Tip: How to disable Genius in iTunes 8

Here’s how to disable the new Genius sidebar in iTunes 8:

In iTunes 8, choose Turn Off Genius in the Store menu.

15 Responses to “Tip: How to disable Genius in iTunes 8”

  1. anne taylor

    PLEASE send instruction how to disable the Genius part of the iTunes upgrade.

    I do NOT want Genius, I prefer making my own list of songs..and not being directly connected to the store.

    I simply was updating my software, per the automatic notification…and got stuck with Genius.
    There was no clear disconnect icon in the iTunes store.

  2. Jez

    Thanks for this. Pretty simple actually, but not obvious…

  3. dan

    go to the itunes store menu at the top and then click on turn off genius

  4. carole fenwick

    I too got stuck with genius and if that’s genius I
    am Einstein. I like the surprises of “shuffle”
    Great site,found you on Google
    Kind Regards
    Carole

  5. Kev

    I NEED HELP
    How do I get the view with Gender/Artist/Album and all the songs on the bottum? iTunes 8 is driving me crazy!

  6. John Blackburn

    Kev, do this in iTunes 8:
    1. Select Music in the Library section on the left side of the window.
    2. Click the center of the three view buttons in the upper-right corner of the window.
    3. You should now see tab buttons for Albums/Artists/Genres/Composers

  7. Kev

    Thx for your fast help John Blackburn,
    I’ve done what you told me, but this isn’t what I tried to have back. I’m looking for this “eye like button” which iTunes7 had on the bottom right, where the genius button is now. I don’t like the covers, it takes to long to load and is less convenient then a list. To me at least. And the List alone is just nonsense when u have a some what big library. Am I the only one with this problem? If I hadn’t just bought an iPhone, I would change back to 7.

  8. Kev

    I’ve found it out!

    It was very simple:
    Go to “View -> Show Browser”

    Uff, so happy to have it back to the way I like it best!
    :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

  9. Mr. Reeee

    Thanks for the tip.

    The Genius is more of an irritant than help.

    If music in your iTunes Library is NOT in the iTunes Store… most of mine… then you get error messages.
    Or the suggestions hopelessly off…
    Or it simply lists best sellers in the particular genre.

    Sorry Genius, but if you keep telling me about Andrea Bocelli, then CLEARLY you’re no genius. And certainly lack taste.

  10. Jo

    I can’t find the “turn off genius” button in the itunes store on the store menu, I want to turn genius off and I have Itunes version 8.

  11. Mark

    I would LOVE to turn Genius off, as it keeps freezing iTunes, but my “Turn Genius Off” under the Store menu is grayed out and I cannot click it. How do I turn this thing off so I can listen to my music?
    Any suggestions would be appreciated.

  12. Brian

    Mark,
    On the bottom right of itunes, there should be an arrow that opens your Genius sidebar back up. Click on that so that the Genius sidebar is showing. Then try going to Store >> Turn Genius Off again. It should no longer be grayed out. I had the same problem and this worked for me.

  13. Greg

    If it’s grayed out, that might mean it’s currently updating. If so, click the X on the right side of the info pane at the top to stop the updating process, then choose Store > Turn Genius off.

  14. Lizzy

    THANK YOU, thank you, thank you. What a horrible addition. Ever since Genius popped up with my last update iTunes has been bogging down my computer. Anytime I want to listen to music off iTunes or plug in my iPod it just sends my compy into snail pace. A G5 Mac without many installed programs too. Not a shabby computer. It was so irritating!

  15. Katie

    Can the genius sidebar be manually updated? I’m trying to get a feel for it before I decide if I like it or not. I just bought a bunch of songs and can’t get Genius to work for it. Itunes keeps telling me to update Genius through the itunes store. I have no clue how to do this. Please help!

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