Exclamation point next to music

why do I have a exclamation point next to songs on one of two nano's?

It means iTunes can no longer locate the track as the desire location specfied in the track's metadata. See this article for more information.
iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
B-rock

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Ever Since iCloud and HOmesharing, my playlists are completely empty and also most of my music has an exclamation point next it and when I click "get Info" and "find", it says it can't be found...

...I am really upset. I waited a long time before calling tech support b/c I knew it was going to be a nightmare. I'm 2 hours into a call with no resolution....
MOST OF MY MUSIC FILES HAVE AN EXCLAMATION POINT NEXT TO THEM. Many were from 100s of cds I've burned over the years (ever since the first iPod came out), and the rest were iTunes purchases. I can't tell which is which at this point but in my iPhone, on our iPods, on my iPad2, and my iMac....all of my playlists are empty. I distraught....It's years of building. Please someone, help me!

Ok, I had a glitch, forced to restart, and lost my train of thought.
Reinstalling iTunes should fix the major issue that might have gone wrong, perhaps your explaination points will disappear and everything will be peachy again.
But if they don't, you can open the XML file in iTunes Folder using a Text edit program to see what the common pathname is to the iTunes Music folder or where your content is located.
If you moved the itunes folder, it needs to go back.
I can't download iTunes to my Vista virtual machine to test it out right now because iTunes is down, so I can't verify the pathname, perhaps your issue and the iTunes being down are related somehow?
You don't want to import all your music again, but it's a option, but you lose all your playlists, that's what I'm trying to recover.
If oyu don't have a whole lot of playlists, then simply select all the explaimation point music and delete, select File from the menu and import your itunes folder again.

When looking at my Itunes songs that I have purchased and imported from CD, every song has an exclamation point next to it and says it can't be found. Why? and how do i fix it?

all of my songs in itunes have exclamation points next to them - why?

Hi Paula!
The exclamation points are due to iTunes not being able to find your music. This can be caused from either music being deleted from the computer or if the music folder has changed locations.
iTunes does not actually store the music in the program. All music is saved on the hard drive of your PC. iTunes just creates a link to their location and if that link is broken the exclamation points appear.
I see you're using a windows computer, the best way to locate these songs and add them back in to iTunes is to search for them.
You can click on your start menu, then in the search field type either the title of a particular song or .M4P
This should locate the music for you. Once you locate all the music or the one in particular you can right click on it and select properties. In properties you will be able to see the location.
An example of a location is, C:User Name/Documents and Settings/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media
Once you have that location you can go back to iTunes, click on a song with an exclamation, it will ask you if you would like to locate the file. Say yes and then direct the path to that song and after you select the appropriate song for that 1 file iTunes will ask you if you would like it to locate the other songs that are missing. Just say yes and your library will be back!

Moved library from PC to Mac w/ iPod now exclamation points next to songs

I used the instructions at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300173 to move my iTunes library from a PC to my new MacBook Pro.
Everything seemed to go smoothly...I moved the iTunes folder from the iPod to the Music folder on the Mac, then opened iTunes. Then something went wrong that I can tell will take me hours to fix. Or at least I hope not:
The first time I did it, all the songs had the exclamation point next to them and when attempting to play, I got the 'file not found do you want to spend hours re-linking all the files?' message. I moved the iTunes folder and tried it again. This time, about 95% of the 1,100+ songs had the exclamation point. And as I clicked on the few without the exclamation point to try and play them, they too developed the exclamation point blues.
Is this fixable? The .itl and .xml files are in the 'Music' folder. Should I try moving the iTunes folder from the iPod again? I also noticed that while my playlists and custom genre tags, etc. made it, the album artwork did not .
Please help! Thanks so much!

It is a likely possibility that the format of the folders is different between the 2 OS. Troubleshoot these
Make sure you have actually music files in the folder from your XP. Make sure you transfered your main music folder (My Music)
Do you have the folders in this order in your music category on your MacBook? iTunes>(iTunes Music Library.xml and iTunes Library data file)iTunes Music>(all of your music
If these dont work, then use Yamipod, a 3rd party utility that can extract all your info/music off your iPod into iTunes...

