Do Apple Music playlists come back?

Apple Music is seen as one of the best music apps in the world. However, it is not as perfect as people expect. For example, when you intend to listen to some music on iPhone, you may suddenly find Apple Music playlist disappeared.

To make things worse, no matter how you sign out and sign in Apple music, you cannot restore the playlist even though they are in iTunes on computer. If you have the same trouble, keep reading the passage to find solutions to it.

Why is Apple Music playlist disappeared?

You may wonder why playlist not showing up on iPhone. Here is the answer. It is suggested to figure out the reasons first and choose a specific method to handle it.

☹ Errors in iCloud Music Library. It is most likely that there is something wrong with iCloud Music Library, so that iPhone cannot scan or unload anything to Apple Music.
☹ An expired Apple Music subscription. If your subscription is outdated, all the playlists on Apple Music will be gone.
☹ Changes made by software. Sometimes if your Apple Music playlists disappear from iPhone after iOS 15 update, it might result that your iTunes account has synced across the devices or your Show Apple Music option is off automatically.

5 ways to fix the Apple Music playlist disappeared

So you may wonder how to recover Apple Music playlist. There are 5 ways available for you to fix Apple Music delete your playlist with ease. To quickly get your lost playlist back, you can turn to method 5 to check if your Apple Music playlist is still on your iPhone but invisible.

Method 1. Check the Subscription

The first thing you can do is to check whether the subscription is out of date on your iPhone. Follow the steps below to make it.

Go to Settings > Tap your name > Tap Subscriptions to see if it’s expired. If there isn’t the option, you can also go to iTunes & App Store > your Apple ID > View Apple ID, sign in and scroll down to tap Subscription.

Method 2. Turn on Show Apple Music

As we mentioned before, after updating iOS, "Show Apple Music" option may be turned off automatically. To make Apple Music playlist visible, you can check it and turn it on.

Tutorials are as follows. Go to Settings > Music > Under Music column, you can see Show Apple Music, turn it on if it is off. If it’s already on, you can tap it off and toggle it on again. Now, you can go to Apple Music to check whether your playlists come back.

Method 3. Turn on iCloud Music Library

iCloud Music Library is used to sync and transfer streaming music tracks from Apple Music and iTunes among devices. You can add music to iCloud Music Library from computer with iTunes.

Follow these simple steps to make it. Go to Settings > Music > Under Library column, you’ll see iCloud Music Library option. If it is off, toggle it on. If it’s already on, you need to turn it off and activate it again. Select Merge on the popup which asks you whether to enable iCloud Music Library or not.

Now the deleted Apple Music playlists will be merged or replaced by the music in iCloud. Therefore, you can get your Apple Music playlists back.

Note: ▪ You’d better turn off iCloud Music Library by the steps above to avoid your music being deleted in the future.

▪ After all, iCloud has only 5 GB of storage spaces for free. If the 5GB of free storage spaces run out, you may either pay for extra storage space monthly or encounter troubles like your iPhone backup failed for not enough storage space in iCloud.

Method 4. Update iCloud Music Library with iTunes

Alternatively, you can also update iCloud Music Library with iTunes to get Apple Music playlist back. Follow the steps to make it. Open iTunes on your PC or Mac > Go to File > Library > Click the Update iCloud Music Library to make it. Updating iCloud Music Library will refresh the whole library on your iPhone, it may help you restore the disappeared Apple Music playlist as well.

 Method 5. Filter disappeared playlist from iPhone via AOMEI MBackupper

Chances are that Apple Music playlists still exist on your iPhone but cannot be available currently. To make these playlists visible, you can try the power tool -AOMEI MBackupper to transfer the music from iPhone to computer, so that you can get Apple Music playlists back.

☑ Selective music transfer. AOMEI MBackupper helps scan all music on your iPhone. You're also allowed to transfer both purchased and non-purchased music selectively.
☑ Types of transfer features. It enables you to achieve iPhone to iPhone/iPad transfer, iPhone to computer transfer, and vice versa at a super-fast transfer speed.
☑ Wide compatibility. It can work well on iPhone from iPhone 4 to the latest iPhone 13 series, as well as iPad, iPod.

