How can I see music file formats in I-tunes 12.6?

Question

Level 1

4 points

How can I see music file formats in I-tunes 12.6?

Some of the music files in my iTunes library imported from CD's are in m4a format but older imports are in mp3.

How can you see whether music files already in the library are in mp3 or m4a (or other) formats within I-tunes 12.6? Is using the finder really the only way to see what type of extension a music file has in an iTunes library?

If the answer to the latter question is yes, is the best way to delete unwanted mp3 files with a view to reimporting from original CDs (if available) simply to trash mp3 files from the iTunes Music folder using the finder rather than deleting files (having first checked they are mp3 format with the finder) from within iTunes?

Posted on Apr 29, 2017 11:58 AM

Reply

Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

278,629 points

May 1, 2017 3:58 AM in response to Frank O

Perhaps you need to enable the sidebar. View > Show Sidebar. At the top of the sidebar are options to display the library in different layouts, Recently Added, Artists, Albums, Songs, etc. The songs view, or list view when looking at other types of media, can show lots of information in a spreadsheet style layout.

tt2

Reply

Answer 2

Frank O Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 29, 2017 10:03 PM in response to Steven Blunk

Thanks for your reply, Steven. View Options seemed the obvious place to look before I posted my question, but my mac (10.10.5) shows "no view options". Perhaps Yosemite is not fully compatible with iTunes 12.6?

Reply

Answer 3

Apr 30, 2017 7:12 PM in response to Frank O

I don't know anything about that (I'm on Sierra, from Mavericks). It would be a longer way around, but you could play with a smart playlist.

With respect to your other question, I'd recommend against deleting song files from the Finder since that will certainly screw with the Library's database, creating more problems to solve.

srb

Reply

Answer 4

Frank O Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 30, 2017 7:29 PM in response to turingtest2

Thank you tt2, but I am puzzled by "songs view." The Songs drop down menu looks irrelevant and the View drop down menu does not offer "songs", only "all music". Right clicking on any of these produces no result and view options remains blank. Can you clarify?

Reply

Answer 5

May 1, 2017 5:24 AM in response to Frank O

You can get to the Song view recommended by turingtest2 by selecting View>View As>Songs from the iTunes menu. And now that I"ve tested it. If you're in Playlist view (or probably others), then View Options is pretty sparse. And Playlist View seems to be Apple's default.

Good luck

srb

Reply