What does an exclamation point next to a song file mean?

I've been using iTunes for several months now and just today noticed that I have exclamation points next to a number of songs. When I go into my iTunes Music folder and try to find those files, they're not there.
Yet I haven't deleted any of these files.
What gives? I've got over 33,000 songs and don't want this to become a reocurring problem.
I did repair permissions with iTunes open just before I noticed the exclamation points b/c I was having a problem with copying new audio files into iTunes and it was suggested here that this would be a fix.
Could that have caused the exclamation point problem?
Either way, if someone can tell me how to fix this so that all of the exclamation points go away and the files reappear in my finder, I'd appreciate it.

Do you have an External Hard Drive connected to your iMac?
If you have some other storage device connected, you may have Saved these songs with the "!" next to them on THAT storage device.
If you DO have an external drive connected, try turning it on (or reconnect it) and bring up iTunes again, they will play if they were Saved to that external device.
Once you have identified if this is what has happened, you'll want to go back into iTunes Preferences and make sure it's set to Save to your 'Macintosh HD'(or whatever you call your primary Hard Drive).
iMac G5 Bluetooth, 512 Mb Ram Mac OS X (10.4.4)
iMac G5 Bluetooth, 512 Mb Ram Mac OS X (10.4.4)

TS3212 over 100 of my songs stored in my library have an exclamation point next to them. When I click on the song it says that the song will not be downloaded to my phone because the original song cannot be found, and would I like to locate it? I need h

Over 100 of my songs in my itunes library have an exclamation point next to them. When I attempt to sync them with my phone it says that the song cannot be synced because it cannot locate the original song? Do I want to locate it? Can anyone help me figure out where my music is on my computer and where to locate it and how to send it back to itunes?

See this article: iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
B-rock

I have little exclamation points next to some of my songs and they won't play how do I get them to play?, I have little exclamation points next to some of my songs and they won't play how do I get them to play?

I have exclamation points next to some of my songs and they won't play...how do I get them to play?

I am not an expert but here's my two cents:
The exclamation point means itunes cannot find the music file in order to play it. There are several possible reasons for this, including but not limited to changing the name or location of your music library/songs, or storing them on an external hard drive or device that is not currently attached. The solutions for these are different so let me know if any of these apply and we can troubleshoot.

Most of the songs on my Ipod have exclamation points next to them.

All of the songs on my Ipod (except for songs purchased from Itunes) have exclamation points next to them, however the songs are in my Itunes library and work just fine in the library, so Itunes knows where the songs are, the problem is on the Ipod itself. The songs stop working once they are on the Ipod. There is no explanation anywhere for what the exclamation point means.
I've tried re-copying the songs from my library to my Ipod. Didn't Work.
I've tried resetting the entire Ipod and recopying my music, only to have it stop working again the next time I tried to sync music.
I have a 6th gen Ipod touch on version 8.1.3 and im running Itunes on 12.1.1.4

The ! means hat the actual music file can't be found
Try:
- Reset the iOS device. Nothing will be lost
Reset iOS device: Hold down the On/Off button and the Home button at the same time for at
least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
- Unsync/delete all music and resync
To delete all music go to Settings>General>Usage>Storage>Manage Storage>Music>Tap edit in upper right and then tap the minus sign by All Music
- Reset all settings
Go to Settings > General > Reset and tap Reset All Settings.
All your preferences and settings are reset. Information (such as contacts and calendars) and media (such as songs and videos) aren’t affected.
- Restore from backup. See:
iOS: Back up and restore your iOS device with iCloud or iTunes
- Restore to factory settings/new iOS device.

When I look at my I tunes library on the computer I have a exclamation point next to a bunch of my songs and apps when I click on them it says that the original file couldnt be found. How do I go about finding out where the original file is and correct th

when I look at my I tunes library on my computer I have an exclamation point next to some of the songs and apps. when I click on this it tells me the original file couldnt be found. How do I go about finding the original file to correct this?

