Play songs in iTunes on PC
Listen to your music the way you like—use the controls in the iTunes window to repeat songs, change the order they play in, and more.
To view your music library, choose Music from the pop-up menu at the top left, then click Library. You can also listen to music from a CD. See Import songs from CDs into iTunes.
Shuffle or repeat songs
In a playlist or album, you can shuffle songs (play them in random order) and repeat individual songs.
In the iTunes app on your PC, choose Music from the pop-up menu at the top left, then click Library.
Play a song, album, or playlist in your iTunes library by double-clicking it, or selecting it and clicking the Play button .
Note: A song needs to be playing before you can use shuffle or repeat.
Do any of the following:
Turn shuffle on or off: Click the Shuffle button in the playback controls.
When Shuffle is on, a box appears behind the button and music or video plays in random order.
Shuffle albums or groupings: Choose Controls > Shuffle > Albums (or Groupings). iTunes plays the songs in the order in which they appear on the album or in the grouping, and then chooses another album or grouping at random.
Shuffle the songs in an album: Click Shuffle below the album art.
Repeat all songs in the current view (for example, a playlist): Click the Repeat button . Repeat is on when a box appears behind the button .
Repeat the currently playing song: Click the Repeat button until the number 1 appears .
Turn repeat off: Click the Repeat button until the box behind the button no longer appears.
See the Apple Support articles How to shuffle music on your Mac or PC and How to repeat music on your Mac or PC.
Change what’s playing with the Up Next list
You can use the Up Next list to view and change which songs play next. For example, if you’re listening to a playlist, you can choose an album to switch to after the song currently playing finishes. When the album finishes, iTunes resumes playing the playlist.
In the iTunes app on your PC, choose Music from the pop-up menu at the top left, then click Library.
Play a song, album, or playlist in your iTunes library by double-clicking it, or selecting it and clicking the Play button .
Note: A song needs to be playing before you can use Up Next.
Click the Up Next button , click Up Next, then do any of the following:
Play a song in the list: Double-click the song.
Add or move a song to the top of the list: Right-click the item, then choose Play Next.
Change the order of songs in the list: Drag the songs into the order you want.
Remove a song from the list: Select the song, then press the Delete key.
Remove all songs from the list: Click the Clear link at the bottom of the list one or more times.
Click the Up Next button again to close the list.
Tip: To add a song or an album to the Up Next list, drag the item from the list of songs to the top center of the iTunes window until a highlighted border appears.
You can click History in the Up Next list to see which songs played previously.
If you quit iTunes, the Up Next list is automatically saved for the next time you open iTunes.
Play songs in a specific order
In the iTunes app on your PC, choose Music from the pop-up menu at the top left, then click Library.
Click Songs in the sidebar on the left.
Click a column heading to play songs in alphabetical order by song title, artist, or album (or sort by any other category).
To select more categories, choose View > Show View Options.
Double-click the song you want to play first. The rest of the songs follow depending on the order you selected.
A playlist is another way to play songs in a specific order. See Intro to playlists.
Fade between songs
You can set iTunes to fade in each song (gradually increase its volume) while the previous song is fading out. This feature, called crossfading, prevents gaps of silence between songs.
In the iTunes app on your PC, choose Edit > Preferences, then click Playback.
Select Crossfade Songs.
To change the amount of time it takes for the current song to fade out at the end and the new song to fade in, drag the Seconds slider.
When iTunes plays consecutive tracks from the same album, crossfading is automatically turned off, with no fading between the songs (or tracks).
To play songs without fading, deselect Crossfade Songs. See Change Playback preferences.
Prevent a song from playing
You can set iTunes to ignore certain songs in your library and never play them.
In the iTunes app on your PC, choose Music from the pop-up menu at the top left, then click Library.
Click Songs in the sidebar on the left.
Deselect the checkbox next to the song.
If you don’t see checkboxes next to the songs, choose Edit > Preferences, click General, then make sure “List view checkboxes” is selected. See Change General preferences.
Important: Deselecting a song’s checkbox removes the checkmark from the song in all playlists.
You can also listen to music from a CD. See Play CDs.