Recovering a deleted music playlist in Apple Music

Your Music library should not be stored in iCloud Drive, it should be stored locally. When trying to switch to a different database you cannot simply pick a file in Finder, you must hold down option as you launch Music, then click the Choose Library... option, then pick the file you want from the picker that opens up.

If you have a subscription to Apple Music or iTunes Match you must disconnect your computer from the internet before you open the library, or it will be updated, and the playlist you want to reclaim will be deleted. Once Music has opened and shows the list in question you can use File > Library > Export Playlist to save the playlist as an XML file, then switch back to the main library, reconnect to the internet, then use File > Library > Import Playlist to import the file you created earlier. Note that if any of the content in this list comes from the Apple Music subscription service (as opposed to purchases or ripped files) then it may not import correctly.

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Do you have a subscription to either of the Apple Music or iTunes Match subscription services? If so the cloud version of your library 'knows' this playlist has been deleted. When you revert to an older version of your database it will updated and the list removed once more. Take your machine offline, restore your old database, export the playlist in question as an XML file, connect to the current version of your database, go online, import the exported list.

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That really should have done the trick, assuming the list in question existed in at least one the libraries backed up between January 2023 and November 2025, and that you took your computer offline before attempting to open the library. Older libraries should have been updated to the newer library structure when they were opened, creating an additional Previous Libraries subfolder. Has that happened? Not shown in your current screenshot. You must see the Choose Library/Create Library dialog and use Choose Library in order to access those backups, or to reconnect to a copy of your database restored from Time Machine, if not, even if you copy the right library into the main Music folder and rename it after moving/deleting the other one Music can remain connected to the library that is missing the playlist rather than the file you think you want it to open.

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