iTunes: How to backup and restore playlists

Backing up playlists

Follow these steps:

1. Open iTunes.
   
2. Select one of your playlists from the Source list.
   
3. From the File menu, choose Export Song List. A Save dialog appears.
   
4. From the Format pop-up menu, choose XML.
   
5. From the Where pop-up menu, choose Desktop.
   
6. Click Save.
   
7. Repeat steps 2 through 6 for each of the playlists that you have created in iTunes.
   

Note: These smart playlists are created automatically by iTunes, so you do not need to back them up:

• 60's Music
• My Top Rated
• Recently Played
• Top 25 Most Played.

Restoring playlists

Follow these steps:

1. From the File menu, choose Import.
   
2. Navigate to and select one of the exported playlist files on your Desktop.
   
3. Click Choose.
   
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 for each of the playlist files that you have exported to the Desktop.

Important: Some playlist information, such as Play Count and Last Played date, is not preserved.

For steps to recreate the iTunes library file see "iTunes: How to recreate your iTunes Library."