Deleted itunes files on accident.

i was deleteing files because my 60g of flash was maxed out. in the process, i deleted important itunes files. all my music is there however, it has a ( ! ) next to the song & wont play due to "missing files" is there a way to reverse this? or possibly restore my music from my ipod touch? im a dj so this will end my life if i cant reverse this.
i have osx 10.7.1
i own macbook air 13", ipad2, iphone4, and ipod touch 4th gen. all purchased from apple not second hand. please help me.

Some of the information below has subsequently appeared in a document by turingtest2: Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3991
Your i-device was not designed for unique storage of your media. It is not a backup device and media transfer was designed for you maintaining a master copy of your media on a computer which is itself properly backed up against loss. Syncing is one way, computer to device, updating the device content to the content on the computer, not updating or restoring content on a computer. The exception is iTunes Store purchased content.
iTunes Store: Transferring purchases from your iOS device or iPod to a computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1848 - only media purchased from iTunes Store
For transferring other items from an i-device to a computer you will have to use third party commercial software. Examples (check the web for others; this is not an exhaustive listing, nor do I have any idea if they are any good):
- Senuti - http://www.fadingred.com/senuti/
- Phoneview - http://www.ecamm.com/mac/phoneview/
- MusicRescue - http://www.kennettnet.co.uk/products/musicrescue/
- Sharepod (free) - http://download.cnet.com/SharePod/3000-2141_4-10794489.html?tag=mncol;2 - Windows
- Snowfox/iMedia - http://www.mac-videoconverter.com/imedia-transfer-mac.html - Mac & PC
- iexplorer (free) - http://www.macroplant.com/iexplorer/ - Mac&PC
- Yamipod (free) - http://www.yamipod.com/main/modules/downloads/ - PC, Linux, Mac [Still updated for use on newer devices? No edits to site since 2010.]
- 2010 Post by Zevoneer: iPod media recovery options - https://discussions.apple.com/message/11624224 - this is an older post and many of the links are also for old posts, so bear this in mind when reading them.
Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3141 - dates from 2008 and some outdated information now.
Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide - http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/copying-music-from-ipod-to-co mputer/ - Information about use in disk mode pertains only to older model iPods.
Get Your Music Off of Your iPod - http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Get_Your_Music_Off_of_Your_iPod - I am not sure but this may only work with some models and not newer Touch, iPhone, or iPad.
Additional information here https://discussions.apple.com/message/18324797
I will add that any professional dependent upon a computer should include in their budget the cost of backup drives. Some sort of failure is inevitable and if your livelihood is dependent upon this then you really, really should make sure there is safekeeping.

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Deleting iTunes files to clear up HD space

My HD was full, so I deleted 25GB of music by dragging the "itunes" folder and all of its contents into the trash. I then emptied the trash, but no disk space freed up on my HD. Before I deleted the files, I copied them to an external HD. Anyone have any idea what's going on? I'd like to clear up that 25GB....any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Did you delete the correct iTunes folder from your user account?
Restart the computer and see if the HD space gets corrected. You can also direct your iTunes to point the the Library on the external drive through the iTunes preferences/Advanced.

Deleting Itunes Files

How do you delete video files completely from the "purchased" library?

You can select Manually Manage music and videos on the Summary page. You will then be able to drag and drop files to your iPod and delete them from your computer. Note that ratings, playcounts and last played will not be transferred back to your computer.
But that's not the big problem. What happens if your iPod is lost or broken? Or, if you're having a problem with it and need to restore it? All the music that isn't on your computer will be lost. Do yourself a very big favor and buy an external hard drive for your iTunes library. Amazon has 320gig drives for less than $100 USD. iPods were never intended as primary storage devices.

Where do my deleted iTunes files go?

I keep my iTunes library on an external hard drive. Today I was deleteing matched low bit rate songs so I could re-download them from iCloud with a higher bit rate version. I select the option to remove the song from my iTunes library and I select the option to delete the song and move it to the trash. The song is then removed from the iTunes interface as well as the hard drive (when I go to the file location on my hard drive it is no longer there). However, when I go to the Trash bin, the file is not there leadng me to believe the file has in fact not been deleted.
I've also noticed that when I sync my iPhone and have all the newly updated apps transfered to my iTunes library, the old deleted files no longer appear in the trash been as they used to.
Any ideas?
FYI - I'm running the newest version of iTunes 10.

