Where is option to have side bar in iTunes 12 ?

I agree with the comments on this post. Apple have gone crazy with the design of their software now. I recently downgraded from OS X Yosemite to OS X Lion. The whole system just feels nice to use, feels more solid and more lifelike. The new software Apple is spewing up is just an attack on the senses. No longer are they simp and minimalistic, instead they're moving from a place of fear; we must always be on top. No, stop Apple. You were best when you didn't try so hard. The underdog always enjoys the ride on the backseat.

So the sidebar that gcraig121366 posted above looks very similar to mine except his/hers has a lot more items than mine does.

For me, I had accidentally closed out of my sidebar, and I'm like how do I get it back. And I figured it out where I just had go to view and click on "show sidebar."

Also, because of certain changes that may happen due to updates, it's why I literally never update anything unless it has to do with my computer or something. I have iTunes updates where it says download only or download and update. I'm like: "no thanks," and close out of that stuff.

And I understand this post was 2 years ago, but as a heads up/warning & if you own an iPhone, do Not update it the most recent iOS 11 version because there's been multiple people who have LOST their contacts from that update and there have been a couple people who had also Lost their Contacts even when backed up in Cloud. It happened to my mom where she lost her contacts after updating, so I did some research & I don't remember exactly how, but I do remember somehow getting her contacts back. But it will delete your contact 'library' (don't know a better term) in your phone. Recommend: Adding contacts into an address book template on Excel (if you have it)-This way you have an extra back-up of your friends and family numbers.

I too spent time looking for the sidebar and then cursed.

Is Ivy really designing everything? Can they relegate him to Hardware and start interviewing for software?

Click on Playlists.

Duh. Of course. Thanks!

Although ... why Playlists has 'Devices' and 'Libraries' in it (along with Playlists) doesn't make complete sense to me, but I"ll take it.

yeah, but playlist ain't sidebar. something is rotten at apple. first it was the idiotic design of notification center took away some useful function many people relied on

How do you add your All-Day calendar events to Notification Center in iOS 7?

now NC in ios 8 is much better, but they still have not fixed the problem.

then it's the protruding camera, what the ****? then there was the botched release of ios 8.0.1, and now this?

what's wrong with sidebar? it is fast and efficient, especially if you are familiar with your library and devices.

I want to be able to view my entire music library on the Sidebar in Column Browser so I can sort the content by any tag I wish and then move content to my iPod or a Playlist on my iPod on the Sidebar. It appears that in the Playlist View, the iTunes Library view is by Albums. Has anyone figured out a way around that?

I found my own answer for those who are interested. From the "Playlist View" with Library -> Music selected in the Sidebar on the left, notice that "Albums" is the default in the menu bar at the far right. There is a drop-down selection arrow there. Click that and select "Songs" to put the library view back in "Column Browser" view. Very cumbersome to set up, but it does appear that iTunes 12 will re-open to your last view so hopefully I don't have to go thru all those clicks every time.

PLEASE Apple, return the classic/traditional sidebar. It is much more useful to see all devices, playlists, etc. in one place to quickly monitor and change between items.

Related, and a worse issue, I sure hope Apple fixes the screw-up from whichever recent update that has for the past few weeks kept all 4 of my devices from showing up in iTunes unless they are plugged in. (This is now true in the previously available sidebar and in the new style.)

For years until a few weeks ago, all devices always showed up in the sidebar, and I was able to sync them wirelessly. (Regardless of whether the device was plugged into a power source or not). Now, I can only see them in iTunes and can only sync them if I plug them in.

A helpful tech support individual last week walked me through a number of diagnostics, and had me reinstall iTunes (pre-12), as well as restore all devices. All to no avail. So, his conclusion is that there is a problem with a recent update.

Thanks for sharing this. If I hadn't found it, my Mac, my iPhone, and my iPad would have been on Craigslist by end of day.

I can't find my iPhone device on the iTunes.

Clicking playlists allows me to get back to that 10.7 feel I love on my PC, but the stupid artists list demands to be on the top now. Really hoping they'd fix this and GIVE US THE OPTION to have this stuff back.

jtboik - You have the Column Browser enabled. Command + B will hide it.

iTunes never made sense to me, so that you have to go to Music, then click "Playlist" in order to enable sidebar for all other tabs in iTunes 12 is a mere incremental nonsense. Still, I have to congratulate Apple for upping this hide-and-seek game to an extreme. Thanks for sharing the tips.

Apple needs to return the functionality back to the sidebar. Being able to have the "look" of the sidebar is of little use without the full functionality. Is the problem that the sidebar is difficult to use with a touch screen? Is Apple going to fall into the same trap that Microsoft did with Windows 8?