iTunes is gone in macOS Catlina, and the new Music app that replaces it is fairly similar in broad strokes. However, some users are having trouble finding how to search their own music library, as opposed to the iTunes Store.
When I tested this, typing any search into the Search field in the upper-left corner of the Music app produced results that I could switch by clicking one of three buttons in a lozenge in the upper-right corner: Apple Music, Your Library, and iTunes Store. When I selected Your Library, songs I’d purchased or ripped from CDs I owned appeared in the results.
IDGYou should see a lozenge containing three buttons to control which collection appears for search results. (Red rectangle added for emphasis.)
The interface doesn’t make that the most visible element to choose, and in my study I cannot find any way to prevent the lozenge from appearing.
However, after searching, clicking on an album, and clicking play, which brings up a new playback bar at the top of Music, the buttons were obscured. I had to click the < (back) button at the upper-left corner of the screen a few times, and then the lozenge reappeared.
If you don’t see the collection-selection lozenge, I suggest trying:
Click the x in the Search results and try again.
Click the pause button if music is playing.
Click the < (back) button to work backward in searches.
Quit and relaunch Music.
This Mac 911 article is in response to a question submitted by Macworld reader Frine.
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Author: Glenn Fleishman, Senior Contributor
Glenn Fleishman’s most recent books include Take Control of iOS and iPadOS Privacy and Security, Take Control of Calendar and Reminders, and Take Control of Securing Your Mac. In his spare time, he writes about printing and type history. He’s a senior contributor to Macworld, where he writes Mac 911.