How to Delete Songs from Apple Music Playlist on Your Devices

By James Blair Posted on 2024-07-08 / Post for Apple Music Tips

Music fans can enjoy over 100 million songs in various genres on Apple Music with a subscription. You can organize them by creating custom playlists or downloading songs for offline listening during your subscription. However, if you've been using Apple Music for years, you might accumulate many songs in your playlist or take up significant storage space on your device with downloaded songs. In such cases, cleaning up and organizing your Apple Music playlist or the songs you downloaded is necessary.

In the following blog post, you will discover how to remove songs from Apple Music playlists. Whether you want to remove a single song or all songs, delete duplicate tracks, or get rid of downloaded songs, this guide will show you how. Simply scroll through the page to clean up your playlist and make room for your latest musical preferences.

how to remove songs from apple music playlists

Part 1. How to Remove A Song from Apple Music Playlist

Follow the steps below, you can individually delete songs from Apple Music playlists, reducing the possibility of mis-deleting songs.

Delete from iPhone/Android

Step 1. Launch the Apple Music on your phone.

Step 2. Tap Library at the bottom right, and then tap Playlists.

Step 3. Navigate the song you want to remove and tap the three dots next to the song.

Step 4. Tap Remove from Playlist.

apple music remove from playlist ios

Delete from Mac/PC

Step 1. Launch Apple Music or iTunes on your computer.

Step 2. Click a playlist you want to edit under the Playlists section on the left side.

Step 3. Navigate the song you want to remove and right-click.

Step 4. Click Remove from Playlist at the menu bar.

remove from playlist on itunes windows

Part 2. How to Delete All Songs from Apple Music Playlist

If you want to clear multiple or all of your songs in playlists, you can follow the steps below.

Delete from iPhone/Android

Step 1. Launch your Apple Music on your phone.

Step 2. Tap Library > Playlists.

Step 3. Tap Edit at the top right.

Step 4. Tab the red icon before the song's cover to delete them. You can also connect with a Bluetooth keyboard and tap Ctrl +A or CMD + A to select all songs in the playlist and delete them at once.

remove all songs from apple music playlist

Delete from Mac/PC

Step 1. Click to launch your Apple Music.

Step 2. Click a playlist you want to edit.

Step 3. Tap Ctrl +A or Command +A on your keyboard, right-click on your screen, and then click Remove from Playlist or Delete from Library.

apple music playlist mac

Part 3. How to Remove Duplicate Songs from Apple Music Playlist

Sometimes, you might want to merge several Apple Music playlists to keep your Apple Music interface organized. However, these playlists may contain the same songs, and duplicate songs appear in your playlist when merged. If you want to remove duplicate songs from your Apple Music playlist, follow our guidance below.

Delete Duplicate Songs in Apple Music iOS/Android App

Step 1. Launch Apple Music on your phone.

Step 2. Tap Library at the bottom right and tap Playlist you want to clean.

Step 3. Tap the three dots at the top right of the Playlist interface; you can choose Sort By title to find duplicate songs in this playlist.

apple music sort by titles in playlists

Step 4. Scroll down your screen, swipe left duplicate songs, and tap Delete.

Delete Duplicate Songs in Apple Music Mac/PC

Step 1. Click to launch Apple Music/iTunes.

Step 2. Click the Songs section in the sidebar on Apple Music.

Step 3. Navigate at the Menu bar and click "File > Library > Show Duplicate Items"

Step 4. Right-click to delete songs.

show duplicate items itunes

Part 4. How to Delete Downloaded Songs from Apple Music Playlist

If you want to release more storage space for fresh content, you should delete the downloaded files on your devices.

Delete from iPhone/Android

Step 1. Tap to launch the Apple Music app on your phone.

Step 2. Tap Library at the bottom-right.

Step 3. Navigate and tap the "Downloaded" section. If you don't find it, tap "Edit" at the top right to display this section.

Step 4. Tab Songs under the Downloaded section; you can find all your downloaded songs here.

Step 5. Navigate the song you want to remove, tap the three dots on the right, and tap Remove Download.

delete downloaded songs on apple music

Notice: If you are an iOS user, you can also remove downloaded songs from Settings on your iPhone.

Operation path: Settings > Music > Downloads > Downloaded Music > Swipe the song left > Delete

remove downloaded music on ios settings

Delete from Mac/PC

Step 1. Click to launch Apple Music or iTunes on Mac or PC.

Step 2. Click View at the menu bar and select Only Downloaded Music on Apple Music. If you are using iTunes, click Downloaded in the left sidebar.

view only downloaded music on apple music mac

Step 3. Right-click or click the three dots on the song you want to delete and select Remove Download. If you want to remove all downloaded songs, tap Ctrl + A or Command + A on your keyboard, right-click on the screen, and select Remove Download.

