How to Make a Playlist for an iPod

Knowing how to make a playlist for an iPod is like making your own mix CD. You can arrange a certain group of songs in a certain order, so you can listen to them at the gym, in the car, at a party, or wherever. Make as many iPod playlists as you want by following the quick steps below, and you’ll always have just the right music for every occasion.

What you’ll need to make a playlist for an iPod:

• An iPod
• A USB cable
• A computer with iTunes loaded and an internet connection
• Music—from a CD or purchased online in MP3 or M4A format

1. How you make your playlist for your iPod will depend upon whether or not music on your iPod is manually managed or automatically synced. Choose the directions that apply to how you’ve chosen to manage your music.
2. To make a playlist for an iPod that is manually managed, plug your iPod into the computer using the USB cable.  iTunes should launch automatically, and in the column on the left of iTunes, “The name of your iPod” should also show up under “Devices.”
3. Put the mouse on “the name of your iPod” in the left hand column so it’s highlighted. Then, go to the “File” menu of iTunes, and select “New Playlist.” “Untitled Playlist” should show up as a subcategory on your iPod. If it shows up somewhere else, like under the iTunes “Playlist” header, you did something wrong. The “Untitled Playlist” needs to be under “the name of your iPod.” Once you see it there, you can name the playlist whatever you want.
4. Working from “Music” on “the name of your iPod (not the music in the iTunes library), drag songs you want on your playlist to that playlist’s name. When you’ve dragged all the songs you want on your iPod playlist, you’re done.
5. To make a playlist for an iPod that is automatically synced, managed, put the mouse on “Library” in the left hand column so it’s highlighted. Then, go to the “File” menu of iTunes, and select “New Playlist.” “Untitled Playlist” should show up as a subcategory under “Playlists.” Once you see it there, you can name the playlist whatever you want.
6. Working from “Library” in iTunes, drag songs you want on your iPod playlist down to that playlist’s name. When you’re finished, plug your iPod into the computer using the USB cable. Your iPod should automatically sync with your iTunes library, and the playlist will be copied.
7. It’s easy to manage your iPod playlist once you’ve created it. You can rearrange the order of the songs in your iPod playlist by dragging songs up or down with your mouse. To delete a song from a playlist, highlight the song title with your mouse, then go to the “Edit” menu and select “Delete.” To delete an entire playlist, highlight the name of the playlist with your mouse, go to the “Edit” menu and select “Delete.”
8. While you can make an iPod playlist in iTunes under the “Playlists” header and drag it to your iPod, this is unadvisable for manually managed iPods. Because your iPod has music on it from a variety of computers, the files may be different, even if the song is the same. If you drag an iPod playlist from iTunes onto your iPod, you may end up with duplicated songs, and figuring out which to erase can get confusing. To spare yourself the trouble, make new iPod playlists on your iPod only.