Hi,
You can redirect scanned documents to whatever location on your computer or external storage (depending your scanner). By default, scanned files should go to "My Documents" (or Documents).
Regards.
BH
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How can I permanently delete itunes files?

I moved my itunes library to an external hard-drive, but it still shows all the albums in my library. If I try to play an album, it says the file has been moved. How can I clean up my library so it doesn't show those files anymore?

When opening itunes keep the option(alt) key pressed on the keyboard.
I dialog box opens and you can choose your external Library on your hard drive. Sounds like iTunes is still trying to access the itunes library on the local drive which you have deleted. That is why you have all the exclammation marks by your content because iTunes can not find the files.
This will then always use the hard drive as your itunes library. Just ensure that the Hard drive is not in a sleep state when you start iTunes otherwise it will default to your local machine.
Just click on it in finder to wake it up

HT4915 iTunes Match sync and deleted itunes files

Will iTunes match remove songs deleted from iTunes when it syncs?
I cleared all iTunes music on my computer to start over clean but didn't remove them from the cloud.

iTunes Match does not have the ability to remove local files.
The service operates by comparing the selected iTunes Library with the iTunes Store content and 'matching' or 'uploading' - it is very straightforward a 'match' provides equivalent access to iTunes Store content as a recognised 'purchase'; upload simply copies a 256k AAC variant into the cloud. There are no elements of this activity that can erase the local library content.
Would suggest you explore possible alternative causes of file loss. Given the pattern described of selective deletion, leaving many Songs intact - would suggest making at least 2 secure offline Song file backups and starting the library again from a fresh install of iTunes once a thorough sweep of the system has been completed for virus. It is also worth assessing the physical security of the system - who has access & with what privileges.
To access Songs from the cloud, you would have to manually delete the Song from the library or open an empty library - so even when accessing content, iTunes Match provides no local deletion capability.

Deleting iTunes files on a Mac when using iTunes Match

When using iTunes Match, how do you go about deleting the music that resides on the Mac HD? With my music being stored on the iCloud, it sure would be good to free up some HD space.

Music is deleted exactly the same way as prior to using iTunes Match.
You should also read this: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3704779

In my computer some of the iTunes files got deleted accidently and I couldn't reinstall it . Evrytime I try torun setup file I am getting this error message "C:\Users\Rif\AppData\Local\Apple\Apple Software Update\" ,appreciate if anyone can help me on th

In my computer some of the iTunes files got deleted accidently and I couldn't reinstall it . Evrytime I try torun setup file I am getting this error message"C:\Users\Rif\AppData\Local\Apple\Apple Software Update\" ,appreciate if anyone can help me on this pls?

Even after deleting all files and folders from hard drive i am still getting this error!!

Mistakenly deleted 3 files from iTunes, how can i find out which?

My iTunes library is manually managed.
I accidently deleted 3 files in my iTunes library: my iTunes library has 8921 songs. My music folder in the finder has 8924. So I basically 3 files on my finder are not in iTunes.
I don't want to empty my iTunes library and repopulate it with my music folder, because that would remove all my ratings, and disturb the real date added thing.
Thanks for any suggestions
Nick

Why not simply use the "Add to library" line in the file menu and target your music folder? Should just add back the 3 songs without changing anything else.

Accidently deleted itunes library via home share - Help!!

Hi there, I have just gone onto homeshare to get my iTunes library on my daughter's iphone. I then clicked edit and deleted the files that she didn't want on the phone, but it appears to have deleted all my iTunes library. Please help, Can I restore it? It's all my music, gone. Many thanks in advance.