Part 5. How to Avoid Accidentally Delete Songs from Apple Music

If you have no idea which delete button may remove your songs on Apple Music or are afraid of deleting songs you want to keep by accident when clearing playlists, you should download and back up songs you want to keep before a mass removal. However, only downloading from Apple Music is not enough since all directly downloaded songs are embedded with protection and some codes for auto tasks. In this way, your downloaded songs can be cleaned if you click "Remove from Library" at Apple Music or clear all Apple Music storage in the settings of your devices.

Therefore, to avoid accidentally deleting songs from Apple Music, you can use the AudFree Apple Music Downloader to back up your songs. It can convert Apple Music M4P to AAC and other unprotected formats. The converted songs will not be affected when you operate at Apple Music. You can also copy Apple Music to USB after converting it to plain formats like MP3, WAV, FLAC, M4A, etc. This practical tool can keep ID3 tags, including title, year, and even the cover, when converting at a faster speed of 30X. Pursue high music quality? No problem. This app provides customized output settings. You can keep lossless sound quality, small-size quality, and more options to set. Do you want a free trial? Click below to download and install the AudFree Apple Music Converter!


You can follow the steps below to back up your Apple Music songs once you have installed the app.

Notice: This app will require you to install iTunes on your computer since it needs to connect iTunes to import songs.

Step 1. Import Downloaded Songs to the AudFree Apple Music Converter

Navigate the bottom left of the interface; you can see two add buttons in a line. If you click the first button, you can add songs from iTunes. You can also add downloaded songs from your computer's local storage if you click the second button.

add songs to audfree apple music converter

Step 2. Define Output Format and Quality Setting

Click the Format button with an audio icon at the bottom right, and the Format Setting window will open. You can select MP3, M4A, AAC, FLAC, WAV, and M4B output formats and click Codec, Channel, Sample Rate, and Bit Rate options to customize the output quality. After you set all output settings, click OK to save your options.

output format settings on audfree apple music converter

Step 3. Select Storage Location

Now move your Pointer to the search box at the bottom left, click it, and you can choose a local folder to store the converted songs in the pop-up window.

Step 4. Click to Start Converting

Ensure you have selected your preferred output settings, and click the big Convert button at the bottom right to start the conversion at a 30X faster speed.

converting at audfree apple music converter

Part 6. FAQs on Removing Songs from Apple Music

Q1: What Is the Difference Between Delete Songs from A Playlist, Library and Downloaded?

A1: Let's start with the difference between Playlist and Library. In Apple Music, the Library can be seen as a default collection of all the music you collect. The Playlist is regarded as a smaller collection under specific themes, like a Playlist for doing homework/housework, a Playlist for workout, a playlist for Jazz, etc. When you want to add one song to your Apple Music, you may have two options: Add to Playlist or Add to Library. You can also set auto-add songs to the Library while adding them to playlists in preference settings. Besides, both Add to Playlist and Add to Library will sync with all devices under your account.

The Downloaded section is a collection of all songs you downloaded from a Playlist or Library. The downloaded files are stored on your local devices.

If you delete a song from the Playlist, you move it from a collection with a specific theme, but it may still be in your Library. Deleting a song from the Library means you cancel the collection of the song, and the song and its downloaded file will be removed from all your devices. If you delete a song from downloaded, you only remove the local file of this song, which will not affect the song in Playlist, Library, or downloaded files on other devices.

Q2: Why Can't I Remove Songs from My Apple Music Playlist?

A2: If you want to remove songs from the Apple Music playlist, you should tap into the playlist and tap the three dots at the right of the song to remove it from the playlist. Sometimes, it is caused by temporary bugs; you can relaunch Apple Music and try to remove them again.

Q3: Does Deleting A Playlist Delete the Songs on Apple Music?

A3: No. If you have added the songs to the Apple Music Library before deleting the playlist, deleting the playlist will not remove songs from your Apple Music. If you haven't added the songs to the Library, Apple Music will add them to the Library after deleting the playlist.

Q4: Why Does Apple Music Delete Songs from My Playlist?

A4: 2 main reasons may cause Apple Music to delete your songs.

Reason 1. Your Apple Music membership is expired. Apple Music will restrict your access to songs once your subscription is invalid.

Reason 2. Your device is out of storage. If the storage is not enough on your phones or desktops, Apple Music may delete some songs to release storage.

Part 7. In Conclusion

I hope you've learned how to remove songs from your Apple Music playlists and organize your Apple Music how you like. Before you clear your Apple Music, don't forget to back up your songs with the AudFree Apple Music Converter. Once you've converted them, you can play the songs even after your Apple Music subscription has expired and on your MP3 players at any time. Click the button below to unlock the full experience of AudFree Apple Music Downloader!


James Blair

James Blair

Staff Editor

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James Blair is an experienced writer and music lover. Reviews and tips on using popular music, like Apple Music, can be found in his articles.
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