iTunes v12.9.0 deleting whole podcast instead of just the episode

Thank goodness Shift + Delete on an episode (or selection of episodes) seems to work[*]. You might have to do it twice to the same episode depending on what state it's in, but I feel like I've got the old functionality back to my satisfaction. (I always manage podcasts in Classic List view.)

On the other hand, this new behavior of right-click an episode, select "Delete from library" prompting deletion of an entire subscription is a terrible bug in my book, and I too ended up being fooled by it — because I've built up years of muscle memory of that action being meaningful only for the individual episodes I clicked on — and I had to resubscribe and re-download several episodes. Apple needs to fix this right away.

[*]On iTunes for Windows, of course. The modifier key might be different on a Mac.

I've seen this now. It only affects podcasts when using the classic list view to delete from the library. If you read the prompt, assuming you haven't suppressed warnings, it will ask you to confirm that you want to remove the entire series, which ought to allow an opportunity to back out before the damage is done. I've submitted a bug report about it.

Workarounds: Use View > View As > List and/or Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Reset Warnings.

tt2

No that's not the prompt that I'm getting and it seems from the above postsmany other people too. Above, andrewfromalice states exactly what the prompt he's getting is and it's the exact same as me. It definitely only mentions the individual podcast episode as you can see below. The issue is not the prompt. As I said before Apple don't want people using classic view. They want everyone to conform to the newer listing which personally I don't like. I will use it for now until they bother (if they ever bother) to correct the error in the classic view but it is very sloppy from the coders.

If you routinely backup your entire library you would be able to restore the deleted podcast folders and the state of your library database as it was before you discovered this issue. If you don't have a full backup of your iTunes library now see Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy.

FWIW I just subscribed to a new podcast and downloaded a few episodes then played around with removing the downloads and deleting the episodes. I cannot replicate this issue in either the Windows or Mac versions of iTunes 12.9.

tt2

I am experiencing the same thing (my post). One workaround I found was to use an iOS device's podcast app. Deleting individual episodes there then synced across to iTunes on my PC properly, i.e. leaving the other episodes intact.

You need a workaround now because getting Apple to notice this issue and provide a fix is going to take time. It won't help that this problem doesn't occur consistently. I've not been able to replicate it for example.

See my post above for advice on restoring the removed content.

tt2

Having restored your episodes into the podcasts folder see Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash to restore the state of your library to the moment before you updated to 12.9. The "delete whole podcast" issue should only happen in the Classic List view, so stick to the List view when deleting podcasts, or see this list of iTunes installers to revert to iTunes 12.8.

tt2

When reverting to an older build that uses a different structure for the database you also need to restore a pre-upgrade version of the library using steps such as those shown in Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash.

tt2

You should normally have several dated files in the Previous iTunes Libraries folder. Double-clicking on one of them will open iTunes, but it won't normally open with the file you clicked on unless that was also the last library you opened. If you want to explore their contents you need to shift-start iTunes, or copy and rename as described in the user tip, so as to replace the current active library file. Some updates to iTunes don't generate a new library file but 12.9 does, so there should be a recent file with the last known state of your 12.8 library.

Use Feedback - iTunes - Apple to share your thoughts with Apple. They're not listening here.

tt2

Sincere thanks! This works.

After talking live with Apple support yesterday who was quite perplexed by this problem (I let them remote in) with zero resolution, I got desperate. Deleted files at the file level (Windows 10).

I'd also recommended everyone on this thread file a report on Feedback - iTunes - Apple or call and voice your opinion.

This is inexcusable from a Sys Dev/QA level.

Use Shift-Delete to delete a single episode instead as a workaround.

If you have a backup of your library you can restore the folders for the deleted podcasts and revert to a copy of your iTunes database taken before the update. If you don't have a backup see Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy and start keeping one.

tt2

Did you perhaps have the series selected rather than the episode? There is a right-click > Remove Download option for individual items that have downloaded. You may also find episode management is easier in the Classic List view.

tt2

I have the same problem as the OP and this method doesn't work. If you try to remove a single episode from a series, it will popup with the message "Do you want to move the selected podcast to the Recycle Bin, or keep it in the iTunes Media folder?" The options are "cancel, move to recycle bin, or keep file". Selecting move the recycle bin will delete the ENTIRE podcast series and all podcasts within it. This is not normal.

I have been listening to and removing podcasts from my feed manually for years and after this mornings update has broken the library. First off, every subscribed podcast suddenly tried to re-download EVERY episode. If you try to remove these downloads, the ENTIRE podcast series is removed. My library went from 40 episodes and around a GB of data last night to 979 episodes and 62.71 GB this morning. This is terrible because now I can't sync my phone before the weekend.

Sorry meant to check this was not helpful. Why do we need a workaround. I am also having the issue. As the initial poster also indicated I have been deleting individual episodes for years now. All of a sudden after an update when I did that the ENTIRE library of episodes are deleted. When I re-subscribe years worth of previous episodes are redownloaded which does noting but fill my library up with episodes I don't want. This is extremely annoying.

I also am having this problem and I think the issue you just raised, that re-subscribing to podcasts results in re-downloading of the entire library, should highlight the criticality of the problem. I cannot delete the episodes that are queued to be re-downloaded because deleting them removes *all* downloaded episodes and un-subscribes me from the podcast. So I'm spending today with nearly half a dozen podcasts re-downloading years worth of back-issues which is sucking up my bandwidth and wasting my time. Then, if I sync iTunes with my iphone, I'll push all of those episodes onto my phone as well.

After last year's double screw-up with iTunes for Windows releases that botched major functionality and now this, I'm beginning to think that this forum is Apple's QA team for the iTunes for Windows product...

Argh!