iTunes for Windows: Customize the iTunes window

Customize the iTunes window

You can customize the way you view and play your iTunes content.

Use the iTunes MiniPlayer

The MiniPlayer takes up very little space on your screen, and still lets you adjust the volume, search for songs, choose which songs play next, and more.

The MiniPlayer displays the album artwork for the song that’s playing. When you move the pointer over the artwork, controls and song information appear.

Screenshot of the expanded MiniPlayer

You can also shrink the MiniPlayer to an even smaller size.

The smaller iTunes MiniPlayer
  • View and edit a list of upcoming songs: Click the Up Next button Three numbered horizontal lines.

  • Keep the MiniPlayer in the foreground on your desktop: Choose Edit > Preferences, click Advanced, and select “Keep MiniPlayer on top of all other windows.”

  • Shrink to the smaller MiniPlayer: Click Two arrows pointing at each other near the top-left corner. To expand back to the full MiniPlayer, click Two arrows pointing at each other again.

View the iTunes window in full-screen view

  • To enter full-screen view, click A button that looks like a box at the top-right of the iTunes window.

  • To exit full-screen view, click A button that looks like a box behind another box at the top-right of the iTunes window.

Browse your music library quickly using the column browser

To quickly drill down into your music library and find a song, you can use the column browser.

Picture of the column browser

Your music is sorted by up to five categories (Genres, Composers, Groupings, Artists, and Albums), divided into columns. As you select an item in each column, the list narrows down to display only the matching songs.

For example, to find only music by Mozart, you could select Classical in the Genres column, then Mozart in the Composers column.

  1. Choose Music from the pop-up menu at the top left.

  2. Click Library.

    Library selected in the iTunes navigation bar
  3. Select Songs from the sidebar on the left.

  4. Choose View > Column Browser > Show Column Browser, and choose the columns you want to display. You can’t change the order of the columns.

  5. To use the column browser, select options in as many columns as you’d like.

    As you select options, songs that match your selections are displayed below.

  6. To close the column browser, choose View > Column Browser > Hide Column Browser.

Hide or show the sidebar

By default, the sidebar is visible. You can hide it.

  • Choose View > Hide Sidebar or View > Show Sidebar.

Note: You can’t access your playlists when the sidebar is hidden.

Show iTunes menus in Windows 7 or Windows 8

In Windows 7 and Windows 8, iTunes menus are hidden by default. You can show the menus temporarily or set the menu bar to always appear.

  • Show menus temporarily: Press the Alt key to show or hide the menus. The next time you open iTunes, the menus are hidden.

  • Show menus every time you open iTunes: Click the Menu button in the top-left corner of the iTunes window and choose Show Menu Bar. To hide the menus, click the Menu button and choose Hide Menu Bar.

Last Modified: Oct 13, 2016
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