Why can't I delete files from my Ipod?

Factual Questions
1

I’ve got a 4 gig Ipod Nano. I’ll create a playlist called, “Podcasts” and drag podcasts into that playlist.

Then, I’ll go back and delete podcasts that I’ve listened to and add new ones. So far, so good. They don’t show in the playlist any longer.

However, the “Music” menu still has the podcasts which I deleted from the playlist. I can’t find a way to delete them from the ipod permanently. Thus, the ipod fills up with old podcasts and the only way for me to add new ones is to restore the factory settings and erase everything on the Ipod.

What am I doing wrong?

2

Have you tried using iTunes to delete the podcasts from the “Music” folder?

My understanding is that all your files on the iPod are in the “Music” folder, and the “Playlists” just allow you to organize them a little better. So deleting a song or podcasts from a playlist will mean it won’t play along with whatever else you have in there, but it is still in memory.

3

With Itunes, I don’t see the podcasts in the Music folder. I only see them on the ipod itself.

4

Exactly. Now as to why there isn’t a little checkbox that lets you delete music files when you delete playlists, that’s a mystery.

5

A Playlist is merely a place where things in your Music or TV Shows or Movies folders point. If you want to permanently delete items that you see in a Playlist, you have to delete them from the original location, not from only the Playlist. Deleting from the playlist just removes the pointer; it doesn’t delete the original file.

6

Maybe it’s different on your model but on mine (video 5G), subscription podcasts go into the Podcasts folder. Podcasts I downloaded myself that are not subscriptions end up in the music folder, probably because the device only recognizes that they are MP3s.

I don’t think iPods work such that downloaded items never appear in iTunes but only on the device, which is what it sounds like you think is happening. Check the Podcasts folder, or possibly they are in the Music folder but you’re looking in the wrong place. E.g., maybe they’re filed under the speaker’s name or the show name or the disseminating entity (for instance, This American Life is sometimes automatically filed under Chicago Public Radio, instead of This American Life–I have to change the “artist name” myself).

7

There is a shortcut on windows (not sure about macs so sorry if you have one, but I know teh command exists) to delete songs from the library via the playlist (works also if you delete the playlist as a whole). If you press shift+delete with the podcasts/mp3s you have selected (or the playlist you selected) it will ask you if you would like to delete the files from the library and keep them in the folder, move them to the recycle bin or cancel. Otherwise you have to go through your entire library and delete them from the main part.

Hope that helps.