Resolved Help, Can't Remove Music From My Library

[davagorn]

I can't believe I am posting this. I have to be missing something obvious. But...

I have a new laptop and a newish iPhone. In the past I had an iMac (now in the dump) and an older laptop (now erased/reset) that were part of the same Music library.

I decided to clean up my Music library. I subscribe to Apple Music. I used to have iTunes match back in the day.

On my new laptop, I go to an album or artist in Music. I hit Delete. It asks, "Are you sure you want to delete this song from your Cloud Music Library?" I say yes and...nothing happens.

I cannot delete things from my Music library. This is pretty frustrating. Can anyone help? Thanks!

 

[mmkerc]

Ok, this is a pure WAG but when you hit delete did the iCloud download icon appear next to the song/album/artist? What I am guessing is you purchase the music via iTunes/Music. Apple keep track of what songs you download/purchase so you can always redownload without re-purchasing. So while the song is no longer on your computer, a shortcut is.

Like I said a pure WAG but all I can think of.

 

[davagorn]

Ok, this is a pure WAG but when you hit delete did the iCloud download icon appear next to the song/album/artist? What I am guessing is you purchase the music via iTunes/Music. Apple keep track of what songs you download/purchase so you can always redownload without re-purchasing. So while the song is no longer on your computer, a shortcut is.

Like I said a pure WAG but all I can think of.

The cloud status doesn't seem to matter. I have music I've purchased (hardly any), old CDs I ripped (some), and a ton of Apple Music subscription stuff I have added to my library.

Just now I tried deleting by Cloud Status: downloaded, undownloaded, "Matched," Apple Music, no status at all...nothing will delete.

 

[davagorn]

Update. SOLVED.

As suspected, this came down to me being dumb. But I still blame Apple a tiny bit.

New OS and Music App for me...I had been using iTunes on a ten-year-old MacBook.

When I hit the Delete key after highlighting a song, a dialogue popped up. "Are you sure you want to delete this song from your Cloud Music Library?"

Choices are "Cancel" and "Delete Song." In my Music App, "Cancel" is gray, with a small red line around its box. "Delete Song" is bright red. To me, it looks like "Delete Song" is the highlighted choice. So I was hitting Return, and nothing was getting deleted. Turns out, the gray "Cancel" box was actually highlighted, so I was hitting "Cancel" every time!

🤦‍♂️

 

[mmkerc]

I would have made the same mistake, happy you solved it