See this article: iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
B-rock

Exclamation point next to song

On every song in my library I have an exclamation point to the right of the songs and tv shows. When I click on it I can't play anything. It says file not found. Does anyone know how this happened? Help! Thanks

I've had the same problem in the past. I've found that the only way to fix the problem, is to delete the songs with the exclamation point next to them from itunes and then re-add them to itunes. As for how this happens, I don't know. I'll do the same thing if a song I want on my ipod does transfer over.

Exclamation points next to a BUNCH of songs! Please help!

Hi!
I turned to this forum for help and thought someone might be the one to answer this question. I have a 1st and 2nd generation Nano. I bought the 2nd generation from Apple after I was assured by them that I could connect the 2nd one to the same iTunes that is already used by the 1st one, on my laptop.
It doesn't matter which iPod is connected, it doesn't matter if I close and then reopen iTunes or if I just leave it open and then connect my (either one) Nano for an update:
I get those d@&& exclamation points next to a BUNCH of songs (these are either downloaded or from my CD's). One time it was 186 songs that had the exclamation points and when you click on it, iTunes says it lost the "info". I have not deleted these, moved them, ..... this is what happens when I am in my library. . . ANY IDEAS????????? please?????
Thanx!!!
Diane

The exclamation points tell you the songs are not found. You can re-link to each song if you OK the dialogue that comes up when you double click each of these songs.
Its a pain I know, but if you knowwhere these songs are stored, and hopefully they are stored where you expect to see all your songs, just find the artist, and the album for that artist, and select the song file.

Exclamation point next to songs and won't play

Exclamation point next to songs won't play

Exclamation point
Next to a song: The song can’t be located; it may have been moved or deleted.
Next to a podcast: Recent episodes haven’t been downloaded because you have multiple unplayed episodes.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408

"Original file could not be found" - exclamation point next to song

All of a sudden there are exclamation points in the very left hand column of the iTunes list next to some of the songs in my library. When I try to play these songs, it says "The song _ could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"
Why is this happening? How do I make it stop? Do I have to re-upload every song one by one from my hard drive? Ack!

no idea why this happens, but the easiest way to solve this is to go to +edit/add folder+/ and find the folder in your itunes music files that contains the album and select it. you might now have duplicates, so just ctrl-select the songs with exclamation marks and you'll have only the ones you just reimported.
zk

Exclamation point next to songs in iTunes & disappearing songs =[

after downloading songs from iTunes, & uploading music from CDs, time will go by before an exclamation point symbol shows up on the left side in my library.
once this symbol appears next to a song, i cant play it in iTunes. but i can still play it in my iPod =/ when i do try to play it, a box will pop up asking me "if i want to locate the file?" when i try, i cant find the file.
now here comes the best part: not all but only certain songs with the exclamation point disappear from my iPod, but they're still in iTunes!
if someone knows how to fix this, id greatly appreciate the help!!!
Dell Windows XP

I had this problem and discovered that the Hard Drive was not formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
I had use the Disk Utilities to Partition the drive and format the Partition as Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
HTH
Lee

I have songs in my iTunes library that I burned from CD's. They play in iTunes and will sync with my iPad. They play fine on the iPad. However, the songs will not sync to my iPhone 4S. There are now exclamation points next to songs (can't find source).

I burned cd's in iTunes. The songs were able to sync and play on my iPad. After this, exclamation points appeared in iTunes on my laptop (unable to find source). They still play in iTunes but will not sync with my iPhone 4S. Do some cd's have a limit on the number of times you can copy them or is this an iTunes problem.

KiwiLouisa - I had the same problem. I was eventually able to distribute my content that was "Not eligible for iCloud" to my iPhone by switching off ITunes Match in both the ITunes app/machine that hosts my library (my Macbook Pro, in this case) as well as on the device to which I wished to distribute my content (my iPhone 6+). This opened up the option for my device iTunes Music settings for selecting "Entire Music Library".
After I successfully transferred *ALL* my music and music videos via iTunes sync, I then again switched on ITunes Match in iTunes on my Macbook and on my iPhone.
This does not change the iCloud status, but at least I have the content on my iPhone.

Exclamation point next to music

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