Replace a Deleted iTunes “Recently Added” Playlist
Back on June 9th of this year I wrote an article detailing the steps for importing an audio book from CD into iTunes and making it appear in the audio book section. In those instructions I describe how to use the “Recently Added” playlist as a quick way to find the imported audio files. A recent reader unfortunately removed that default playlist and now needs to know how to complete my instructions without that playlist. The easiest way is to simply recreate the missing playlist, and here is how.
Recreate the iTunes Recently Added playlist
The default “Recently Added” playlist is a Smart Playlist, which means it’s a normal playlist except that it automatically adds music based on predefined criteria. Therefore to recreate a deleted “Recently Added” playlist, follow these steps:
- Start iTunes and then from the menu bar select File -> New Smart Playlist
- Change the condition settings to match the ones in the image shown below
- Make sure that “Match the following rule” near the top of the dialog is checked
- Also make sure that “Live updating” near the bottom of the dialog box is also checked and then click OK
The new playlist appears in the iTunes left hand sidebar. Now, just give the newly created Smartlist a name and press enter. 
That’s all there is to it. A few simple steps and the deleted “Recently Added” Smart Playlist is back in iTunes. Also, if you want to customize any of the conditions defined for the default Smart Playlists in iTunes, just right-click on the playlist title and select edit “Smart Playlist” from the pop-up menu. The conditional settings are easy to understand and if you’re not certain exactly what something does, then give it a try and see what happens. You can always delete the list if you don’t like the results and it won’t delete your music.
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Filed under: How-To & Tech Tips
Thanks so much Bret. My computer is down so I will not be able to try your suggestion right now. I will keep you posted Daniel
hey thanks! i don’t really have the luxury of time to tinker with my itunes, so i end up just leaving it as it is… really useful info…
You’re welcome. Hope the instructions help.
Bret, I was able to recreat the recently added with your help but at the top of the play list is the last chapter on the CD not chapter 1, 2 etc but rather 4,3,2,1 and they down load to the Ipod backwords like this. Why?
Hi Daniel, glad that my suggestion sort of worked. I’ll try to recreate your sorting issue and write solution instructions for Monday.
Another problem solved. Thanks for your tip. My brother somehow was messing with my computer and I lost some songs in my Itunes. Also play lists are all scattered. Will try and follow this guide you wrote. Thanks again…
Hi, Bret, I never heard from you re; the sorting issue?
My apologies Daniel. It’s been a rough week getting back into my writing schedule. I have been looking into this issue and am pulling something together for next Monday (I know, I said that before but I mean it this time). Thanks for being patient. I will have something for you on Monday.
Ice, glad the tip helped you solved a problem. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.