How to Sort Songs in the iOS 10 Music App by Title

Update: iOS 10.2 was released on December 12, and it changes the way you choose this sort option.

The emails from readers about the iOS 10 Music app just keep rolling in today. The most common questions I’ve been getting are about star ratings (I discuss that in Star Ratings Are Indeed Gone in iOS 10 Music App; But There’s Still a Way to Rate Your Songs, and how to find the Shuffle or Repeat button (learn how in How to Find the Shuffle and Repeat Buttons in the iOS 10 Music App.

But another common question goes like this: when I go to my Songs list on my iPhone or iPad, all my songs are sorted by the artist, not by the song name. How can I fix this?

Well, it seems as though iOS 10 defaults to sorting songs by artist in the Music app; which is a bit odd. If you’re going to look at a list of songs, you generally want to find a specific song, not music by an artist.

To change this, go to Settings > Music, then, in the Library section, find the Sort Songs & Albums setting.

Sort songs

Tap this, and then tap By Title, and your songs will be in alphabetical order again.

Want to know more about the iOS 10 Music app? Check out these articles:

And learn What’s New in iTunes 12.5.

88 thoughts on “How to Sort Songs in the iOS 10 Music App by Title”

  3. Hi, how do I do this on my Ipad? In “Settings”–“Music”–under “Library” I have “Genius” but no “Sort Songs and Albums”.

  4. Hi, how do I do this on my Ipad? In “Settings”–“Music”–under “Library” I have “Genius” but no “Sort Songs and Albums”.

  7. I don’t have this option in settings? under library it just has “add playlist songs” any idea where it might be??

  8. I don’t have this option in settings? under library it just has “add playlist songs” any idea where it might be??

  11. For those of you who only show a “Genius” option under Library, the sorting option is now within the Music app itself. Simply tap on “songs” after opening the app, and in the top right corner you will see the option “sort.” Hope this helps!

  12. For those of you who only show a “Genius” option under Library, the sorting option is now within the Music app itself. Simply tap on “songs” after opening the app, and in the top right corner you will see the option “sort.” Hope this helps!

  13. iOS10.2 is unintuitive as hell. Users will try to change sorting under Music. Not to mention users can’t figure out there are scrollable content and the repeat and shuffle features beneath the selected song….

  14. iOS10.2 is unintuitive as hell. Users will try to change sorting under Music. Not to mention users can’t figure out there are scrollable content and the repeat and shuffle features beneath the selected song….

  15. i did this before the recent update with the new emojis and it worked but i updated it and now it’s back to organizing by artist and it doesn’t give you the option to change it ://

  16. i did this before the recent update with the new emojis and it worked but i updated it and now it’s back to organizing by artist and it doesn’t give you the option to change it ://

  17. That option doesn’t even come up for me. When I go to setting then music there is no sort by tab under library. It only has options to show Apple Music and add song to library when added to playlist.

  18. That option doesn’t even come up for me. When I go to setting then music there is no sort by tab under library. It only has options to show Apple Music and add song to library when added to playlist.

  19. I’m on IOS 10.3.2 which is the most recent update. When I go to where you describe, the only option under Library is “Genius”.

    Any ideas?

    • The very first sentence of the article says:

      Update: iOS 10.2 was released on December 12, and it changes the way you choose this sort option.

      And links to another article explaining the change.

  20. I’m on IOS 10.3.2 which is the most recent update. When I go to where you describe, the only option under Library is “Genius”.

    Any ideas?

    • The very first sentence of the article says:

      Update: iOS 10.2 was released on December 12, and it changes the way you choose this sort option.

      And links to another article explaining the change.

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