Deleting Songs with Exclamation Mark (!) in Bulk

I have hundreds of songs, all (I think) duplicates that have an exclamation mark in the left most column. All these need to be deleted - is there a quick way of doing this or do they all have to be done manually.
I can't work out how to order the first column to put them all together. And I realise they represent songs that iTunes can't find.
Thanks...

You can do this with a script called itunesremovenotfound which you can find here:
http://home.comcast.net/~teridon73/itunesscripts/
Or if you prefer to say in iTunes, iT can be done with a combination of playlists:
Create new regular playlist – Playlist1
Select whole library and drag to Playlist1
Create new Smart Playlist with the rule: Playlist is not Playlist1
This playlist should contain all the dead tracks
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=5696793#5696793
Once you have all the dead tracks in a playlist, they can be deleted together.

Similar Messages

How to delete songs with exclamation mark and duplicates?

I have a large iTunes library, around 600GB. Due to a HDD failure some of the files are no longer in existance and so show up with a '!' in front of them. Is there a way to automatically find all of these and delete them?
In addition, according to iTunes, using the 'Show Duplicate' feature, I have around 50,000 files that are duplicates. Is there a way to sort this out (not manually)?

For the dead tracks, there is http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=removedeadsuper - I'm currently running it now.

ITunes Match sometimes skips / plays songs with exclamation marks

Using iTunes Match (v10.5.3) from my MacBook (OS X 10.6.8) I synched about 60G of music located on an external hard drive connected to my home-based AirPort Extreme base station into Apple's cloud. It works great from my iPhone and the iMac in my remote office, but occasionally when I connect with my MacBook I get these confounding exclamation marks between the song list number and the selection check box.
When this happens and I attempt to play a song with an exclamation mark sometimes iTunes prompts me to connect to the hard drive connected to the Airport and when I don't the exlamation points appear. Other times I can play the songs, but only if I individually select them; otherwise it skips all the songs with exclamation marks until it finds a local song (or recording) (i.e. without an exclamation mark).
Sometimes restarting iTunes gets rid of the exclamation marks, sometimes it doesn't. I've noticed that I often have this problem when I upload new music to the Airport-connected hard drive. But sometimes it happens without me uploading.
Through trial and error I'm starting to get a sense of what's happening but it still feels kind of arbitrary. Can someone explain what's happening?
Many thanks in advance.

The problem is that iTunes thinks the external HDD is not connected so it can't find the actual song files. So the problem you need to solve is why is the external HDD not connected.

I have duplicates, triplicates and songs with exclamation marks.

I keep an external drive for iTunes. When I reinstalled iTunes and pointed it to that drive, it imported my playlists, but the songs have exclamation marks. When I click on a song a window pops up asking if I want to locate that list; then the beachball kicks in and I have to perform a force quit.
Now I have three of every playlist and in the Music library, duplicate songs, some with [!] and some without.
Can/should I start over? If so, what are the steps?
Thanks.

to take care of dupes:
_*How to find and remove duplicate items in your iTunes library*_
or [_*Araxis Find Duplicate Files*_|http://www.araxis.com/find-duplicate-files> (free trial)
or [Dupin|http://dougscripts.com/itunes/itinfo/dupin.php] (commercial).
JGG

I recently removed duplicate songs in iTunes. Now my library has a bunch of songs with exclamation marks by them. How do I get all my iTunes working again, but remove all the duplicate files?

I had manually deleted a number of duplicate iTunes that I originally have as mp3s. I want to only have one iTune of each song, but they do need to be working copies. However now, I have a bunch of iTunes that will not play now and they have an exclamation mark beside them. How do I get these working again and still only have one copy of them?

