Exclamation marks by my songs

Ok, so one day I sync my IPod with iTunes and the next thing I know, all of these little exclamation marks are by a whole bunch of my songs. It is driving me nuts because I just recently bought a lot of new songs and I cant play them because iTunes can't locate them. When I try to locate them it brings up these folders including one that says iTunes, but when I try to click on it, it exists out and nothing happens. But the funny thing is that I can still play the songs on my actual IPod. Please help! I don't know what to do.

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

Similar Messages

  • Exclamation marks next to songs

    I have a 33,000 song iTunes library stored on an external 1Tb USB2 drive that is permanently connected to my 20" Intel Core Duo iMac running the latest version of Leopard and iTunes. I keep getting exclamation marks next to songs and when I choose to loacted them thye are in the correct place. Sometimes its whole albums or one or two individual songs. Can anyone reccomend anyway to remdy this situation?
    Message was edited by: Scott Ronan

    Hi You are not the only one with this problem it seems that there are quite a few similar posts on this subject and no answers rather than going through one by one (no Thanks) or deletimg all files in iTunes and reloading over night (No Thanks!). This also means I will loose all my playlists!
    Please Apple answer this or remedy some kind of Playlist save!

  • Why do I get exclamation marks beside my songs

    what do I do to get rid of these exclamation marks

    I have Exclamation marks by my songs but not in the itunes library itself, only when i try to download them into my phone. the URL below is a video showing my problem:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doNLwKTme1c&list=UUFpnYmFaxG1CQbfHgV3oq4w&index=1 &feature=plcp

  • I tunes: I have exclamation mark next to songs i can listen to...

    Hi everyone.
    Well, i read and read and read and got tired of looking.
    Itunes shows me an exclamation mark next to song i JUST added to the library and tried to copy into my iphone. The exclamation mark appears next to the song name on my iphone display, but not on the itunes library. So, the result is i can listen to the songs on itunes, but itunes won't copy them into my phone.
    Evidently, it's not a problem of "file not found", because if that were the case, itunes would not be able to reproduce the music.
    I've been having problems trying to copy music into my iphone 5s.
    Please, i do not want to reset my phone to factory settings or whatever, i feel this whole thing is a terrible waste of time. There has to be a solution.
    I tried syncronizing music and accepting the reset of my phone's library, but the result was the only songs i have in my phone now are the ones i bought on itunes.
    I'm preety upset, i feel like this should be easier, if not, i will eventually switch to android...
    Can anyone help me?

    Hi melisb3,
    Welcome to the Apple Support Communities!
    I know issues with iTunes music can be frustrating. In this situation it does sound like there is an issue with the location of your music on your computer. Please use the attached article as a guide for troubleshooting. 
    iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads - Apple Support
    Have a great day,
    Joe

  • Exclamation marks next to songs, but I can no longer find them on my harddrive

    I have a Win 7 laptop and an old 30GB ipod.  Both iTunes and iPod software are up to date.  I download songs from CDs that I own and they appear in the proper iTunes folder.  However, after I sync my ipod, many of these songs suddenly get an exclamation mark next to them in iTunes and I can no longer find these songs on my hard drive anywhere.  In some cases, only a couple songs from a CD get the exclamation mark and disappear and in other cases it is the entire CD.  Why is this happening and where are the songs that I downloaded?  These is happening over and over.  What is the fix?

    This means iTunes can't find the location of the files. Try these articles:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1967?viewlocale=en_US
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408?viewlocale=en_US
    Hope these helps my friend.

  • Exclamation marks in all songs, can not play any or download to ipod

    i conected new ipod for the first time, was not able to down load music to it, after i disconected ipod all my library songs now have exclamation marks, when i try playing any song it say that can not be use because it can not find the original file, then ask me if i want to serarch for it, i got 10,000 songs can you imagine tryint to recuperate each one!!
    i will apreciate very much your help.
    j.r.c. cabo san lucas
    i mac g5   Mac OS X (10.0.x)   1.9ghz

    See: Troubleshooting songs and audiobooks that won't play on the iPod.
    It also will not turn off all the way.
    How far will it turn off? Surely the iPod is either off or on?!