Lindsay B wrote:
I accidently deleted my Itunes library and emptied the trash. I do have Time Machine. Can I use that to restore it? I went into Time Machine and couldn't click on the "Music" folder where my Itunes library was stored, even on backups earlier than when I deleted it. Am I doomed? How can I restore my library?
Ouch - a double mistake.
Select the music folder in Finder before running TM and see if that gets you there.
If not, then double-click the TM volume icon on the desktop and migrate down to a folder that has a recent date on it that is before your accident.
Click the arrow on the left of that folder name and you will see Macintosh HD
Click the arrow on that directory
Click the arrow on Users
Click the arrow by your name
Click the arrow by Music
What you see is what you got.
Take it from there.
Don't do anything more than copy a file from the TM backup. *Do not* move or disturb it in any way. The copy may not be the entire set of items you want, but if they are there you should be able to retrieve them the proper way, using Finder and TM normally
Message was edited by: nerowolfe

How to delete music file that is not downloaded into iTunes?

Im having a problem deleting a file I asked to open a music file, with itunes.
I was on a site called mp3skulls trying to listen and possibly download a file. I accidently requested it to be opened with itunes and as it did open with itunes and played. I can't simply delete it. It's not downloaded into my mac nor is it downloaded into itunes. It seems like it is being streamed from the site onto my itunes. I tried to find a delete option but there isn't one and i tried just dragging it to my trash can but it is still there playing.
there is a symbol right in front of the name that looks like this ((.)) (there's a dot in the middle) if that helps anything.
I just need to know how to delete this file cause i do not want to keep it.
Thank you!

If it is a system file and even if the file is corrupted, it cannot be deleted.
Try reinstalling phone software using Nokia suite if the phone supports Nokia suite and an USB port.
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I moved itunes file to external hard drive and want to move the file on my pc to recycle bin. When I move i get an error message that it cannot delete ituneshelper.dll access is denied. Can I move that file to the recycle bin?

I am trying to free up space on my pc and moving itunes files to external hard drive. I have followed instructions and believe I have file copied to new drive, but I am having trouble moving file to recycle bin as the instructions say. I am getting the following error message: cannot delete ituneshelper.dll:access denied, make sure disk is not full or write protected and file not in use. I know the file is not in use when trying to move. Any help would be most appreciated. I am on Windows XP.

Yes. And you should not have moved that folder. Put it back. To move your iTunes library move the folder from User's Music.
tt2

Why does iTunes create disk errors when deleting movie files?

I use a Macbook Pro, OSX 10.7.5. When I delete movie file from my iTunes library I get disk errors. I need to option boot select the recovery disk and repair the disk. Deleting a movie file I have placed on my desktop with finder does not create any errors. Most of the movie files are created as .m4v movies. They all play just fine with my Apple TV. I have tried turning off the Apple TV and rebooting before I delee files but nothing seems to work.
Any ideas?
Lance

If you let iTunes organise your media folders then that is the way it is. An option would be to change the Media Kind to TV Show which would gather them togther in one folder, but in a different part of the library.
tt2

I deleted iTunes when it said "iTunes could not back up iPhone because the backup could not be saved on the computer"and now it wont let me install it again and keeps saying "itunes cannot be installed because the file cannot be found in the cabinet "

iTunes told me to delete my backup folder when I was having problems syncing my phone to my computer. After that it wouldn't work at all. After trying and trying I deleted iTunes when it said "iTunes could not back up iPhone because the backup could not be saved on the computer"and now it wont let me install it again and keeps saying "itunes cannot be installed because the file cannot be found in the cabinet ". What the **** itunes? Nothing is working!!
I wanted to update my iTunes so I could sync my phone to my computer and update my phones software so I can use the latest apps that need a 4.2 or higher.
This is not fun for me so if anyone knows what I can do to fix this please help. Is it possible to download the "cabinent file" with the lastest iTunes?
Thank you.
-Kait
My phone is the iPhone4 and my computer is a Windows Vista

I doubt that corrupt files are the problem. It is more likely a space or permissions issue. Is the hard-drive on which iTunes is stored close to capacity? Do you (or the particular user profile you have logged on with) have the requisite permissions to save to that drive?
Otherwise, do you get an error code? This might point us in the right direction.

I have installed itunes 11.0.2.26. When I delete a file or podcast I am not being prompted to delete the file from its folder at the same time.

I have installed itunes 11.0.2.26. When I delete a file or podcast I am not being prompted to delete the file from its folder at the same time. How do I restore this facility? I am running a 64bit Windows 7 OS

Is the media files in question in the iTunes library or elsewhere on the computer?

Deleted itunes files on accident.

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