Download AOMEI MBackupper for free and have a try.

Now, follow the steps below to transfer music from iPhone to computer with AOMEI MBackupper.

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to computer with USB > Launch AOMEI MBackupper and choose Transfer to Computer on its homepage.

Step 2. Click the + icon > Check the Music icon to browse music in your iPhone > Locate and choose the disappeared music you want to get it back > Click OK  to confirm.

Step 3. Choose a storage path as you like (You can save these files to a local folder or an external hard drive, etc.) > Click Transfer to complete the task.

When the transfer process is finished, you can browse it on your computer.  If necessary, you're also able to transfer music back to iPhone again.

Conclusion

Hopefully, you can fix Apple Music playlist disappeared with these easy methods. You can try to connect your iPhone to computer, and let AOMEI MBackupper scan and transfer your disappeared music to computer.

To avoid data loss in the future, it is also recommended to backup iPhone to PC with AOMEI MBackupper regularly. For more queries, suggestions, or feedback, please feel free to contact us.

Is there any way to get them back? If not that sucks :/

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30 comments

Updated by Adam Gorden on Oct 25, 2021 11:24 AM.

The more frequently you use Apple Music, the more possible you'll meet some unexpected issues with the service. Although it has already become the No.1 streaming music provider in the United States, it's far from perfect yet.

For instance, you may suddenly find that all of the playlists are disappeared from your Apple Music library without any warning. No matter how you sign in and out of Apple Music, it's impossible to restore the deleted playlists. However, you can still access those playlists in iTunes on a computer.

To solve such a problem, you are suggested to try the following troubleshooting tips, with which you'll be able to reload the deleted Apple Music songs and playlists. In the end, we'll also provide an ultimate way to help you prevent your Apple Music from disappearing again.

Part 1. Apple Music Playlists Gone. Why?

Why did my playlists disappeared on Apple Music? Most of the time, when Apple Music deletes your library, there might be something wrong with iCloud Music Library. This is a feature that allows you to sync and share all the streaming music tracks from Apple Music and iTunes between all devices. Specifically, once you enabled iCloud Music Library, Apple will scan your music and replace the songs with its own versions. And then it will upload anything it doesn't know to its servers. In this case, to restore disappeared Apple Music playlists on iOS, the common way is to re-enable your iCloud Music Library, so as to re-sync the lost songs from Apple Music with iTunes on a Mac or PC.

Another case is that your Apple Music subscription is expired, so all your playlists on Apple Music will be gone. You can check your subscription.

Sometimes if your Apple Music playlists are not showing after the iOS 15 update, it might be because your iTunes account has synced across the devices or your Show Apple Music option is off autocratically. To get them back, you can try to update iCloud Music Library by iTunes or simply open the Show Apple Music feature.

Part 2. How to Recover Deleted Playlist from Apple Music

After you understand all possible reasons, you can now follow the tips below to learn how to recover your deleted playlists on Apple Music.

1. Check Your Subscription

First of all, you can check whether your Apple Music subscription is out of date on the phone. You can see the quick steps below.

Step 1. Open the Settings on your phone, and then tap your name.

Step 2. Tap Subscriptions to see whether it's expired. (If you don't see this option, you can tap the "iTunes & App Store" > your Apple ID > View Apple ID, sign in and scroll down to tap Subscriptions.

2. Turn 'Show Apple Music' ON

When you update to iOS 15, the Show Apple Music option might be turned off automatically. You can then check it and turn it on to make Apple Music playlist visible in your Library.

Step 1. Go to Settings > Music on your iPhone.

Step 2. Under Music column, you can see Show Apple Music option. Tap it on if this is off. If it's already on, you can turn it off first and then toggle it on again.

3. Turn 'iCloud Music Library' ON

The following guide will show you how to turn on or restart iCloud Music Library on iPhone step by step. Then you're able to get your lost playlist back on Apple Music.

Step 1. Open iPhone and go to Settings. Scroll down to Music section and tap on it.

