How to See and Delete "Recently Played" on Apple Music

Part 1. How to Find Recently Played on Apple Music

Apple Music has a feature called Recently Played that helps you get back to music you've listened to before. It's like a musical diary—it keeps track of your recent albums, playlists, or stations. I use it often when I want to continue something I started earlier in the day. And here's a friendly reminder: the stations you create can only be found in the Recently Played section. It's a bit strange, but that's how it works.

You can find Recently Played in the Home tab on iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Just scroll down a bit and you'll see it listed. In iTunes, it appears under the For You section and works the same way. You'll see a row of music cards you can swipe or scroll through.

On iPhone & iPad:

1. Open the Apple Music app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap the "Home" tab at the bottom of the screen.
3. Scroll down until you find the "Recently Played" section.
4. To see the full list, tap "See All." Here, you'll find albums, playlists, radio stations, and more that you've recently listened to.

On Android:

1. Open the Apple Music app on your Android device.
2. Tap the "Listen Now" tab at the bottom of the screen.
3. Scroll down to find the "Recently Played" section.
4. To view more, tap "See All." You'll see a list of albums, playlists, and stations you've recently played.

On Mac:

1. Open the Music app on your Mac.
2. Click on the "Home" tab in the sidebar.
3. Scroll down until you find the "Recently Played" section.
4. To see the full list, click "See All" at the top-right corner. Here, you'll find albums, playlists, radio stations, and tracks you've recently listened to.

On Windows/PC (iTunes):

1. Open iTunes or the Apple Music app on your PC.
2. Click on the "For You" tab.
3. Scroll through the "For You" page to locate the "Recently Played" section.
4. To see more, click "See All" at the top-right corner. You'll find a list of albums, playlists, and stations you've recently played.

Part 2. How to See Listening History on Apple Music

Apple Music also lets you see your listening history, which shows the songs you've played one by one. This is helpful if you want to go back and find a track you forgot to save—instead of the full album, playlist, or radio station.

To check it, start playing something. Then tap the Now Playing bar at the bottom. Tap the Up Next icon (three lines). At the top of the list, you'll see the songs you recently played. This is your history.

On iPhone & iPad:

1. Open the Apple Music app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Start playing a song, or if one is already playing, tap the song at the bottom of the screen to bring up the Now Playing view.
3. In the Now Playing view, tap the hamburger menu icon (three horizontal lines) at the bottom-right corner.
4. Look for the History section and swipe down to reveal it.
5. Here, you'll find a list of your recently played songs.

On Android:

1. Open the Apple Music app on your Android phone.
2. Start playing a song, or if a song is already playing, tap the song at the bottom of the screen to bring up the Now Playing view.
3. In the Now Playing view, tap the hamburger menu icon (three horizontal lines) at the bottom-right corner.
4. The History section is displayed on the same screen as "Continue Playing," but you might need to swipe down to reveal it.
5. Here, you'll see a list of your recently played songs.

On Mac:

1. Open the Music app on your Mac and ensure you're logged in with the same Apple ID.
2. From the sidebar, click on the "Library" tab.
3. Click the hamburger menu icon (three horizontal lines) at the top-left of the window.
4. From the dropdown menu, select "History."
5. You will now see a list of your recently played songs.

On Windows/PC (iTunes):

1. Open iTunes or the Apple Music app on your PC and ensure you're logged in with the same Apple ID.
2. In the iTunes or Apple Music window, go to the "Library" section at the top.
3. Click the hamburger menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top-left corner of the window.
4. From the dropdown menu, click "History."
5. You will see a list of your recently played songs in this section.

Part 3. How to Delete Recently Played on Apple Music

If you've ever tried to delete something from your Recently Played section on Apple Music, you've probably noticed—it doesn't work the way you'd expect. There's no option to manually remove items like albums, playlists, or stations from that list. When you long-press on anything in Recently Played, you'll only see options like Play or Share. There's no delete or remove button. It's basically locked in. Apple seems to treat this list as a kind of safe history that can't be changed.

From what I've seen, the Recently Played section shows your most recent contents—up to 40 items if you choose to expand the view. So if you're hoping to clear it out, the best option is to just keep listening to new stuff. Over time, newer content will push the older items out of view.

But if you really want to hide it from others—for example, if someone else like your spouse, friends, or family uses your device—you can choose not to show Recently Played on your Mac, and keep the Recently Played view limited to your iPhone. Then, you can also try turning off Use Listening History (we'll save it in Part 5), which applies only to the specific device where it's turned off.

If you're still trying to clean up what you've listened to—specific tracks only—there's one more thing you can try: clearing your listening history in the Now Playing screen. We'll talk more about that in the next section.

