I have exclamation marks and itunes cannot find original file?

I have exclamation marks and itunes cannot find original file. How do I locate original file?

Check you have your iTunes settings (Edit, Preferences, Advanced) to keep iTunes library organised.
Your songs should be in your music library in iTunes, iTunes Media, Music.
If they are not, start menu, type the name of a song in the box and the list should show you where that is located.

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FYI: How to Fix "iTunes Cannot Find Original File" Error

Yesterday morning, I opened iTunes and tried to play a file. I got the old "iTunes cannot find the original file" error. I tried another file. Same thing. I tried restarting iTunes, holding down the shift key, and making sure iTunes knew where my Library file was. Yep. Still no dice. So I came here, and did a search for help. I could not find any definitive answers to this question. So I did a Google search and found the fix in an old Metafilter thread. Given that this problem seems a little common, I thought I'd post my solution here, for anyone who has this issue in the future.
First things first, make sure that it's not just an issue of pointing iTunes to your current library location. Go to your advanced preferences and double-check the library location path. If this doesn't fix it, then it's time to go my route:
1) Open your iTunes folder in windows explorer. Look for a file called "itunes library.xml". Copy that file to your desktop or somewhere else so that it's backed up...in case something goes wrong.
2) Open the original XML file in notepad (right-click, "open with", "notepad").
3) In this XML file, you will see a paragraph of information for every file you have (songs, podcasts, videos, etc.). In each of those paragraphs, there is a file path specifying where the file is supposed to reside. This is how the itunes library.itl file knows where to look. In my case, it should have been "e:/my music/itunes", but instead, it was "e:/my music/itunes/itunes music". The program had created that folder for some reason, and all my files were pointing there.
4) Check a few of the paragraphs and see if they are pointing to your actual music folder. If so, then you have another problem...sorry. If not, then continue on:
5) Go to edit->replace (or control-H). In the "find what" box, enter the incorrect file path (in my case, e:/my music/itunes/itunes music"). In the "replace with" box, enter the correct path of your itunes music folder (in my case, "e:/my music/itunes". Then click "replace all".
If you have a lot of songs, this may take awhile. I have over 25,000 files, so it took at least 18 hours.
6) When it's done, quit notepad and save the XML file. Open iTunes. If it doesn't automatically start updating your library, then try to play a song. If you get the same old error, then quite iTunes, then re-open it, go to the advanced preferences and select the correct file path for the library location. This should fix it.

I am also finding many "ghost file" duplicate files (with the exclamation point "can not locate files" message), after pointing Itunes version 8.2.1.6 to my music folder on a separate, networked hard drive. My understanding is that the "Consolidate Files" feature in Itunes is supposed to properly identify all of the file locations, but it only worked for about 1/5 of our 10,000 plus files before it stopped running. (I've read in other forums that this software is buggy, and gets confused with long song titles, etc.)It also leaves you with duplicate "ghost" files to delete, when the music from the separate drive is "added".
I can not find a file called ituneslibrary.xml to try your suggestion, when I open my Itunes folder. When I do "get info" on the individual music files in Itunes that can't be located, the "where" field = "not available". I have doublechecked the library location in preferences and it is properly pointed to "K:\itunes" which is the correct location.

ITunes cannot find original file

Approx. 1/3 of my iTunes library has an exclamation point next to it (since the recent upgrade) All of the songs are in the iTunes library. In fact, when it asks if I want to find locate the file, I navigate to the iTunes library, and click on the 'missing' song. Then iTunes recognizes it. I don't want to have to do this 1000 times. Any suggestions?? (I've repaired permissions, and had iTunes re-index the iTunes library)

I have my music on an external drive, too, and have had the same problem. With previous iTunes, I was able to simply go to Edit > Preferences > Advanced and changed the iTunes Music Location Folder to my external drive. This used to get rid of all the exclamation points. Right after I updated to the newest iTunes, though, I also added hapsody Player to my computer so I could load music on my phone. Somehow, either the iTunes update or Rhapsody changed my iTunes Music Location Folder back to my C: drive. All my music had the exclamation point again. Grr....I went back to preferences and changed the folder location, and it worked almost completely. Out of my 26000 songs, I'd guess that less than 200 have the exclamation point now. Maybe you'll have better luck if you try the same thing.

