Troubleshooting: MP3 Audiobooks Playing Out of Order

What to do if your iPod plays your MP3 audiobook out of order:

• Reconnect your iPod to your computer and allow the device to finish syncing with iTunes. 
• Click on your iPod from the left sidebar.
• Locate the MP3 audiobook in the Music or Books (Audiobooks) folder within your iPod. The MP3 audiobook will probably be in your "Music" folder, unless you previously changed the file from music to audiobook.*
• Notice that there are no numbers to the left of each part. Adding these track numbers should correctly order your parts.
• Right-click part one and select "Get Info." (On a Mac, use the secondary click or two-finger tap or Ctrl-click.)
  

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• View the "Info" tab.

• Give each part a track number (1 of 7, etc.) and click "OK."
  
  
   
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• Repeat these steps for each part of the audiobook.

* How to let your iPod know that the MP3 audiobook is really an audiobook and not a music file. (This will keep your audiobook from shuffling into your music and enables resume playback.)

How To Delete Audiobooks From an iPod

Here is how to delete OverDrive WMA audiobooks from the iPod, iPod Touch, and iPhone.

When putting an audiobook on an iPod, the OverDrive Media Console transfers the audiobook straight to the iPod, with the assistance of iTunes. Even though iTunes is working in the background, the audiobook doesn't get stored there. You cannot delete an audiobook from the Music or Audiobooks folders within iTunes -- rather, you must find the Audiobooks or Music folder within the iPod itself (via iTunes).

• Plug in the iPod to the computer
• Open iTunes.
• Wait for iTunes to recognize the iPod.
• Click on the iPod name on the left sidebar of iTunes.
• If the folders inside the iPod are hidden, click on the small triangle to the left of the iPod name to expand the hidden folders.
• Search for the folder called "Audiobooks."**

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• Click on that folder to see the contents of the folder.
• In the main (center) section of the iTunes screen, click on the parts and press the delete button -- or right-click (Ctrl-Click on a Mac) and select delete.
• (You can always search for the name of the title to isolate the parts.)
• Safely eject the iPod and disconnect when finished.

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** MP3 audiobooks are typically found in the Music folder. Learn how to change the MP3 titles to true audiobook files.

Managing MP3 Audiobooks on an iPod

MP3 audiobooks do not have metadata to show that they are an audiobook; your iPod will only recognize these titles as music. Changing the files from music to audiobook is quick and beneficial!

• Plug in the iPod to the computer.
• Open iTunes.
• Wait for iTunes to recognize the iPod.
• Click on the iPod name on the left sidebar of iTunes.
• If the folders inside the iPod are hidden, click on the small triangle to the left of the iPod name to expand the hidden folders.
• Search for the folder called "Music."
• Click on that folder to see the contents of the folder.

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• In the main (center) section of the iTunes screen, located the MP3 audiobook parts.
• Select all of the parts at once. The easiest way is to click the first part, hold down the shift button, and use the down arrow key (with the shift button depressed) to select the other parts.
• Once all parts are selected, right click. (Control-Click on a Mac)

• Select "Get Info."
• Navigate to the "Options" tab. (I use the word "tab" loosely here...)
• Change the following:
  
  • Media Kind: Audiobooks
  • Compilation: Yes
  • Remember position: Yes
  • Skip when shuffling: Yes
  • Save the changes.
  • The audiobook will disappear from the Music folder and will show up in the audiobooks folder. If you did not have an audiobooks folder, be patient. Try syncing again and see if the folder shows up after a minute or so.

Read more: How to fix the order of MP3 audiobooks.