How do I sort playlists by track number?

Question

Level 1

19 points

How do I sort playlists by track number?

iTunes 12, Windows 10. How do I sort the songs within a playlist by track number? There are sort options for "manually order", "name", "title" etc, but not for "track number". "Track number" was there in earlier versions of iTunes, but not this one.

Note that the track numbers exist, and are correct, in the overall Music Library.

This happened after importing songs and playlists to a new computer; after the import, the tracks were rearranged in a large number of my playlists.

I have a large collection of audio books, too many to re-sort manually track by track.

Suggestions?

Windows 8

Posted on Aug 30, 2015 8:11 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 22, 2017 7:32 AM in response to carmendog99

Thanks carmendog99.

Why the heck Apple keeps moving the useful-to-over-second-graders controls in iTunes is a continuing mystery.

Maybe as a mental exercise to keep our minds plastic. But my iTunes-fu is strong enough; I come to it to relax, not stretch my brain.

Thanks again for this useful tip that reveals all the sorting headers in playlist view once again.

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Answer 2

Aug 30, 2015 8:20 PM in response to nniko777

On the right side of the iTunes Window you will see "Songs". Click on this, then on Show Columns and then click on Track Number to add that column to your list. Once it is added you can sort by it:

Cheers,

GB

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Answer 3

nniko777 Author

Level 1

19 points

Aug 30, 2015 8:42 PM in response to gail from maine

Thanks, Gail, but I'm not asking about sorting by track number within "My Music", but within a Playlist. I couldn't even get the track number to show up at all within a playlist.

After I posted the question, I tried restoring the previous version of my music library by copying the library file from the "Previous iTunes Libraries" directory over the current library file. Strangely enough, that fixed it. Not only were the songs in my playlists back in the original order (by track number, as I had set them up), but the old playlist sorting options including "track number" were showing up again. Also, the track numbers are showing up within playlists again. Things got badly changed after importing my old songs & playlists onto the new computer, but restoring the old backup library file fixed it all. Very weird.

The question now is, what changed the list of options for sorting within a playlist??? (Not to mention, why it spontaneously decided to rearrange many of my playlists?) If it decides to start omitting "track number" from the list again for mysterious reasons, what options are there for getting it back other than a library restore from backup???

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Answer 4

Aug 30, 2015 8:43 PM in response to nniko777

Well, my Playlists have the exact same windows as the ones I showed you in My Music. Not sure what might have happened to make your disappear. Sorry, but I just have no clue about that..... 😟

Best of luck,

GB

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Answer 5

ewyear

Level 1

4 points

May 18, 2016 9:56 PM in response to gail from maine

In order for the "Show Columns" option to be visible, the "Songs" grouping option needs to be selected. This may not be the default in your playlist. If it's not, then you first need to select "Songs." Then, you'll need to click on the grouping dropdown again. At this point, you should see something similar to gail from maine's screenshot above.

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Answer 6

Jun 11, 2016 9:15 AM in response to nniko777

I was experiencing the same problem, and the dropdown with the indicated "songs" option does not appear in my iTunes. I found that I could achieve the same result by going to the top menu and selecting View -> View As -> Songs. That caused headers to appear on my playlist. Then I could right click the headers and select Track Number to add that column. Finally, click the column header for Track Number to sort.

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Answer 7

MiloL

Level 1

4 points

Jul 31, 2017 2:03 PM in response to carmendog99

THANK YOU carmendog99!!!! As a long-time user of Windows, this was totally mystifying to me.....now I know what to do! What a BLESSING you are!

An old guy in Surf City USA.

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