Itunes cannot find original file would u like to locate it

I have backed up my music to dvds and now want to delete the backup from my desktop. as far as i knew itunes stored all the music but when i delete my backup music ,itunes asks me to locate the songs. surely i dont have to keep 2 sets of all my music on my hard drive? hope someone can help me.
Message was edited by: itouch gaz in special places

You might have changed the name of a folder in which you stored much of your music. I recently changed the name of a major music folder in my computer, and I had to recover all of the files. Think: Have you changed any folder names recently? If nothing else, search for the name of one of the songs on Windows. This will help you find the other ones. Since they were all lost at the same time, they're bound to be related by a parent folder. Recovering each individual song is a pain, though. You may want to just upload them by the folder once you re-locate them, rather than telling iTunes where each and every song is individually.
You could've also deleted the folder that the music was located in. If you've emptied it out of your recycling bin, say bye-bye to your music.
Dell Windows XP

I'm finding that songs that I have imported to Itunes are suddenly showing with "Exclamation" marks and Itunes tells me that the original file cannot be found. When I tell it to locate the file, it can't do it.

I'm finding that songs that I have imported into Itunes and played before are suddenly showing an"Exclamation" mark and Itunes tells me that the original file cannot be found. When I tell it to locate the file, it can't do it. I went to the Itunes help for locating files, but that still won't do it. It seems that somehow they are getting deleted, but not by me that I know of.
Can anyone help me?

Maybe you rename it. Somehow the path to the songs have changed if not deleted.
In Finder go to "Macintosh/Users/username/music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music" that's where all your songs located so if those songs are not there you get an exclamation mark. You can delete those entries in iTunes and re-import again.

I am getting an exclamation point in front of all tracks and message itunes cant find original file. How do I resolve

I am getting an exclamation point in front of all tracks and message itunes cant find original file. How do I resolve

Hey waltee911,
It sounds like you're seeing something similar to this picture:
If that's the case, the following article has troubleshooting steps to solve the issue:
iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408
Welcome to Apple Support Communities!
Sincerely,
Delgadoh

I have updated to Keynote 6.1, but I still have 5.3 and I cannot open the file I just created in 6.1.

I have updated to Keynote 6.1, my App Store says I did it 2/1/14, I just created a new slideshow in 6.1 tonight, saved it all the way through while creating it, and when finished, saved it one more time, and closed the file. I treid to open it again, but I get an error message stating I need a newer version of Keynote to open the presentation. I check the "About Keynote", and apparently I still have 5.3 and I cannot open the file I just created in 6.1. I try changing the file to open with 5.3, but it won't do that either! The App Store won't let me re-download it. How do I get 6.1 back??? I need to reopen the file I just created.

I am finding that when I launch keynote from the Docking Station and it opens Keynote 5.3, so I command Q and close it. I then go to Finder, go to the Keynote slideshow I created in 6.1 and now cannot open, and CAN open the slideshow from Finder, which it actually open the file in Keynote 6.1.
I emptied my Trash.
What the heck is up with this???? And how do I fix it??

My ipad quit backing up and it cannot find the file. I tried putting on another computer after a hard reset but it says it cannot back up there either.

My ipad quit backing up because it cannot find the file. I have tried a restore and hard reset and adding itunes to another computer and putting it on there but it still will cannot add the ipad to the new computer and back up. I have an iPad (not iPad 2) and 5.01 OS. It appears that my iPad is not fully fuctional since I updated to the new OS which is when my ipad stopped backing up. I lost data too and some apps don't work anymore.

