Using Senuti and iTunes together

Senuti has many features that integrate seamlessly with iTunes. Use Senuti to add music to iTunes, recreate playlists, and recover song metadata such as ratings and play counts.

Step 1 - Disable iTunes automatic syncing

Before using Senuti, you will want to properly prepare iTunes to prevent automatic syncing

1. Launch iTunes with your iPod disconnected
2. Open the iTunes preferences and select the Devices tab
3. Enable the preference to Prevent iPods, iPhones and iPads from syncing automatically
4. Click the OK button in the bottom right-hand corner to save your changes

Why do I need this step? iTunes is set up by default to automatically sync with most iPods. This may mean that when you plug in your iPod, iTunes could start updating it immediately. Most Senuti users do not want this to happen. Specifically, if you've accidentally erased your iTunes music library, iTunes could update your iPod by removing all of the songs from it without even asking you.

Step 2 - Plug in your device

Now you can launch Senuti and plug in your device. When you plug in your device you may still receive a prompt in iTunes asking your if you would like to "Erase and Sync" your iPod, you will want to hit "Cancel" to prevent iTunes from syncing your device.

Step 3 - Recognizing when songs are already in iTunes

Senuti conveniently marks songs that are already in iTunes by placing a blue dot next to them. You can hide these songs by choosing Hide Songs → in iTunes from the View menu in Senuti.

Step 4 - Transferring songs to iTunes

You can configure Senuti to add songs to iTunes whenever you copy songs to your computer. To do this, watch our support video and follow the instructions outlined below.

1. Launch Senuti with your device plugged in
2. Open the Preferences window by selecting Preferences from the Senuti menu
3. On the Preferences window, switch to the Copying tab
4. Under iTunes check the box labeled "Automatically Add Songs to iTunes Library"
5. Close the Preferences window
6. Select the songs you wish to add to iTunes in the Senuti window
7. Click the Transfer button located in the top left-hand corner of Senuti
8. Your songs are now added to the iTunes library

If you have iTunes set up to copy songs to your iTunes music folder when adding to the library, it is strongly recommended that you change your save location to the same location as your iTunes music folder. Learn why and how...

Alternative Option - Drag and drop to add songs to iTunes

It is simple to add songs to iTunes regardless of your preferences. In Senuti, simply select the songs you wish to copy, then drag them to the iTunes item in the left-hand source list within Senuti. The songs will be copied to your computer then added to iTunes.

Step 5 (Optional) - Drag and drop playlists into iTunes

Follow these steps to add your playlists to iTunes:

1. Launch Senuti with your device plugged in
2. Locate the name of a playlist you wish to copy on the left-hand source list in Senuti
3. Locate the ITUNES item on the source list in Senuti
4. Drag and drop the playlist to the ITUNES item within Senuti
5. Repeat the previous step for each playlist you wish to copy
6. iTunes has now recreated your playlists without duplicating any songs, and Senuti has added any songs from the playlist which were not already copied to iTunes

Step 6 (Optional) - After Using Senuti

Once your music has been successfully recovered with Senuti, you are free to use the normal syncing functionality of iTunes with your device. Specifically, you can change your settings back to have iTunes auto-sync when you connect your device to your computer. You can do this by removing the "Prevent iPods, iPhones and iPads from syncing automatically" setting in your iTunes Preferences. This was altered in the initial setup step before using Senuti to transfer over your music.

You can also leave the "Prevent iPods, iPhones and iPads from syncing automatically" setting and manually sync your iPod when you'd like to. The option is up to you!

** Please keep in mind if you remove the preventative syncing measures in your iTunes Preferences, you'll have to redo the setup steps next time you want to use Senuti! Each time you connect your device to your computer, your content (music, movies, etc) will automatically sync according to your preferences set in iTunes.

You can adjust sync settings any time your device is connected to your computer!