iTunes copies same songs everytime i sync

Make sure you display the column "work" in the table and sort by that column. I had "use work and compilation" unchecked, had never populated to field ever, and 80% of my song database had something copied from grouping into work. Anytime you update anything to do with a song, the grouping field is copied to the work field behind your back. Why Apple coded iTunes to do this automatically without the field enabled is an explanation they have to give. I end up having to delete the work field on a weekly basis thanks to this mysterious bug. Been this way since they introduced the work field and had yet to be fixed. One of hundreds of bugs in iTunes that never get fixed.

Hello sugarbabyluv,
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
I see you are having issue with what is syncing from iTunes to your iPhone. Take a look at the following article about syncing. Specifically the part about selecting the content you want to sync: Sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iTunes on your computer using USB
Changing the content you choose to sync should also change what is synced to your iPhone.
Best regards.

I had the same problem when upgrading to ios 10 (which I avoided for quite awhile, gee I wonder why?)

This is the best fix I have found so far. Just play a second or two of the song on the iphone then advance to the next song.

I have 7000 songs so this will take awhile, but it will eventually get fixed

Thanks again, Apple for another upgrade surprise

It's a problem that began with Apples addition of the work (supposedly optional) category for classical music. I myself never checked this box in the get info page, but for some reason iTunes decided to populate the work field with a copy of what I have in the grouping field. Songs with the work field filled out will always sync onto your device whether they are on the device or not. There is a solution to this buried in a discussion of the same topic. Show the work field in get info. Select entire library. Delete the "mixed" text in work field. Save. Wait for entire library to update (could take hours). Then test.

I have not tested the next part yet, but iTunes will copy whatever is in the grouping field to the work field any time a song is updated. This happens whether you have the checkbox on the get info page tucked or not. I never used work category before in my life, but 80% of my library had the field filled out with a copy of the text found in the grouping field. It's bad coding, and it's something that needs to be fixed on Apples end. I believe this is the cause of all the shuffle problems on the latest iTunes release.

If work field is populated, the song will sun no matter what. Get rid of the work field, and all goes back to a time when things actually worked.

If that article isn't addressing the issue, you may find more information by using another one of Apple's support resources - https://getsupport.apple.com

I've had the same issue with iTunes syncing the same amount of songs every time I would sync. Very frustrating none the less.

Tried restoring my iPod Classic and then re-syncing my library, and that didn't solve the problem. Was thinking the database of iTunes was corrupted so I was about the delete and re-install itunes and then put my songs back in the library (which could take a long time if u have a big library).

Showed the Work column and sure enough I had the same songs that kept syncing with something populated on the Work field. Quickly I removed the content that was on that field, did a sync on the iPod, hit sync again to test it, and Baaam, problem solved.

It is common thing that you would fond some data were lost after iOS system is upgraded. Though there would be solution to find these data back. But you may make a full backup of your device before you take a step. Besides, if you don't want to sync your songs to iTunes from your iOS device, just disable the option on your device. If you want to restore iTunes Library, you can do it with your iPhone or a backup file. And there will be easy if you follow the right guide step-by-step.

Got it big time - easy solution on this version of iTunes... 12.7.0.166

Items are reloaded every sync because they have a 'Work' field name.

Open iTunes, go to header bar (fields, at the top - Name, Time, Artist, Album, etc.).

Right click and add the 'Work' field, if it is not already showing (after the right-click, a window pops up and 'Work' is near the bottom of the list alphabetically).

Once 'Work' appears on the header bar, click the word 'Work' and the list of items in the Work field are listed hierarchically. If nothing shows on the list, click again and the items will arrange themselves in an opposite order. On a side-note, you can click any header and it will organize those items listed in that field hierarchically, click again and it will arrange in opposite order (by date, alphabetically, purchased, added, etc.). I keep mine arranged by name, but use the headers to list songs in different order from time to time. Anyhoo...

Right click the song that has a 'Work' name, choose 'Song Info', and make sure the 'Details' tab is chosen (blue).

Under 'Details', choose the first item - titled 'Song' (it has two arrows next to the word ' Song' - click the arrows) - and up pops a window that gives you a selection between 'Song' and 'Work Name'. Click on 'Work Name', delete the work name, then hit the arrows to return to 'Song Name'.

Hit 'OK' and the song should reset itself. Then, don't forget to change your header selection back to what you usually use. I use alphabetical listing by hitting the 'Name' field and making sure the arrow points up. Good luck.

Found the "Work" field. There's nothing there in my problematic songs.

I'm going to try this tonight - i use Grouping to identify the source of my music - CD, LP, Cassette, itunes, etc, so this would plausibly explain why every single song syncs every time.

I've blanked out the work field and i will try syncing. I'll report back.

Keep your eye on it. When you update any metadata for a song, the fields in question get re-populated again. That's what happened a few minor version of iTunes ago. I wish Apple would be more descriptive in the update verbiage and actually describe the "bugs" they fix.

I can't believe how hard it is to find the answer to this problem! For years I have been annoyed by the fact that iTunes (various versions) would randomly decide to sync thousands of songs to my device, and for no apparent reason. I do use the Grouping field, and as suggested, the content there was copied to the Work field. Removing those bogus copies fixed the issue! Amazing!

Tonight, however, with no changes other than play counts as I play some music, more Work fields randomly had Grouping values. The worst part of my problem (randomly syncing songs) is solved, but is there an answer to why iTunes randomly copies values back into the empty Work field?

Yesssss! Thanks so much for this, however the **** you worked it out, it’s sorted this pain-in-the-*** bug that’s been doing my head in for ages now. No more syncing the same 2500 songs to my iPhone every time! Thanks again👌