Have you previously synced photos to the iPad, as that occasionally causes the 'missing file' error. If so then try deleting the photo cache from your computer and then re-try backing up - the location of the cache, and how to delete it, is on this page http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1314.
In terms of apps not working, if it's happening on all the apps that you've downloaded from the App Store, but not the Apple built-in ones, then try downloading any free app from the store (as that appears to reset something) and then re-try them - the free app can then be deleted.
If it's happening on all apps then try closing them all completely and then see if they work when you re-open them : from the home screen (i.e.not with any app 'open' on-screen) double-click the home button to bring up the taskbar, then press and hold any of the apps on the taskbar for a couple of seconds or so until they start shaking, then press the '-' in the top left of each app to close them, and touch any part of the screen above the taskbar so as to stop the shaking and close the taskbar.
If that doesn't work then you could try a reset : press and hold both the sleep and home buttons for about 10 to 15 seconds (ignore the red slider), after which the Apple logo should appear - you won't lose any content, it's the iPad equivalent of a reboot.

I need to reinstall creative suite 5.5 standard and I cannot find the file in the Adobe site.

I cannot find the file for Adobe creative suite standard on the Adobe site. Does anyone know how to download?

CS5.5 - http://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/cs5-5-product-downloads.html
You can also download the trial version of the software thru the page linked below and then use your current serial number to activate it.
Be sure to follow the steps outlined in the Note: Very Important Instructions section on the download pages at this site and have cookies enabled in your browser or else the download will not work properly.
CS5.5: http://prodesigntools.com/adobe-cs5-5-direct-download-links.html

ITunes not finding original files?

When I open iTunes on my PC, the songs all have exclamation marks beside them. When I click on the song, it says "the song could npot be used because the original file could not be found". All my songs have either been copied from a CD or purchased through iTunes. Is there a way to fix this without manually pointing iTunes to each file for all my 600+ songs?
Thank you!

The exclamation marks (and the accompanying note) inidicate the files aren't located where iTunes expects them to be. This most often happens when the files have been deleted, renamed or moved to a different location than where iTunes expects them to be.
If the files are still on your computer but have been moved, the best solution is to get them back where they were in the first place. iTunes will be able to find them again - happy ending.
Sometimes though, it seems iTunes loses track of files for no apparent reason. In that case, you can start with a new iTunes library. Regrettably, this method loses playlists and related information (Ratings, Play Counts, Dates Last Played, etc.)
If that's not a deal-breaker for you, delete the current entries in your Library by highlighting them - iTunes File menu > Select All - and then right-clicking > Delete . You remove the entries from your Library but keep the files themselves in your iTunes Music folder, assuming that's where they are in the first place.
You can then add them back into your Library by selecting the iTunes Music folder in Windows Explorer and dragging it into the Library entry in the iTunes Source List (left-hand column).

Missing songs: half of the songs in my library have suddenly become unplayable because iTunes "cannot locate original file" whats caused this and how do i fix it?

Its really irritating having all my songs there one day and having half of them go missing the next and i haven't done anything to cause the files to be lost, on top of that it's completely randomised in what songs have gone missing as it is not whole albums, individual songs from different albums are going missing and it's telling me to find the files, which i have no idea where to look or what to do, it has rendered iTunes completely useless for me. Does anyone else have this problem? How did you fix it?

This happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, or that the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout,or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to get info, then cancel when asked to try to locate the track. Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions.
Alternatively, as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes .
tt2

How come when I try to look at my photos in Iphoto a triangle comes out with an exclamation mark and I cannot see my photo?

How come when I try to look at my photos in iphoto a triangle comes out with an exclamation mark? Does this mean that I have lost all of my photos? Is there any way to fix this?
Thanks to all...

It means that iPhoto has broken the link/file path to the original file.
Apply the two fixes below in order as needed:
Fix #1
1 - launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
2 - run Option #4 to rebuild the database.
Fix #2
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
1 - download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
2 - click on the Add Library button and select the library you want to add in the selection window..
3 - Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option.
4 - In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
5 - Click on the Create button.
Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments but not books, calendars or slideshows. The original library will be left untouched for further attempts at fixing the problem or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.
OT

Copied Library to External Hard drive and iTunes cannot find

I copied my iTunes library to an external hard drive last night and went into preferences and changed location and then deleted the original folder...now iTunes is empty... If I go onto hard drive and select a song it tranfers it into iTunes (and back onto computers hard drive)...obviously did something wrong...anybody have any suggestions on how to fix?

