iTunes 12.2 restoring column view for playlists and removing cover art

The LAST column view (horizontal layout) was 10.7. I was automatically updated and stuck with the difficult vertical view until recently when iTunes did away with “Grouping”. Grouping is my main tool. I use it to group my 30,000 songs into playlists as well as to tag my favorites. Luckily I kept a clean install of 10.7. and keep “check for new software automatically” turned off.

Hi Roseafton,

You know column view (now called Songs) and Grouping are still available, right? They're no longer part of the default display, but you can reset that, so as to get back to something that looks familiar. You have to do it manually, one playlist at a time.

For column view in the main window, you select Songs in the sidebar. In playlists, it's a menu selection: View > View As... > Songs. For Grouping, you Control-click (or two-finger tap, or however you like to do it) on the row of column headers: Name, Artist, Album etc. A long list of options pops up, and you select whatever categories you want to see.

Cheers

Hi Neil,

So I literally just created a new playlist in my iTunes account where it defaulted my playlist to a view I didn't like.

So the type of view I prefer is when it's categorized by "songs." Because as I'm reading other answers, there was something about an "options," button but I couldn't find one.

Then, I had gone to "view," and I also clicked on "view as," and there was a list of playlists, songs, artists, genres, albums and a couple more. And I'm not positive but I think the old default view would be considered as "songs," where to me it seems like you can see everything at once.

Richard Grant's helpful advice from 2015 no longer seems to apply (there is no downarrow under the search bar, nor under the iTunes menu bar for View is the option available!).. There is no column browser by which I can select which columns to show, reduce their width, and rearrange them to be easier to edit and select. This has been a feature of iTunes since the beginning, which I have used in editing & arranging lessons. Any change without notice severely compromises the product, particularly since so many recordings are already archived ~TED OLSSON

If you are in the Songs view then View > Column Browse > Show Column Browser should work. In 12.7 it defaults to 3 rows, it isn't clear that it can be enlarged, and the change is forgotten when you switch playlists. 😮😕

tt2

THANK YOU! This is the new answer under iTunes 12.2. To get an editable Column Browser, under the iTunes menu bar's View, select SONGS. As leelovesmusic and peite advise: Press CMD + J for 'View Options' and in 'Show as:' choose 'Songs'. Thanks again, community. Perhaps Apple should advertise/promote this under Help. ~TED

When you're looking at the playlist in iTunes, there should be a drop-down menu in the upper right corner of the window (just beneath the Search bar). This may say "Playlist" but in any case it's got a little down-arrow beside it. Click on that menu and select "Songs."

You can change the column options with Menu > View > Column Browser, but the only way I've found to access the Comments field is by selecting an individual track and then Cmd-I (or File > Get Info).

I hope this is what you need. Every time there's a new iTunes update, I have to relearn how to do old stuff like this. (I use the Grouping field to add data for use in smart playlists and the like.)

Thanks, very helpful.

Yep, this is frustrating me too. As Richard Grant says, every iTunes upgrade now means having to relearn basic stuff and for me this usually ends up with finding out that it actually isn't as flexible as before, or that more clicks, or digging into sub-menus, is required for something that used to be easy. So every time we create a playlist we have to go to a flip menu and select that song view option? It's as if burying view options in a flippy menu wasn't annoying people enough, Apple thought right, what else can we do to make iTunes less friendly...

For others who are frustrated with iTunes, you can always leave your comments here - not sure it will make any difference, but it makes me feel better!

https://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html

You CAN show "Comments" as a column. Once you've flipped the playlist view to "Songs", right-click on the column headers. You should see a selection list of all the available columns. Comments is in there.

I totally agree , why changing all the times something that was working perfectly well ? i hate the way they changed selections of tunes to hear sound 2 years ago. I am not against evolution, but please let the users to choose when to migrate to new presentation modes instead of imposing them. For every single new version since 2 years , i had to google or spend frustrating time in menus to find the way to get to what i want . And i am not talking the no-more-working nice features like home sharing and airplay .

Hey software guys at apple : Do you consult users prior to do what you think are improvements ?

Thank You so much!!!! This helped me a great Deal 🙂 !!!!

Thanks

totally agree with you, those'' innovations'' comes more complex & unnecessary with the excuse of evolution , simplicity is the point, APPLE Team!