How can I get my Recently Added back to how it was before I reset? Also, is there any way to sort a playlist by the numbering (i.e. 1, 2, 3)?

See Restore Original Smart Playlists to see the original set of rules. Smart playlists can update themselves as you add content to the library, or when you play, rate, edit tags etc. The order can be changed by clicking on the various column headings. Clicking the heading for the left most column of numbers in a playlist shows the Play Order. This can be manually adjusted by dragging files up and down the list. This is the order that gets synced to your device. If you have the list sorted on a different column you can right-click on the playlist name in the sidebar and click Copy to Play Order.

If you want those 13 songs in a specific order use a regular playlist rather than a smart one, drag them into it, and change the order if necessary.

tt2

No idea, the current order is probably an accident caused by the order in which the files were imported to the library. You could try sorting on the other column headings to see if one matches the current order.

tt2

lil9lovely3 wrote:

For Recently Added, all of my songs were in there. I imported my playlists and most were back to normal. However, the first 13 songs in my Recently Added were the same as before I reset my computer, which I found really odd, so I figured that they were sorted somehow for that to happen--they had to be. The rest of the songs were all of my other songs.

A smart playlist like "Recently Added" is based on the date that a track is added to your library. Since you erased your computer and re-built your library from scratch, all your tracks are considered "recently added" because iTunes assigned a new date to each song as it was re-added to your library.

Instead of re-building your library from scratch, and re-importing certain playlists you had saved, it might've been better to have simply recovered your "iTunes Library.itl" file. That is the index that points to where all your song files are, and contains all your playlists, and has properties such as ratings, last played date, and date added. As long as the native files for your songs are in the same place, you could re-use your "iTunes Library.itl" file if you saved a copy before you erased your computer (always back that file up along with your native files, the .itl file IS your library).

As far as why the Recently Added playlist starts with 13 particular songs, then proceeds with the rest of all your songs in alphabetic order, it is possible that either you (or iTunes) started adding the songs back with the 13 most recent songs you had previously added to your library before it was erased, and once those were added then things proceeded by artist in alphabetical order. Not sure, but there's really nothing you can do about that other than replace your .itl file with the original version if you still have it somewhere.

Indeed rockmyplimsoul's idea is a good one if you backed up the entire iTunes folder. Either way for the future see this backup tip.

tt2