How to delete ITunes U files from Ipod?

Do you sync automatically, or do you manually manage content on the iPod (drag and drop to iPod in sidebar)?

If you sync automatically, select your iPod in the iTunes sidebar, under DEVICES. Over to the right, select the iTunes U tab. On that tab, set up how you want to sync iTunes U content. For example, you can have it automatically add unplayed content and remove played content. You can have it include only selected Collections and even specific iTunes U "episodes." The settings for iTunes U automatic syncing are all right there, and you can make them as general or as specific as you want.

If you manually manage content, select the iPod in the iTunes sidebar, and drop down the iTunes media categories (indented UNDER the iPod). Select iTunes U. Over to the right, you will see the currently loaded iTunes U content. Select anything you want to remove, and hit the Delete key.

I think some iTunes U content may appear under Podcasts or even under Music. Actually... You said the "genre" was iTunes U, on the iPod. If iTunes U did not exist as a separate category when your iPod model was designed, iTunes U content may get organized under an existing category, such as Podcasts or Music.

There is no setting to reveal it. A media category is there if the the iPod currently has content in that category.

So check the other categories (intented under the iPod in iTunes) to find those iTunes U items.

I just want to make sure I'm understanding the problem...

You can find the podcasts on the iPod. You find them by going through the "genre" path. So it's probably something like Music -> Genre -> iTunes U on the iPod's screen.

You manage content on the iPod manually, which means you drag content to the iPod in iTunes. You don't use the Sync button to load content. This also means that content on the iPod right now does NOT necessarily have to be in the iTunes library. If you automatically sync, then all content on the iPod must also be in your iTunes library, but not if you manually manage content.

With that in mind, if you are searching for the iTunes U content in your iTunes library, it may not be there. That might explain why your searches come up empty.

To find the iTunes U content on the iPod (using iTunes), select the iPod in the iTunes sidebar, and drop down the iTunes media categories (indented UNDER the iPod). If the path for finding iTunes U content (on the iPod) is

Music -> Genre -> iTunes U

click on Music indented under the iPod. Over to the right, sort the list by Genre. See if iTunes U is there; if you are sorting by Genre, they should all be grouped together. If you find them, you can delete them from that list. Select the item and hit the Delete key. You can select multiple items at once.

You are managing content manually, so deleting an item there deletes it from the iPod.

The images are a bit pixelated, but...

On the first image that shows the Summary tab, if you go over to the right (on the "bar") and click on iTunes U, what does that show? If you are managing content manually, it does not matter for what you currently have on the iPod, but it may help solve the problem to know.

On the second image, I'm guessing your iPod model was designed before Apple classified iTunes U content as a separate category. So on the iPod, iTunes U does not show up as a separate category (indented under iPod). In the image, I think the categories shown under iPod are

Music

Movies

TV Shows

Podcasts

Books

In my iTunes library, older iTunes U content from a few years ago appears under Podcasts. Before iTunes U became a separate category, they where probably categorized as podcasts. Did you look click on Podcasts under the iPod and check the listing there?

Again, since you manage content manually, it does not matter for what you currently have on your iPod, but in that last image showing the iTunes U tab, under Collections, are all of your iTunes U content listed there? That list reflects what you currently have in your computer's iTunes library, not what you currently have on your iPod.

So... if everything is there, AND all of your other iTunes media like songs and videos are also in your computer's iTunes library (so there is nothing that is currently on your iPod that is NOT in your computer's iTunes library), as a way to get around this mystery, you can set your iPod to sync automatically (instead of managing content manually). Automatic syncing is really the way an iPod was indented to be used; the main reason for managing content manually is if the user wants to keep stuff on the iPod that is NOT in the computer's iTunes library.

To use automatic syncing, you would set up those "tabs" that go across the window (to the right of Summary) to tell iTunes what to sync to the iPod from your iTunes library. Any change you make in iTunes that is part of your sync settings (on those tabs) will automatically sync to the iPod when you connect it (or when you click the sync button).

On the iTunes U tab, you can get very specific on how to sync that content. For example, you can have it automatically remove viewed content and add new content. You can include all iTunes U "collections" or be specific down to individual "items." So, you can achieve what you want, which is to delete content you have already watched (and add new content) without doing it manually.

But don't do this if there is currently stuff on the iPod that is NOT in your computer's iTunes library.

edsmalls, did you ever get a solution to it. It's extremely frustrating!!

I have tried adding the files from my ipod to a playlist then when I dock my ipod to the computer and view via itunes I can then see the files. Deleting them will only delete them from the playlist. I have also tried reclassifying them as Music or some other media content that I can view and manage easy but I do not have control over the content.

Interested to know if you have gotten any further on this one!

I have exactly the same problem ITunes U videos eating up half the space on my iPod and no way to delete them!

Grr.

If you use automatic syncing to load your iPod (not "manual"), so everything on your iPod is in your computer's iTunes library, the easiest solution would be to do a Restore on the iPod (using iTunes). This will erase your iPod's storage, eliminating any data corruption issues that may be causing your problem. When the restore process completes, you can automatically re-sync content back onto the iPod (minus those iTunes U videos).

NOTE: If you are using automatic syncing, make sure you have iTunes U syncing set up properly in iTunes, to NOT include syncing those videos. If you load content manually (by dragging and dropping items onto the iPod in iTunes), you have to manually delete items you no longer want on the iPod.

All you need to do is the following:

1. Select iTunes U tab from your ipod in itunes

2. Check the box next to "Sync iTunes U" at the top

3. Make sure the box next to "Automatically include" is UNCHECKED

4. Select any course; check every box in the right menu.

5. Click "Apply" at the bottom right of screen.

***If you notice the percent of your videos may increase (at the bottom of the screen that shows the percentage of your music and videos, etc.), don't worry because after it is done syncing it will fix itself.

6. Look at your ipod menu on the left toolbar...iTunes U should show up. At this point you can sync all courses and they will appear in this menu.

7. NOW you can delete them.

For some reason it doesn't work to sync automatically, so if you have a lot of courses, then it ***** for a bit, but at least you don't need to erase your entire ipod.