Learn how to stop Apple Music from adding songs to your library when you add them to playlists on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
The built-in Music app on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac automatically adds any Apple Music tracks to your library when you add them to playlists. You can change that to declutter your music library and stop the songs from mood-based playlists you add from influencing your recommendations in the app.
And if you identify songs with Shazam, which saves them to a special playlist, you probably don’t want those to clog up your library, too.
iPhone or iPad
Open the Settings app, scroll to the bottom, and choose Apps. Now select Music and turn off the Add Playlist Songs switch.
Mac
To adjust this setting on your Mac, open the Music app and click the Music > Settings menu or press the Command + Comma (,) keys. Select the Advanced tab and untick the box for Playlists in the “Add songs to Library when adding to” section, then click OK.
People using iTunes on macOS Mojave and earlier will go to iTunes Preferences > General instead and untick the box next to “Add songs to Library when adding to playlists.”
With one simple setting change, you can stop songs in Apple Music playlists from populating your library unnecessarily. You may be unaware of the fact that the Music app also automatically adds songs you favorite to your library. Don’t worry, there’s a setting for that, too!
Whether you’re a passionate music lovers or just listen to music occasionally, feel free to make use of the following tutorials.