Exporting iTunes playlists can be useful for transferring your music to another computer or transferring song and playlist information to another program. You can also use the export and import functions of a playlist to move it from an iOS device to your computer's iTunes library. It is very important to remember that the playlist files do not contain the actual music tracks: they only serve to indicate them in the library.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Export Playlists
Step 1. In iTunes, select the playlist you want to export
When you export a playlist, you export a list of songs and their order. You can transfer them from an iPhone to a computer or from iTunes to a media player.
You can export any iTunes playlist, including iPhone, iPod, or iPad playlist. Select the device in iTunes, then click on the playlist name in the "On My Device" section, located in the sidebar
Step 2. If you are using Windows, type
Alt to show the menu bar. You can also type Ctrl + B to activate it permanently.
Step 3. Click on the "File" (Windows) or "iTunes" (Mac) menu
This will bring up a short menu.
Step 4. Select "Library" → "Export Playlist"
This will open the file browser and you can decide where to save the playlist file.
Step 5. Save the file to a new location in the case of Windows
By default, iTunes will try to save the playlist in the "system32" folder, which is not practical for later search. Choose an easy-to-access location, such as your desktop or document folder.
Step 6. Choose the format in which to export the playlist
Click on the "Save As" menu to see the format options. The possibilities are varied. The choice you make will depend on how you intend to use it.
- Select "XML" if you intend to re-import the playlist to iTunes. This is useful when transferring a playlist from your iPhone to your computer or sharing it with a friend.
- If you want to import the playlist into a program like Winamp or MediaMonkey, select "M3U".
- If you want to save all the data for each song in a tab-delimited text file, select "Text File". This can be useful for importing the playlist into a database or spreadsheet program such as Excel.
Step 7. Name the playlist and save it
By default, it will have the same name as it has on iTunes. Before saving it to your computer, you can change the name as you like.
Part 2 of 2: Import Playlists
Step 1. Click on the "File" (Windows) or "iTunes" (Mac) menu
If you don't see the menu bar on Windows, press Alt.
Step 2. Select "Library" → "Import Playlist"
The file browser will open.
Step 3. Browse for the playlist file to import
iTunes can import XML and M3U playlists. Select the file you want to import to iTunes.
Step 4. Add the songs that are in the playlist but not in the library
When you import a playlist containing tracks that are not in the library, you will get an error message. If you want the playlist to be complete, you need to transfer these songs to the library. Then you will have to import the playlist again.