  • My music library is over control i have an exclamation mark before the song. What i have to do ?

    I can't read a song because there is an exclamation mark before and iTunes request me to find the song somwhere i don't know where on my Mac ...

    try this script:
    iTunes Track CPR v1.3 
     This script attempts to locate the files of so-called "dead tracks"--iTunes tracks designated with (!)--that you assume are not actually missing but are still located in the iTunes Music folder in their "iTunes File Order" (Music -> Artist -> Album -> file.xxx)."

  • Exclamation mark with same song duplicates

    Now whenever I open my Itunes I have multiple music files on my I tunes. I have about 2 or 3 of the same file for alot of songs with a exclamation point next to them. I tired open that folder again but that did not work.

    The ! next to the songs can mean several things. The files have been moved from the iTunes music folder, or deleted from your computer entirely. Or the song files have been renamed/edited or otherwise changed by some method other than iTunes. In any event, iTunes has lost track of these song files.
    You can use Explorer to search your computer for missing songs.
    On the Start menu, click "Search".
    Select "All Files and folders".
    In the "All or part of the file name" field, type the song name and then click "Search".
    If you see the file you are looking for in the Search Results window, you can add it back into your iTunes library.
    See: How to add songs from your hard drive to iTunes.
    If you're looking to delete these dupes, there's a script that does that.
    Teridon's iTunes scripts for Windows.
    Message was edited by: Jeff Bryan

  • Exclamation mark when transfer songs - HELP

    Hello everyone.
    This is my first post ever on an Apple forum.
    I got a new computer and wanted to transfer all the music to the new computer so that I do not lose my song ratings. I am HUGEEEEEEEE on ratings. It's what I base MOST of my playlists on.
    I followed the instructions on this link to the teeth:
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300173
    When I open iTunes on the NEW computer all the songs with ratings have an exclmation sign and when I double click on the songs it says CANNOT BE FOUND.
    Is there another article on this or a workaround that anyone can recommend?
    Many thanks.

    Did you do the step labeled "Copy iTunes folder to iPod?
    "To copy all your music files (including the library file that holds all your playlists and other settings) to your iPod:"
    Move the entire *iTunes folder* from the old computer to the new computer.

  • HT204406 How do I make exclamation marks next to songs disappear and get those songs on my iPod?

    When downloading songs from a thumb drive, iTunes was unable to download those songs from iCloud and the dont show up when syncing my iPod.

    This means iTunes can't find the location of the files. Try these articles:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1967?viewlocale=en_US
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408?viewlocale=en_US
    Hope these helps my friend.

  • 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.

  • Podcast subscriptions screwy, exclamation mark, resubscribing doesn't work

    I did a search on this first, but I didn't find anything. If you know it's already posted, please just direct me to that URL.
    I know how to deal with the exclamation mark regarding missing songs -- no problem there. But lately I've had some podcasts evidently lose their subscriptions. These podcasts are still coming out regularly, and I listen to pretty much everything every week, so it's not the lack of use.
    Finding the "!" in the column to the left, I click on the podcast's arrow to take me to the iTunes page. I hit "Subscribe" again. Still the "!"
    Any suggestions?
    Thanks.

    I went to the Apple Store for a One to One last week on several issues, but that guy didn't have a clue on this one. He recommended seeing a Genius for this and a couple of my other more technical issues. Sometime in the next week or so I'm hoping to set that up. If I do get any more clarification, I'll post it here.
    cb

  • Podcast subscriptions glitch, exclamation mark in column, can't resubscribe

    (previously posted in error on the iTunes/Windows page)
    I did a search on this first, but I didn't find anything. If you know it's already posted, please just direct me to that URL.
    I know how to deal with the exclamation mark regarding missing songs -- no problem there. But lately I've had some podcasts evidently lose their subscriptions. These podcasts are still coming out regularly, and I listen to pretty much everything every week, so it's not the lack of use.
    Finding the "!" in the column to the left, I click on the podcast's arrow to take me to the iTunes page. I hit "Subscribe" again. Still the "!"
    Any suggestions?
    Thanks.