Assuming you use the iTunes default settings where iTunes copied added items to your iTunes folder and organizes your library (meaning - everything is all self contained in the iTunes folder), then all you have to do is drag & drop your iTunes folder (not just the iTunes Music folder you find inside the iTunes folder) to the external drive and copy the entire thing.
If you want to test that it worked or would like to actually start using it from that location instead, use these instructions when you start iTunes to point it to the new location...
How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304447
If you are just testing, then close iTunes after you verify it works, and restart iTunes again with the same instructions and point it back to your internal drive (original) location.
Additional info...
Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307074
Cheers,
Patrick

ITunes cannot find music files, confuses inodes, external drive

I have all my music on an external drive, which is not always connected to the Mac. When I start iTunes w/o the hdd connected iTunes occasionally marks some of the songs as not found. Which is ok so far. BUT if it finds the same inode (of the original file on the external hdd) on the internal hdd it changes the location of the songs to the internal hdd. In my case to files like /Previous System/<some path>/Info.plist. So iTunes thinks the files are still there and cannot play them. After deleting all the Previous Systems files iTunes marks all those files as not found, that is, it does not search for the inode on the external hdd again. Very confusing.
Yesterday I started from scratch with an empty iTunes Library (I moved the original one) and the problem reoccurred instantly after I imported all my music, quit iTunes, disconnected the external HDD and started iTunes again. So some of my songs are lost, iTunes will never find them again w/o me reimporting them. Also the problem might occur anytime in the future and I seem to not be able to cure it, because iTunes tried to be intelligent. But how it can confuse inodes w/o looking at the device ID and why the songs did not return after I removed the /Previous Systems folder I cannot image.
I checked the inodes on the internal and external hdd for some of the songs and they were indeed identical. So iTunes seems reset the path/location in the Library DB if it can find the inode of a song which it cannot find by path. Why it does not look at the device id in combination with the inode# is a mystery.
Some additional details:
iTunes Music Folder Location: on external hdd
The Library files are on the internal hdd at ~/Music/iTunes.
I hope someone can answer that. I do not want to start from scratch every week. I hope my iPod which holds all the songs synchs meta info like play count and rating back as well.
Kind regards, soryu2.

And further....
I went into iTunes to try to download all my purchased music. Some, but not all, is showing up under iTunes>iTunes Media>Music. It looks like the library thinks some if the music is there, but it actually is not.
Seems like my library is corrupted (or something).
Since I have to upload all music from CD anyway, should I delete my iTunes library and start over, first by downloading all purchased music.

After installing update I have the "cannot find original file" message

After installing the latest version of iTunes to my pc today, the vast majority of my songs have a message "The song XX could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" Yes I would! Any help much appreciated.

The "missing file" error happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, one of its parent folders, or the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout, or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place. (In the case of a library moved from one system to another there are also potential permissions issues. See Repair security permissions for iTunes for Windows if this might apply.)
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to Get Info, then click No when asked to try to locate the track. (Due to a bug in iTunes 12 you currently have to say No twice!) Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, a folder renamed, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions. If the difference between the two paths is an additional Music folder in one path then this is a layout issue. I can explain further if that is the case.
In some cases iTunes may be able to repair itself if you go through the same steps with Get Info but this time click Locate and browse to the lost track. It may then offer to attempt to automatically fix other broken links. Although it says something like "use the same location" it expects to find the tracks in the same artist & album layout that it generates, not all in one big folder.
If another application like Windows Media Player has moved/renamed the files then the chances are that subtle differences in naming strategies will make it hard to restore the media to the precise path that iTunes is expecting. In such cases, as long as the missing files can be found somewhere, you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes. See this post for an explanation of how it works.
tt2

I have exclamation marks and itunes cannot find original file?

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