One of the default views in the iTunes sidebar is Recently Added. But you can’t change the scope of this view. The oldest music I see in Recently added on my iMac is four months old (1/22/16), but a bit older on my MacBook (1/2/16). I had added music on my iMac on 1/19, 1/18, 1/14, and several other dates closer that 1/2/16, so it’s odd that this should be different on two computers.
Another problem with this Recently Added view is that you can only view the music by album, in grid view. You may want to view your recently added music differently. If you want more control, make a Recently Added smart playlist.
Choose File > New > Smart Playlist, or press Command-Opton-N, and set the following condition:
I’ve set the condition for 6 months, but you can change it to any number of days, weeks, or months.
Click OK, and you’ll be able to view this playlist in the sidebar. However, it won’t be at the top like the built-in Recently Added view. But you’ll be able to choose how you want to view the contents of this playlist: by album, artist, song, genre, etc.
Hi Kirk, Do you know what happened to the ‘consolidate file’ option in iTunes 12.4? I would use this to add any recently added music to the library file but keep video etc. stored on an external drive.
It’s in File > Library.
Hi Kirk, Do you know what happened to the ‘consolidate file’ option in iTunes 12.4? I would use this to add any recently added music to the library file but keep video etc. stored on an external drive.
It’s in File > Library.
Thanks Kirk. This is very useful suggestion.
Thanks Kirk. This is very useful suggestion.
There’s another way which frees the user from the task of having to scroll down to the smart playlist in the side bar. In Songs view, simply click View>Show View Options and then check the Date Added box under the Stats heading. A new column shows up that can be position anywhere in the song list and gives you an immediate view of every song by the date it was added to iTunes.
True, but I – and many other people – already use Songs view to view music by artist or album with columns and artwork.
There’s another way which frees the user from the task of having to scroll down to the smart playlist in the side bar. In Songs view, simply click View>Show View Options and then check the Date Added box under the Stats heading. A new column shows up that can be position anywhere in the song list and gives you an immediate view of every song by the date it was added to iTunes.
True, but I – and many other people – already use Songs view to view music by artist or album with columns and artwork.
Very helpful, thanks! It’s a shame iTunes UI seems to degrade over time, but good you shared a helpful work-around.
Very helpful, thanks! It’s a shame iTunes UI seems to degrade over time, but good you shared a helpful work-around.
thanks, this helped greatly in itunes 12.6. anyone’s guess why they make this so difficult to figure out.
thanks, this helped greatly in itunes 12.6. anyone’s guess why they make this so difficult to figure out.
This doesn’t work. I want to be able to view the files with the most recently added at the top.
It does work. Just once you’ve made the smart playlist, you go up to View->View As->(whatever you’d like). Then you can click on the Date Added bar within your smart playlist so it goes from oldest to most recently added.
This doesn’t work. I want to be able to view the files with the most recently added at the top.
It does work. Just once you’ve made the smart playlist, you go up to View->View As->(whatever you’d like). Then you can click on the Date Added bar within your smart playlist so it goes from oldest to most recently added.