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

Similar Messages

  • 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...

  • My iPhone keeps playing same song and won't play next one

    My new IPhone 4 keeps playing the same song and won't play the next one! I have reinstalled the software and reset it, but still no luck.

    See Page 77 of the User's Guide.  Make sure you do not have it set to repeat that specific song.

  • 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!

  • 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.

  • WHEN I CLICK ON SOME SONGS AN ! APPEARS TO LEFT OF SONG AND WON'T PLAY. I DON'T UNDERSTAND !

    THERE SEEMS TO BE NO RHYME OR REASON TO THIS.  THE EXCLAMATION POINT APPEARS ON SONGS THAT I HAVE PURCHASED AND DOWNLOADED AND ON SONGS THAT I DOWNLOADED FROM MY OWN CDs.  ONCE THE ! APPEARS, THE SONG WON'T PLAY.  IT'S ALWAYS THE SAME SONGS THAT THIS HAPPENS TO. 
    QUITE SOME TIME AGO, ALL OF THESE SONGS PLAYED JUST FINE, THEN, "OUT OF THE BLUE" THIS PROBLEM STARTED.  I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING I KNOW TO DO.   I HAVE CONTACTED iTUNES AND HAVE ACTUALLY RE-PURCHASED ONE OF THE SONGS TO SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN.  IT PLAYS JUST FINE.  WHEN THE ! APPEARS, IT IS ACCOMPANIED BY THIS MESSAGE:  THIS SONG COULD NOT BE USED BECAUSE THE ORIGINAL FILE COULD NOT BE FOUND.  WOULD YOU LIKE TO LOCATE IT?  I AM UNABLE TO LOCATE ANY OF THE SONGS.  THERE ARE SO MANY WITH THIS PROBLEM AND I CANNOT AFFORD TO RE-PURCHASE THEM.    CAN SOMEONE OUT THERE PLEASE HELP ME.  SO FAR iTUNES HAS NOT BEEN OF MUCH HELP.  THANK YOU SO MUCH !!      AMY O.

    This forum is for questions from those managing sites on iTunes U, Apple's service for colleges and universities to post educational material in the iTunes Store. You'll be most likely to get help with this issue if you ask in the general iTunes forums.
    Regards.

  • I purchased songs  and they now have and exclamation point next to them and says it can't find the file.

    Many, many songs won't play that I have previously purchased from Itunes...They have an exclamation point and says the file is corrupt or has been moved, Ican locate the files, but they won't play...Will Itunes let me redownload at no charge or am I expected to pay again.  Why is this happening?

    I'm not sure if your account actually has to be connected to iCloud, but you can redownload previous purchases through it.
    This page details how to do that.
    If it turns out an iCloud account is required and yours isn't one, I'm sure you could connect your account to iCloud now and it'd work just fine. I know I had a few songs appear on my purchase list from long before I connected mine.

  • 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.

  • "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

  • PLEASE HELP! Exclamation point next to songs that can "no longer be found"

    Here is the deal:
    I have Itunes 6 on my non-Mac computer. I saved about 1000 mp3s from CDs I had onto my hard drive. All of them appeared in my Library and I could play any of them by simply double clicking the entry.
    Now if I double click on SOME of these songs, an exclamation mark appears next to the listing and a message appears with this: "This song could not be played since the original file could not be found"...
    I then have to find it on my computer and import it again... the problem is that this affects about 25% of the songs in my library.
    Can anyone help?

    The first thing I would do is search for all your MP3 files. Bring up the search window (its in the main menu in XP). Select "Files and Folders", Put in the search string "*.mp3" and let it look through all hard drives. This will list all it finds and may take a few minutes to complete.
    Also, have you done the "Consolidate Library" function. This, I believe, will move all your MP3s to a central location ("My Documents\My Music\Itunes" ?) which might explain why your library cannot see them anymore.

  • HT201272 several of my purchased itunes songs have an exclamation point next to them, they will not play, How can I fix that problem??

    Hello,  Can someone assist me with trying to figure out how to locate previously purchased songs on my itunes library that are showing up with an exclamation point infront of the titile.  I try and play the song and i get a message stating that Itunes cannot locate the original file... HELP:/

    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

  • Exclamation Point Next to Songs!!!!!!

    hello All,
    Does anyone know why all of my albums in my ipod have an exclamation point by the 1st 2 or 3 songs? This is really weird. Please help.

    For some reason itunes may think that the file is deleted. Click on the exclamation mark and itunes will tell you that it cannot find the son. you then get the option of locating it on the file system

  • HT1751 I successfully captured a recent itunes library, but then all the songs have "!" marks next to them and won't play. I have thousands of songs in multi folders of my external hard drive, surely there is a way to auto locate all songs on my hard driv

    My desktop PC recently crashed and I'm trying to recapture all of my iTunes library playlist and songs. I was able to successfully capture the library, however when I tried to play a song, all have the exclamation mark "!" on them and ask that I locate the song. I successfully located some, but there has to be an automatic way to do this, rather than finding each one. I have thousands of songs located in multiple folders of my exteernal hard drive and need a way to find all songs automatically. Can someone help? Thanks!

    This "original file cannot be found" thing 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

  • My 4th Generation Nano skips songs and won't play some of them

    So, over the past couple of days while I put my 4th Generation Nano on Shuffle mode, it will skip over some songs. Not a delayed reaction, but... say I skip one song. Then it'lll skip over a few, and when I hit the back arrow, it won't play it.
    Also, as an example, I was listening to Alesana, then it suddenly switched to Disturbed, then skipped over it, and started to play Bullet For My Valentine. When I went to go click back to play Disturbed, it wouldn't play and skipped back to BFMV.
    Help?
    And one more thing, my iPod has been also doing this weird thing where it will say it's playing one song, then be playing another. Such as... it will say it is playing Apology by Alesana, and really be playing Guarded by Disturbed.
    Is there any possible way to fix this? I've tried restoring it on iTunes, and reseting my iPod multiple times. It's only 3 years old, I don't want to have to bury it this soon! D:
    -Trisha

    If that didn't work you should try downloading the Latest iPod Updater and then Restoring the iPod to factory settings.

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