Skip to main content
Tech Radar Tech Radar TechRadar The source for Tech Buying Advice
Subscribe
RSS
Asia
flag of Singapore
Singapore
Europe
flag of Danmark
Danmark
flag of Suomi
Suomi
flag of Norge
Norge
flag of Sverige
Sverige
flag of UK
UK
flag of Italia
Italia
flag of Nederland
Nederland
flag of België (Nederlands)
België (Nederlands)
flag of France
France
flag of Deutschland
Deutschland
flag of España
España
North America
flag of US (English)
US (English)
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of México
México
Australasia
flag of Australia
Australia
flag of New Zealand
New Zealand
Technology Magazines
Technology Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviews
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12.99
View Deal
  • News
  • Best
  • Reviews
  • Opinion
  • How To
  • Deals
  • More
    • Versus
    • Appliances
    • Audiovisual
    • Cameras
    • Car Tech
    • Computing
    • Coupons
    • Downloads
    • Entertainment
    • Fitness
    • Laptops
    • Phones
    • Smart Home
    • Tablets
    • TVs
    • Wearables
    • About Us
Tech Radar Pro
Tech Radar Gaming
Trending
  • Memorial Day sales
  • iPhone 15
  • Google Pixel Fold
  • ChatGPT
  • Wordle hints
  • Best VPN

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  1. Home
  2. How-to
  3. Audio Visual

How to optimise and organise iTunes

By MacFormat
published 24 March 2016

Check your library

Declutter iTunes

Declutter iTunes

Think for a minute about all the things that iTunes can do: it's a repository holding possibly many gigabytes of media, a library, a shop and an internal database, plus it has to stream and sync all that data wherever you choose.

No wonder it can sometimes run out of puff! Part of the problem is that Apple loves loading up iTunes with amazing new features, many of which you don't need. Things have got even worse with users complaining of long lags – even on powerful machines – when switching songs or views.

So what can you do to boost its performance? One of the best ways to stop iTunes slowing to a crawl is to take control of your Smart Playlists. It's easy to create dozens or even hundreds of these to wrangle your tracks in different ways, but they also force iTunes to work harder to maintain them all, especially if you choose to enable live updating.

Now, obviously, you don't want to just delete all those useful Smart Playlists willy-nilly, but it helps if you can cut them down.

Riding to the rescue is a Smart Playlist management app called Smarts from scripting wizard Doug Adams, which makes it easy to save, edit, export and (gasp) delete your Smart Playlists so iTunes works better. Read on to find out how.

1. Rebuild library cache

If iTunes is slow to open, try holding down the Option key as you launch the app. Click Choose Library…, select your existing iTunes folder and see if it speeds things up.

2. Disable Genius

This may be a clever feature, but the need to compare your playlists with millions of other iTunes users makes Genius a real resource hog. Make sure it stays disabled from the Store menu.

3. Turn off Home Sharing

This is another resource hog, so unless you're running iTunes as a server for the rest of your network, deactivate it in iTunes > Preferences > Sharing.

4. Tame the iTunes Store

Go to Preferences > Store and untick everything except 'Limit Ad Tracking' – doing so can significantly speed up sync operations.

Page 1 of 9
Page 1 of 9
1. Manage Smart Playlists

1. Manage Smart Playlists

Smart playlists are a great way to manage music in your iTunes library. But managing them can be tricky, especially if you have so many that they force iTunes to a crawl. This is where Smarts comes in.

Page 2 of 9
Page 2 of 9
2. Install Smarts

2. Install Smarts

Smarts is a free iTunes Smart Playlist manager from Doug Adams, the man behind iTunes AppleScripts. Smarts itself must be downloaded from the App Store, so go to it from the Apple menu and search for 'Smarts' – it should be the first entry.

Page 3 of 9
Page 3 of 9
3. Compare your playlists

3. Compare your playlists

Open Smarts and confirm your iTunes media folder if necessary. You'll see two lists in its window: on the left, the Smart Playlists you have in iTunes; on the right, saved Smart Playlist templates, which are stored outside iTunes, so they can be used for backup or restoration.

Page 4 of 9
Page 4 of 9
4. Save your playlists

4. Save your playlists

Before you delete any Smart Playlists, it's wise to back them up. Highlight one in the left-hand panel of Smarts, then click Save. Rename it if you wish, and add some notes to help you identify it in future if necessary, then hit OK.