I suspect you might have been suffering from logical duplicates. See this thread for a discussion of the topic. Restore any files that are in your recycle bin, import any disconnected media either by adding the media folder to your library or using a tool such as iTunes Folder Watch. Once the files are back in your libray you can use the methods I outline in that thread or my DeDuper script to tidy up.
tt2

How do i group all songs with exclamation marks

How can I get all of those songs (that show exclamation marks following consolidating files) to group so that i can delete enmasse

Not easily, use iTunes Folder Watch and set it's option to check for dead tracks on start-up.
tt2

Deleting tracks with exclamation marks

Does anybody know if there is an easy way to delete all the songs from my library that have exclamtion marks next to them. I recently categorised all my music on my harddrive into Genre specific folders thus moving the files. I also have songs still listed there that I have deleted.
Because I have so many 'dead' files listed and they are so widely dispersed my library is huge when infact i think only around 500 of the songs actually work. Just to make clear - i dont want to find the files - i know how to do that. I want to delete the dead ones.
Cheers
Windows XP

Pay a visit to Otto 42's website and download the easier-to-use iTunes script zip file .
When you set it up on your computer, there's an option to "Remove Dead Tracks from iTunes Library".

How-to find all songs with exclamation mark?

Hi,
Is it possible to have iTunes show all songs for which it can't find the file? The external hard disk with all the songs failed and I want to verify that I have restored all of the library.
Regards,
Al Malin
iMac 17 Flat Panel w/Super Dr Mac OS X (10.4.8) iTunes 7.0.1

Here's a few scripts which should help.
Super Remove Dead Tracks v1.5
Bring Out Yer Dead v1.1
Fix Broken Tracks
iTunes Track CPR v1.3
List MIAs v1.2
Remove Dead Tracks v1.1

How to delete the tracks with exclamation marks?

I have just moved about 10 gigabytes of music I don't listen to off my hard disk to an external hard drive. This was to declutter my hard drive and get me down to about 50% free. Itunes now has all the moved tracks still listed with exclamation marks next to them all now. I want rid of these songs from my Itunes view. How can I get rid of these moved tracks now without manually deleting the batches. Annoying that exclamation mark field is not sortable or would be easy to mass delete.
Anyone got a neat solution out there?
Thanks in advance.
Lorne

Yes, but now you have lost all your regular playlists, ratings, play counts, last played dates, non-embedded artwork etc.
Hope you don't miss them. If you do it might be possible to restore an earlier version of your library file and then bring it up-to-date with the free scripts at Doug's site.
An all iTunes, no loss of data approach would have been as follows:
Create a playlist called Found, select everything in Music and drag it into the Found playlist. Create a smart playlist called Lost matching All the rules Playlist is Music and Playlist is not Found. Your lost tracks will be in this playlist. You can delete them all with a Command-A to select them and Option-Delete to remove them. You can then delete the Lost & Found playlists.
I normally recommend the scripts as being an easier way to do things that you may want to do again.
tt2

Syncing ipod to itunes with exclamation marks

Hi,
I was wondering if I sync my ipod with exclamation marks on some of my songs in itunes, will those songs disappear from my ipod if I sync it? There are quite a few songs in my playlist that have exclamation marks next to them saying that they can't be found, however they are already on my ipod. I have been afraid to hook up my ipod to add new songs I've added for fear the ones I already have on it that now can't be found will dissappear. I did move some of the songs to an external hard drive to make some room on my computer hard drive, but some I can't find. Can you help me?

You should understand how iTunes managed your music.
If you move, edit, delete or otherwise change a music file listed in the iTunes Library with a program or tool other than iTunes, you may end up with a "!" in front of the song name or a message like “the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" It is important to note that iTunes does not keep track of music file changes made outside of iTunes.
See these Threads for ways of finding &/or removing the Broken Links:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=818692#818692
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=607582
EASIER:
Download this to your Desktop: http://ottodestruct.com/itunes/FindDeadTracks.txt (right-click, save-link-as)
and this, as well: http://ottodestruct.com/itunes/RemoveDeadTracks.txt (right-click, save-link-as)
Rename each to FindDeadTracks.js & RemoveDeadTracks.js respectively.
Run iTunes.
1) While iTunes is running, double click FindDeadTracks.js to run the script.
It will give you a list of all the exclamation marked tracks.
2) While iTunes is running, double click RemoveDeadTracks.js to run the script.
It will remove all the exclamation marked tracks.
This well-written iLounge Article is a must-read for anyone who wants a better understanding of how iTunes manages your music.
Best of Luck

Songs w/exclamation marks that won't play "file can't be found" Why??