Step 2. Under Library column, you'll see iCloud Music Library option. If it's already turned on, you should turn it off firstly and then activate it again. If not, simply tap the toggle to turn it on.

Step 3. A popup will appear asking whether to enable iCloud Music Library or not. Select Merge to confirm.

Then it will merge and replace the deleted Apple Music songs or playlists with your music that's already in iCloud. Therefore, you'll be able to access the disappearing library from Apple Music again.

Note: To avoid Apple Music deleting your songs in the future, you are highly suggested to disable iCloud Music Library after getting back the lost playlists.

4. Update iCloud Music Library with iTunes

Alternatively, you can try to update iCloud Music Library by using iTunes to get back your disappeared Apple Music playlists. The following is how.

Step 1. Open iTunes app on your PC or Mac computer. Then navigate to the File > Library option.

Step 2. Click the Update iCloud Music Library option and it will start refreshing the entire library on your device and may help you restore the missing playlists.

5. Check Whether Apple Music Was Set as Other Media

In your iTunes, the memory storage is divided into Audio, Apps, and Other. Usually, when you update iOS, the Apple Music files are mistakenly sorted out to the Other media. And you will find playlists disappeared from Apple Music. As for this condition, you can use the method below to fix it.

Step 1. Connect your device to a computer with a USB cable. Then launch iTunes on your computer.

Step 2. From iTunes, click the icon of your phone. Tap the Summary button.

Step 3. You will find the memory bar on this page. If you find the Other media is too large, try to sync your device with iTunes.

Step 4. At last, disconnect the phone from the computer and restart your phone. Check whether this Apple Music playlists disappeared issue is still there.

6. Toggle on Apple Music Playlist Button

“All my Apple Music playlists disappeared, but I can see these Apple Music playlists from iTunes on computer.” When your problem is similar to this user, you can try his or her solution.

Step 1. Go to the Apple Music app on your phone or tablet.

Step 2. Go to Library and tap the Edit button.

Step 3. If you find the Playlist was turned off from the Library view, turn it on.

Part 3. Ultimate Way to Prevent Apple Music Playlists from Being Deleted

If you cannot fix the Apple Music playlists gone issue, there's a reliable way that can help you keep all Apple Music playlists in your library permanently without being deleted again. And you can back them up at a safe place like your computer, CD, or USB Drive.

In this way, all you need is a smart app called ViWizard Apple Music Converter, a 3rd-party Apple Music converter. It can encode the protected Apple Music files to MP3, AAC, FLAC, M4A, WAV, and other common formats. Except for the Apple Music songs, iTunes audios and Audible books can be converted with this tool as well. Once the music is converted, you'll be able to keep all the songs and playlists in the Apple Music library forever, even if you unsubscribe from the service later.

You may follow these steps to start converting Apple Music with ViWizard Apple Music Converter by tapping the Download button.

Step 1 Import Apple Music to ViWizard

Launch ViWizard Apple Music Converter on the desktop after completing the installation. Then drag and drop the Apple Music offline tracks to the program's main interface. You can also add the songs by clicking "+" button at the top center.

Step 2 Choose Output Format

Once the Apple Music songs are loaded into ViWizard, you should go to the bottom left corner and click "Format" panel to set output format and audio parameters. It fully supports output format as MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC, M4A and M4B. Choose the one you like and move on.

Step 3 Convert Apple Music to Common Format

Click the "Convert" button to let it begin converting Apple Music songs to DRM-free formats. Then you can keep all these converted Apple Music playlists on any device as you like and will never lose again.

Video Tutorial

Now you got to know the reasons why your Apple Music playlist disappeared and how to fix this issue efficiently. You can try them one by one until your problem is solved. To avoid such trouble happens again, you're suggested to take a look at ViWizard Apple Music Converter. It's a powerful dedicated tool to help users make the most of songs from Apple Music by converting them to MP3 audio formats. You can still keep your Apple Music forever, even if you cancel the subscription someday.

Adam Gorden is an experienced writer of ViWizard who is obsessed about tech, movie and software.