Do this for every Smart Playlist you wish to keep.

Page 5 of 9
Page 5 of 9
5. Delete your playlists

5. Delete your playlists

Now you can purge iTunes of unwanted Smart Playlists, safe in the knowledge that you can restore them later. To do this from Smarts' left-hand panel, highlight a playlist, click Delete and then OK to confirm your decision.

Repeat for each unwanted playlist until you're done.

Page 6 of 9
Page 6 of 9
6. iTunes optimised

6. iTunes optimised

Your playlist sidebar will soon be much less cluttered. You should also notice a speed improvement each time you launch iTunes because it won't have to update all those Smart Playlists every time it starts up.

If you change your mind, restoring a Smart Playlist is simple…

Page 7 of 9
Page 7 of 9
7. Restore playlist

7. Restore playlist

Your saved Smart Playlists remain in the Saved Smart Templates pane. From here you can restore them: click the Load button, rename the playlist if necessary and click OK.

iTunes should now automatically launch, so wait while Smarts updates the database with the restored playlist.

Page 8 of 9
Page 8 of 9
8. Manage templates list

8. Manage templates list

You can also edit (or add) notes to a saved template – highlight the template and click Notes to review or make changes. Click Export to export the Smart Playlist as an XML file you can manually import into another copy of iTunes, or Delete to get rid of it permanently.

  • Enjoyed this article? Get more tutorials, guides, and tips on how to get the most from your Apple devices inside MacFormat. Take advantage of an exclusive offer in our sampler today.
Page 9 of 9
Page 9 of 9
MacFormat
Social Links Navigation
See more Audio how-to
More about audio visual
The Apple AirPods Pro 2 headphones on a grey background

6 AirPods features I hope Apple adds in iOS 17 at WWDC

The performance cinema at the AWE Expo

I got to see inside two luxury home theaters, and one costs the same as a house

Latest
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum key art

Lord of the Rings: Gollum dev issues statement apologizing for game

See more latest ►
Most Popular
This VPN thinks it might have a solution to Netflix password sharing ban

By Chiara CastroMay 26, 2023

Coventry vs Luton Town live stream: how to watch the EFL Championship playoff final online and on TV from anywhere, team news

By Tom WigginsMay 26, 2023

5 ways to improve AirPods' battery life, and check their charge level

By Amelia SchwankeMay 26, 2023

Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians live stream: how to watch the IPL playoff free online today, Qualifier 2

By Kevin LynchMay 26, 2023

Monaco Grand Prix live stream: how to watch F1 online from anywhere, Qualifying

By Mo Harber-LamondMay 26, 2023

Charles Schwab Challenge live stream 2023: how to watch golf online, Round 1

By Kevin LynchMay 25, 2023

How to watch Mayans MC season 5 online: stream the final season of the hit drama from anywhere now

By Daniel PatemanMay 24, 2023

How to watch MasterChef USA season 13 free online: stream every episode of United Tastes of America from anywhere

By Daniel PatemanMay 24, 2023

How to boot someone from your Netflix account and stop password sharing

By Amelia SchwankeMay 24, 2023

How to prevent a data breach

By Nikki JohnstonMay 24, 2023

How to download videos from Twitter

By Josephine WatsonMay 24, 2023

  1. Man using laptop and smartphone
    1
    You'll soon be able to create all kinds of documents in Google Docs - here's how
  2. 2
    Don’t panic: there’s a reason your iPhone’s battery is draining faster than usual
  3. 3
    Microsoft is finally introducing the feature that’ll make me upgrade to Windows 11
  4. 4
    Windows 11 Moment 3 update is packed with cool features – here are 5
  5. 5
    Many remote workers are unhappy with their company culture
  1. iPhone low battery image
    1
    Don’t panic: there’s a reason your iPhone’s battery is draining faster than usual
  2. 2
    More Microsoft 365 phishing attacks are using this dangerous new method - here's what you need to know
  3. 3
    The latest iPhone 15 charging rumor sounds very un-Apple
  4. 4
    This Microsoft Teams update could turn your meeting into a complete mess
  5. 5
    Windows 11 Moment 3 update is packed with cool features – here are 5

TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Web notifications
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.