ALL CAPS and space letters out IT IS M O R E important!!!

To Be CLEAR:  The Playlists that I CREATED ON MY IPHONE  D O    N O T   S H O W   U P  anywhere   in the big master playlist in ITUNES on my LAPTOP.

Because Y O U have not selected the iPhone in iTunes to see the playlists on the iPhone.

You CANNOT transfer PLAYLISTS between Apple devices. Backup and restore is only for content. You have to purchase 3rd party software to transfer PLAYLISTS. This is why the 3rd party software was developed. Apple won't support it.

As covered elsewhere in this thread you should be able to export a playlist from a device, and then import it using iTunes. I've also a written a free Windows script that can copy over all playlists at once.

tt2

With Windows 10 and 6th generation iPod you can not import a playlist. I can export a playlist from my gen 4 iPod with no problem. When I tried to import the playlist it will not do it.

Hmm, I can export existing playlists that are on my iPhone 6+ to XML, then import those. However I am currently subscribed to iCloud Music Library on the phone. A freshly made playlist on the device does not show up in the list of playlists on the device when viewed through iTunes on my main library, but when signing into my test iCloud Music library the new playlist appeared automatically as the library was refreshed. You cannot sync an iOS device that has iCloud Music Library enabled. My guess is the original library is preserved somewhere in case you choose to turn iCloud Music Library off, and iTunes connects to that version of the library rather than the iCloud version.

tt2

Why does it have to be so bloody complicated? It should be as simple as click playlist> drag and drop into library..

iTunes is generally a pain in the *** to use..

Hi Chris,

What what happens if the playlist is not being updated.  for example, I can see the playlist listed on itunes but the song list is not the same as the songs on my iphone.  I had removed some playlists on my phone and removed songs from some playlists but it still does not seem to be updating in itunes.  therefore, even when I export them it won't be what I want.  thanks for any help you can give!

John

Chris CAJul 1, 2012 2:28 PM Re: Move playlists from iPhone to iTunes
Re: Move playlists from iPhone to iTunesin response to MelissaLynD

Connect the iPhone and select it in iTunes.

Click the gray disclosure triangle the left of the iPhone name in iTunes.

Select the playlist you want on the iPhone then right click - Export...

Save it as .xml file on the desktop.

Then iTunes menu File > Library > Import playlist and select the .xml file you saved on the desktop.

You can delete the .xml file on the desktop.

MargDawgMay 27, 2013 12:43 PM Re: Move playlists from iPhone to iTunes
Re: Move playlists from iPhone to iTunesin response to Pandonodrim

I also couldn't find 'import playlist' under Library, but I discovered that if you click on the little rectangles in the top left corner of iTunes and select 'show menu bar', then a full menu appears, and under THAT menu, you can find import playlist if you go to File > Library > Import Playlist. Hope that helps!

UPDATE: This library "show menu bar" worked for me to export playlists from my old iphone. Whereas the previous answer method from Chris didn't allow a "right click to export" in my 2015 iTunes. Now I've imported playlists to my iTunes, but got the error message that not all songs could be included as they were apparently no longer in my iTunes library. So, I'm hoping I can reload them from my computer without having to repurchase. Thanks for this though.

Ahhh ... thanks for posting this Edit by MargDawg!

While Chris' instructions seemed great, right clicking on my iphone's playlists would only show; Play, Shuffle, Play Next, and Add to Up Next...no ability to save the playlist from that menu.

Accessing the "show menu bar" was what I needed to export my iphone's playlists to my PC, then import them back into itunes.

These steps are not available with iTunes 12.3.1 anyone know steps for newer iTunes versions??

Select the playlist on the iPhone.

iTunes menu File > Library > Export playlist...

First, I manually manage my music.  When I selected the option to sync my music then select "Selected playlists, artists, albums and genres" - I received a message to clear all playlist music on my iPod.  I didn't like that as I have quite a few personalized playlists I've created in my iPhone 6s.  After reading several posts, I did the following;

1. Connect iPhone - via the cable - to iTunes.
2. Select the iPhone icon at in the iTunes window.
3. Scroll down to the playlists on the iPhone.
4. Select the playlist you'd like to sync to your iTunes.
5. From the iTunes File menu, select:
   • File -> Library -> Export Playlist
6. At the bottom of the iTunes save window, change the format to "XML" and select "Desktop" as the file destination - lefthand side of the screen.
7. Press the "Save" button.
8. Now in iTunes, select the music icon.
9. From the iTunes File menu, select:
   • File -> Library -> Import Playlist

That's it!

Thank you so much !!! I just got an new phone and only wanted a select playlist on the new phone as not to clog it up with 8ish years of music, but unfortunately the playlist was on my old phone not laptop. I have managed to get the playlist on my laptop so now i can sync it to the new iPhone !!

Hi

This sounds logical but sadly does not work -- and I have to admit that I can barely contain my fury (and I really mean it) at Apple for the ridiculous mess they have created with iTunes. If there is one thing that I would say, having spent literally $100, 000's over the years, being an Apple developer and overall fan boy -- even with this I hate iTunes with an unholy passion.

This is one reason why.

Sooooo - when out and about, I often revise playlists and even add some new ones -- I then want to pass these back to iTunes on my iMac, reconcile them and so on. Is this freaking impossible to do? WHYYYYY? With freaking iTunes 12.4, I cannot see the new playlists in iTunes that are clearly shown in the Phone. ***.

Soooo - I used to be able to backup to the computer and the playlist would appear and I could edit and change them there -- in the case of anime conflict, it would append a "1" (for example blues for car and blues for car1. where the later is from the phone). No longer. Do these people ever actually use their products? arrrggg.

Please don't say that I should export after selecting because, as others have said, I cannot select something I CANNOT SEE.

Sorry for the all caps but I really done with this foolishness.

S