deleted songs on iphone still showing up in iphone summary when connected to itunes

Seems like a big step just to be able to do something that we should be able to do without a fuss! I don't want to have to take my phone all the way back to ground zero just to get my library in order! All I really want to do is to be able to delete a song or songs from my iPhone without them continuing to appear to still be on the phone when connecting to iTunes.! You're telling me the only way to do that is to erase all my setting and pics (that aren't backed up) by doing a restore? How do I know that will even work? If my phone is backed up to my computer (because the iCloud space isn't enough) then why would it continue to show those songs are still there because of the back-up data? How about Apple just gives us more control over this feature?!

hi guys,

i have got the same problem:

1. i've deleted some files from my iphone a long time ago

2. when i connect my iphone to itunes on my computer, itunes says i've still got them on my phone

3. itunes cant play them, because it won't find the files (the exclamation mark shows up)

4. my iphone says i haven't got any audio files on it

5. i've already deleted those files from my computer. they simply do not exist anymore

is there any way to get that straight?

Hello Abstractman23,

I understand you have deleted music from your iPhone, but when you connect the device to your iTunes library, the songs are still appearing on your iPhone. Was the album purchased from the iTunes Store or synced to your iPhone from your computer?

First of all, can you confirm that you followed these steps to delete the album from your iPhone?

Delete music, movies, apps, and other content from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Are you a member of Apple Music? If so, follow these steps to delete the music from your iCloud Music Library.

Delete songs and music videos from your iCloud Music Library

Finally, if the music was synced to your iPhone from your computer, then you can delete the album from your iTunes Library on the computer, then sync the iTunes Library to the iPhone to remove it.

iTunes 12 for Mac: Delete songs, playlists, or other items

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Is there any other way? I synced my iPhone with my computer but my computer is broken. There's no way I can delete these songs i put on my iPhone. I tried deleting but those songs keep on showing on my playlist.

Try the following all-purpose steps for dealing with erratic device or sync behaviour. They assume that all of the content you want on the device is in your library ready for restoring. If it isn't see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device first. I would also recommend you copy everything out of the camera roll if you haven't already.

1. Backup device.
2. Restore as a new device.
3. Restore the backup you made earlier.

Use an encrypted backup (*) if you want to preserve passwords, Wi-Fi settings, web history and health data where appropriate. I also suggest syncing with a selection of playlists (unless you're using iCloud Music Library) rather than manually adding content as, if nothing else, the process above is easier to do if you ever have to go through it again.

(*) The downside with backup encryption is that if you forget the password when you need it again, which could be years later, you may need to invoke a workaround to turn off encryption as shown in Re: disable encrypted backups, which can only help if your device is in a state that can backup to iCloud.

tt2

Hey I'm having the same problem, with an additional problem (I found a work around, see at the bottom). This is not erratic device behavior, this is iTunes being a buggy product. (in my opinion)

I couldn't change any of the settings on my music files while on my phone (Side question: why can't I modify/delete files from my phone using iTunes? My best guess is the file was originally put on there using a different computer, not sure). I also can't delete the song from my phone using iTunes. This is not music from iTunes. I refuse to sync (it's very annoying and a pain when you want things a specific way) and I DEFINITELY refuse to restore my phone (it REALLY ***** when iTunes decides your backup file is corrupt, then you have to start from scratch trying to remember all the apps you had downloaded) (the problem is not my phone, it's either iTunes OR the problem is iTunes can't talk to my phone correctly, still iTunes fault). So, I deleted the file on my phone using my phone.

Now I want the music file back on my phone (with the new info/settings), but nothing happens!! it won't transfer over. I assume it is because iTunes thinks the song is already on there. AAAUUGGGGHHH.... very annoying...

Workaround:

I have to physically change the name of the song on iTunes before I can transfer it to my phone. That's just ridiculous. Please fix this problem.

Using iTunes 12.7.0.166 (newest update) on a Microsoft Surface Book

iPhone 5 - iOS 10.3 (is this a known issue with 10.3?)

In an ideal world when you spend $700 on a phone you get support from the manufacturer and you don't have to worry about possibly deleting memories just to manage your song library. My iPhone is backed-up regularly just fine, but that doesn't mean that all of my settings are preserved. For that matter, the question goes unanswered as to how restoring it to a back-up would solve the problem of persistent song files appearing in iTunes. If the phone is backed up and iTunes "thinks" those song are still stored on the phone, wouldn't it just think the same thing after restoring? I did some more poking around and was finally able to achieve what I wanted with my library, but it shouldn't take so much guess work to figure it out.

I'll assume that in your case it isn't an issue of the iPhone showing cloud copies of unwanted songs from your purchase history. If you don't want to see those hide them from the purchase history or drill down into Downloaded Music first.

In an ideal world syncing your device would ensure that everything that you select to be synced is added to the device, and that anything that you have not decided to include in your sync selections is removed. Over in the real world it doesn't always work like that. Sometimes iTunes seems to get confused about what is and isn't already there and doesn't copy or remove things when it should. You can try switching the device into manually managed mode and poke around deleting things manually. Other threads have suggested diving into the file system and removing the Purchased folder from the device's storage. Sometimes these approaches work. I've tried them and found them wanting, which is why I suggest the more thoroughgoing approach.

Again, ideally, you should always be in a position that you could restore all of your data to a restored or replacement device in the case of loss, damage, or a more severe software issue. Your pictures should be routinely copied off the device or out of cloud storage. All of your media should be in an iTunes library, backed up, and you should update the device backup regularly too. Backing up to both iTunes and iCloud, or archiving your iOS backups occasionally will give you more resilience.

By all means use Feedback - iPhone - Apple to let Apple know that you want the syncing mechanism to work reliably as you would expect it to, but they tend to be slow in responding, if they do at all. In the meantime you have my suggestion. You're welcome to look for others.

tt2

For future reference, anyone having this issue with an IPod Touch.... just sync your iPod in iTunes and the deleted music will dissappear from your music playlist.

; D

Thank you very much for the quick objective answers! I'll try restoring it, then!

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2

This is what solved it for me. Go to Settings, Music, and turn off iCloud Music Library. Sync to iTunes, and they went away. Turn on iCloud Music Library. Sync to iTunes, and they stayed away.

But that doesn't solve it for people whose phone audio content doesn't match their iTunes content.

That doesn't always work, either