Hide the Genre column in iTunes 8 for Windows

By Julian Prokaza on Wed 10 September 2008

Disable the Genre column iTunes 8 for Windows Although we haven’t had much of an opportunity to put it through its paces, iTunes 8 has made a pretty positive first impression so far. The new Genius auto-playlist and music recommendation feature is both clever and genuinely useful

What we don’t like, however, is Apple’s decision to foist the Genre column upon us in iTunes’ Browser view whether we want it or not. Previous versions of iTunes had the option to disable this column, but the option is missing in iTunes 8 – for no good reason.

So, rather then simply complain about yet another example of Apple’s “we know best” philosophy getting seriously out of hand, we thought we’d figure out a fix. So, if you want to get rid of the Genre column in iTunes 8 (both for Windows XP and Vista) in Browser view, read on.

We’re assuming you have iTunes 8 installed and running for this short how-to guide – if not (perhaps that Genre column has so far dissuaded you), you can grab it from the iTunes site.

This fix is also far from straightforward, and you’ll also need a text editor that won’t introduce its own wacky formatting into the preferences file we’re going to be editing. Notepad won’t do, but the free Notepad2 will (direct download link) – download it to your Desktop and unzip the file before you start (no installation is required).

If you’re running iTunes 8 under MacOS X, the fix is far simpler – see Tech Recipes for full details.

Step 1

Quit iTunes and locate the iTunes preferences file – iTunesPrefs.xml. The easiest way to do this, both for Windows XP and Windows Vista is to press [Win] + [E] to open a new Explorer window, and then type %appdata% into the address bar. This will open the Application Data folder – you then just need to navigate to Apple Computer > iTunes. You should then see the iTunesPrefs.xml file.

Step 1

Step 2

Copy the iTunesPrefs.xml file to the Desktop to make a backup. Then run Notepad2 and drag the original iTunesPrefs.xml file onto its window to open it.

Step 2

Step 3

Scroll to the end of the file and insert the following code starting on the line before the second-to-last </dict> tag ~~at line 2267~~ – the screenshot below makes this clearer. You can copy and paste the code – just be sure to keep the capitalisation intact.

<key>show-genre-when-browsing</key>
<data>
AA==
</data>

Step 3 - before Step 3 - after

Step 4

Save the file, start iTunes 8 and the Genre column will have been disabled in Browser view. You can reverse this change by deleting the custom code from the iTunesPrefs.xml file.

Step 4

Comments

thanks,work perfectly

You might want to backup your file before editing.I deleted the custom code to restore the Genre browser and it didn't restore! Same with the iTunes store links.

this guide is simple to understand - but when i open the file in notepad2 my code finishes on line 3769, not 2273 as your illustration shows. ive tried to paste the code in but i'm having no luck.why is mine longer, and how do i get rid of those damn genres...?any thoughts'd be appreciated

Step 2: "Copy the iTunesPrefs.xml file to the Desktop to make a backup"...The code has been checked and double-checked, and works as expected. Make sure that iTunes isn't running when you make any changes, and that you're editing the original file, not the backup.

Your prefs file might be a different length if you have a different configuration in iTunes, but this doesn't matter (I've deleted the line number instruction to refelct this). Just insert the extra code before the second-to-last < / dict> tag (ignore the wacky spacing - the comments system filters tags otherwise) -- it doesn't matter what line it's on.

those instructions don't seem to work for me. i followed them step by step and the genre column still appears.i have noticed on other sites telling you how to remove the genre browser it says to put the tags under the "user preferences" key. my xml file however does not have one. could that make a difference?ive tried about 6 different sites and none of the methods seem to work for me.please help?

These instructions are putting the code under User Preferences, Daniel - but at the end, rather than the start. Try searching for 'User' in Notepad2 to find the start of the section, if you like. As long as you put the code before the [b]second to last[/b] < /dict> tag (which closes the User Preferences section), it should work.

thanks Julian. ends up i was using the wrong itunesprefs.xml file. there is one under the local directory and one under roaming.i was trying to use the local one instead of the roaming one. the code works fine for me now.thanks a lot! :D

Cheers for this, it's kept me with itunes for another generation. Genre browsing would make such difficult ID3ing

Spot on - I'm not a PC user and that was a clear walk through for the humble Mac person. Thanks for sharing.

Spot on - I'm not a PC user and that was a clear walk through for the humble Mac person. Thanks for sharing.

Worked perfectly for me, thanks!!!Todd in Boise

Brilliantly explained and with no assumptions about my IT skills. Other sites miss out key info such as the use of Notepad2. Thank you.

Spot on explanation!Thanks so much! now for those itunes store arrows...

If you want to restore the Genre browser and you didn't backup your iTunesPrefs.xml file then just add the following:[code]show-genre-when-browsingdHJ1ZQ==[/code]Launch iTunes and the Genre browser will have returned. You can then close iTunes, edit the xml file once more and completely remove the code.

Hmmm, the code tags seem to have dropped most the contents!show-genre-when-browsingdHJ1ZQ==

Okay, so it's not the code tags! Perhaps it's Google Chrome, let's try one more time with feeling...show-genre-when-browsingdHJ1ZQ==If there's not 4 lines of code above this paragraph then it's gone screwy again. Feel free to email me for the code! :)

It's BBEdit, MrBass - it strips certain tags from comments for reasons best known to itself. Insert a space after any < symbols and it should work.

Thank you for such a detailed explanation of this procedure. It worked first time out of the chute for me.Again, Thank you.Michael

Worked perfectly.Thanks for a great tip.

Cheers Julian,What I was trying to say is, if you forgot to backup your iTunesPrefs.xml file, you can use the following code (excluding spaces after the show-genre-when-browsing< /key>< data>dHJ1ZQ==< /data>[/code]Restart iTunes and you will see the Genre search filter has returned. You can then edit the file again and remove the above addition and your Genre search filter will remain.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Holy crap, apple...

Thanks very much. Superbly simple.

Hey, many thanks - it was so simple to follow - even for a novice like me! Cheers.

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