Part 4. How to Clear Apple Music Listening History

Sometimes, you might want to clear your listening history on Apple Music—maybe to keep your habits private or just to start fresh. The good news is, you can remove specific songs or clear your entire history. But there are a few limits to keep in mind.

First, this only applies to the listening history found in the Now Playing screen—not the Recently Played section on the Home tab. As mentioned earlier, the Recently Played list can't be manually cleared.

Option 1: Clear Specific Tracks

On iPhone, iPad or Android:

1. On your iPhone or Android, go to Now Playing and tap on the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines).
2. Swipe down to access your Apple Music history.
3. Swipe left on the recently played song you want to delete. This will reveal the "Remove" option.
4. Tap on "Remove" to delete the selected song from your Apple Music history.

Option 2: Clear Listening History

On iPhone, iPad or Android:

1. On your smartphone or tablet, go to Music and tap on Now Playing.
2. Tap on the hamburger menu icon (three horizontal lines) and swipe down to access your Apple Music history.
3. Tap on "Clear."
4. Tap on "Clear" again to confirm.

On Windows/PC, Mac:

1. On your computer, open iTunes (Windows or macOS) or the Music app (macOS).
2. Click on the hamburger menu icon (three horizontal lines) and select "History."
3. Look for the "Clear" button located at the bottom of the songs list.
4. Click on "Clear," and confirm the deletion.

Part 5. How to Use Your Listening History on Apple Music

Your listening history isn't just for finding old songs—it also helps Apple Music learn your taste. By default, Apple uses your play history to give you better music recommendations, build your Replay, and show your top tracks and artists over time.

But if there's a time when you listened to music you don't really like—or if someone else used your device—you might want to clear everything or stop Apple Music from using that history altogether. In that case, you'll need to turn off the Use Listening History setting.

This stops Apple Music from using what you play to influence future suggestions, show your Recently Played, or update your top songs, artists, and listening milestones.

On iPhone & iPad:

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Scroll down and tap Music.
3. Find the toggle for Use Listening History.
4. Tap to turn it on (green) or off (gray), depending on your preference.

On Android:

1. Open the Apple Music app on your Android device.
2. Tap the three-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner.
3. Choose Settings from the dropdown.
4. Scroll down and find the Use Listening History option.
5. Tap the switch to turn it on or off.

On Mac:

1. Open the Music app on your Mac.
2. In the top menu, click Music > Settings (or Preferences on older macOS).
3. Go to the General tab.
4. Check or uncheck Use Listening History to turn it on or off.

On Windows/PC (iTunes):

1. Open iTunes on your Windows PC.
2. From the menu bar, click Edit > Preferences.
3. In the General tab, look for Use Listening History.
4. Check or uncheck the box to turn it on or off.
5. Click OK to save your changes.

Part 6. How to Fix Apple Music Recently Played Not Updating

If your Recently Played section or listening history isn't updating, it might be because you haven't played any songs recently or because you've cleared your history. Try playing some music and then repeating the steps. Additionally, closing and reopening the app can help refresh the list.

Although users typically don't expect issues with the Recently Played feature, problems can arise. Sometimes, the Apple Music app stops updating the Recently Played track list. If you're experiencing this, try the following solutions to get it back on track:

Fix 1: Update Your Device:

On iPhone:

1. To update iPhone, go to Settings > General > Software Update. The screen shows the current installed iOS and whether an update is available.
2. To turn on automatic updates: go to Settings > General > Software Update > Automatic Updates.
3. Turn on Download iOS Updates and Install iOS Updates.

On Mac:

1. To use Software Update on Mac: go to Apple menu > System Settings > General (or System Preferences) > Software Update.
2. If Software Update finds new software, click Upgrade Now or Update Now to install it. You'll also need to enter all the information required.

Fix 2: Force Stop/Close Apple Music App:

On iPhone:

1. To force stop the Music app, swipe up on the Home Screen or double-click the Home button to see all the apps running in the background.
2. Swipe left or right to find the Music app, pause on it, and then swipe up to force stop it.
3. After that, restart it to see if tracks have been updated.

On Mac:

1. To exit Apple Music, go to Go > Utilities > Activity Monitor > Apple Music processes > Quit Process.
2. After that, reopen the Apple Music app.

Fix 3: Sign Out and Back in Apple Music App:

On iPhone:

1. To sign out of Apple Music, go to Settings > [Your Account] > iTunes & App Store > [Your Apple ID] > Sign Out.
2. After that, sign back in to the Music app.

On Mac:

1. To sign out of Apple Music, open the Apple Music app > Account > Sign Out.
2. After that, use Account > Sign In to sign back in to Apple Music.

Bonus Tip: How to Download All Apple Music Songs

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