I am getting inundated with more and more songs daily, with exclamation marks beside them, stating "the original file can't be located". It asks if I want to recover the file,I answer yes, but nothing seems to happen! I am a DJ and rely heavily on iTunes and will be extremely disabling for me if I can't get this figured out. Unfortunately, I am not a computer whiz, and would really appreciate all help I could get. I have weddings scheduled for this coming week end and really don't know what to do!
THANK YOU

It's lengthy, but not too complicated. When you tell it that you want to restore, make sure to show it where to look to find the file. Double click the file and move on to the next exclamation file. One after another, Takes time, but can be fixed. Another problem that continues to make iTunes difficult and lame.
Sly

Songs + adapter + exclamation marks

Hi, a few days ago, I had to move alll of my songs from "My Computer" to an adapter. Well, as I expected, all of my songs had exclamation marks next to them. Today, I took 6+ hours to "restore" all of them. But when I unplugged the adapter, it all became exclamation marks again! Ugh! So then I deleted all of my songs and added them from the adapter. It worked, until I unplugged my adapter again. The problem is, I only have 2 USB plug-ins, one for my mouse, and one for anything else. Well I need to plug in my ipod connector/cord AND the adapter, but it's not possible. Help? Since I have all those exclamation marks, I officially have NO SONGS AT ALL ON MY IPOD. They do show on my iTunes, but since they're "relocated", I can't upload them.
Please help. I feel like I'm going to die, I already wasted a DAY doing this, and it's just.. VERY VERY FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!

I had to move alll of my songs from "My Computer" to an adapter.
By "adaptor" I assume you mean an external hard drive? An "adaptor" is usually defined as +"a device for connecting pieces of equipment that cannot be connected directly."+ It's not a storage device.
Anyhow, if you are storing your music on an ext hard drive you must keep it connected at all times otherwise iTunes loses track of the songs files and hence the ! next to them.
You need a USB hub that will allow you to connect several USB devices into one USB port on your computer.

In iMovie: I open a project that has been finalized. source fragment is missing. I see a yellow triangle with exclamation mark. Why is that and how do I solve the problem?

in iMovie:
I open a project that has been finalized. source fragment is missing. I see a yellow triangle with exclamation mark. Why is that and how do I solve the problem?
please help.
J. Aalbers

Shouldn't really be the MPE at fault here ... what is the codec of the footage/sequence/project?
Second, can you create a new project in PrPro, then in the media browser, import that sequence from the other project?

HT204318 Copied my iTunes from my Mac to my Windows 7 laptop, now there are thousands of songs missing on the Windows copy with the exclamation point. everything shows up, playlists and tracks, there are just a bunch of songs with exclamation points. how

Copied my iTunes from my Mac to my Windows 7 laptop, now there are thousands of songs missing on the Windows copy with the exclamation point. everything shows up, playlists and tracks, there are just a bunch of songs with exclamation points. how can i properly sync my iTunes from my Mac to my PC? using iTunes

nope all my songs are copied and organized into the iTunes library.

Red stopsign with exclamation mark when I try to open iTunes!

When I click on the iTunes icon in the dashboard, a window comes up that has a stopsign with an exclamation mark. This can't be good..... What does this mean and how can I get back my iTunes?
Help!
Thanks.
PS: I just did the last software update a few days ago and remember there was something regarding iTunes there. Not sure if that is relevant. I also had a system crash a couple of days ago and got nothing but the blue screen until I removed my battery and reinserted it....again, not certain if this is relevant either.....

Thanks for responding Chris. I repaired permissions (there were alot) but not sure how to run Disk First Aid as the repair permissions area is actually under the "first aid" button. If there is another step, can you walk me through it?
After I repaired permissions I rebooted but I still cannot open iTunes - the same stopsign with exclamation mark and iTunes logo come up....

Deleting Songs with Exclamation Mark (!) in Bulk

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