    I'm having the same problem with 60 minutes - itunes indicates a bad podcast url.
    I've tried deleting and re-creating the itunes podcast entry - it did not work.

  • Unexpected exclamation mark comes up....

    I just recently "backed-up" my Itunes music folder to my external hard drive to free up some space on my laptop. Now, when I complete a download it automatically goes to my (D) drive or hard drive. Once I play that downloaded track it shows up on my Itunes library and I see the exclamation marks on other songs in my library. When I relocate the songs with the exclamation marks I see more and more come up. Anybody knows or has any ideas to what may the problem be?
    Just to give a little more info. I also dragged and dropped my "Shared" folder from Limewire to my hard drive.
    Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!

    The exlaimation marks are there because the music is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. There are a number of possible approaches to resolve this.
    The first option is to put the music back where it came from, then follow the recommended iTunes way for relocating your library – see Moving your iTunes Music folder (Windows) - and ask it to "consolidate" your library onto your new drive, letting it rename your files in the process. Fine if you've still got enough room on your internal drive, have time to drag all the music backwards & forwards and don't mind putting iTunes in total control of the layout of your files.
    Another approach would be to delete the contents of the library & re-import from the new location. The downside is that you will lose any related metadata such as downloaded artwork, play counts, last played, date added, playlist membership etc.
    Another approach is given here: HOWTO: Move your iTunes music while preserving library data (when you don’t let iTunes manage your music library). With this approach you would need to perform some global search & replace edits on the XML version of the library to create the correct paths to each file, then "damage" the iTunes .itl database and hope that iTunes rebuilds it the way you want it to from the XML version. Tricky, but feasible if you're happy manipulating XML data.
    There is an easier way... use symbolic links or junction points. These are little known features of the NTFS & HPFS filing systems that let you take an empty folder and instead of filling it with content you make it point to existing content in another location such as an external drive. Although Mac OS X, Windows XP & Vista all support symbolic links none appear to come with any tools to help you create them so you'll have to grab something from the net. For Windows XP I've plumped for Junction Link Magic but you should explore the concept a little before diving in so you might find another tool that suits you better.
    Since you've already moved your library it should just be a matter of creating an empty folder back in the original location, i.e. if you moved the default *iTunes Music* folder from it's parent, *C:\Documents and Settings\<User>\My Documents\My Music\iTunes*, then creae a new empty *iTunes Music* folder in that location. When you've done that, fire up your linking tool to connect the empty folder to the new destination. Once done, as far as iTunes or any other applications are concerned your music is back where it always was despite the fact that you know it's now on the external drive.
    A final word of caution. The symbolic link lets one physical file/folder structure appear in a number of different locations within your filing system. Don't forget what you've done and start deleting what might appear to be duplicate files.
    tt2

  • Exclamation marks driving me crazy? 9-1-1

    I just purchased a refurbed 4gb Nano. All my music is either saved to "Desktop" or "MyMusic" and then individually transfer each album folder to itunes.
    Now I seem to get a lot of "exclamation" marks beside many songs??
    Anybody know why this is happening and how to correct this nuissance? It really is driving me crazy.
    On a side note Itunes was installed to default locations/settings. Thus in the preferences MyMusic/itunes/itunesmusic
    Where do all the files need to be stored?
    Thanks in advance.

    I can't give you a definitive answer but I had a problem relating to exclamation marks, where songs that were in my library had been either accidentally moved or deleted showed the symbol.
    From my experience, you should decide where you want your music files to be and stick to it. It may be that your computer is getting confused because you have two lots of files and that at one time, the library remembered you having songs that were in one location but have now been transferred to another.
    Make sure that in preferences, you have the Advanced/General tab settings ticked for Keep iTunes Music folder organised and for Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library.
    Import songs using iTunes directly (which is what it sounds like you've been doing) by dragging folders into it. Keep tabs on what folders you have and have not imported. You can check the folders in the iTunes Music folder to see if they are appearing properly but don't move them.
    I actually lost music because I had multiple sources which got the programme all confused when I tried to move my music location. If you want to change the location of your files, USE THE HELP! I learned to my cost that I did it the wrong way!
    I'm sorry if none of that helps. Good luck!

Maybe you are looking for