I have ipod classic and itunes 12.6. how do I remove songs from ipod and leave in itunes. I have tried connecting ipod and clicking "manage music manually" and it won't let me delete songs.

I take it you've applied the setting to manually manage music, then tried selecting songs to remove and tried different options, such as pressing delete, backspace, and right-clicking for a context menu.

tt2

If you go back to automatic syncing then what gets synced is controlled by what is ticked in the five areas shown below; playlists, artists, genres, albums, and if you scroll all the way down, manually added songs. Personally I sync with a few selected playlists, and modify those before syncing to control what is added or removed from the device.

tt2

When you sync with selected playlists, genres, artists, albums, and manually selected songs, everything that is checked in those areas is copied over to the device. Anything not checked is removed. So if you only check one playlist, for example, and it has say 250 songs in it, then after syncing only those 250 songs should be on the iPod. Is it not working that way for you? To be honest this was somewhat easier when there was only a playlists section to choose from, and it I recall correctly at one point the sections at least gave you a clue as to how many items were selected in each of them. I think you now have to scroll very carefully to make sure you haven't for example, accidentally selected to include all of a particular genre.

tt2

No, if you manually manage you need to take care of all deletions and additions. If you sync with selected items, then you adjust what syncs and click sync or apply to update the device. Anything scheduled to sync is added, anything else is removed. When you're manually managing music sync may apply to other content sections.

tt2

Yes, if you're only syncing playlists A, B & C, and track X is A, Y is in B & C and Z was in C but you remove it and sync. then Z will be removed from the device.

If you put all of the playlists that you do sync into a folder then the folder will show all that sync, and you can make a smart playlist outside of that folder matching music items with the rule Playlist is not <Folder> then anything you're not syncing will be in the new list. You can then easily see what is included or excluded.

tt2

Yes, assuming there isn't a button near the bottom right waiting for you to click Apply. You could try turning the manually manage option off, apply, then turn it on again and apply once more.

tt2

Select the device using this icon;

then select the device's Music playlist in the side bar, and choose tracks to delete from the device.

tt2

Can you post a screenshot?

tt2

Hmm, certainly looks like you are in the correct view. 😕

tt2