Hello. I have a new Computer and import my mediathek with an externe storage. When opened the new Mediethek in front of every song there is a explanation mark: original song could not been found. I try everything. Whats the Problem??

But it seems the OP has a setup where the media is on the external drive, and the library files are on the internal. This is what I refer to as a split library, Migrating such from one computer to another is not straightforward. Often iTunes will have some definite idea about where the files should live, and updating the setting of the media folder won't change that. If it requires a drive letter change that is usually not too hard, but sometimes there is another preference file that needs tweaking to indicate which of the old & new layouts for the library is being used. In more extreme cases I have a script for automatically making track by track repairs.
tt2

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My iTunes library shows all music but there is an exclamation mark to the left on all entries and there is a message stating "original file could not be found" although all music is on the iPad.

My iTunes library shows all music but there is an exclamation mark to the left on all entries and there is a message stating "original file could not be found" although all music is on the iPad.

The massage means what it says. iTunes can't find the actual music files. All iTunes has is a database of where the files should be and they are not there.
Try:
- iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
- Redownloading iTunes purchases by:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store

! mark-original file could not be found

It's amazing this problem has been going on for so long and there is no response from Apple Support and I haven't been able to find any solutions on this discussion board.
I tried downloading several older versions and got no relief.
Anyone find anything that worked besides attempting to relocate every single song? This is pretty upsetting and a huge turn off to upgrading to an iMac. What's the deal? Does anybody know?
Thanks, JD

You get exclamation marks or dead tracks because iTunes can’t find the file. This can happen for a number of reasons:
The song file or a folder in its path was renamed
The song file or the folder it is in has been moved
The song file has been deleted
The device containing the song files e.g. external drive is not accessible.
The simplest way of dealing with large numbers of dead tracks if you don't mind losing playcounts and ratings, is to simply add your iTunes Muisc folder with File>Add folder to library...
If you have music in other folders you have to add those too.
Once that's done you can get rid of the dead tracks with a script. Robert Jaconson has one here:
http://home.comcast.net/~teridon73/itunesscripts/
Download the EXE version and select itunesremovenotfound when you run it.
It is advisable to backup your library files before using scripts see below:
Backup the iTunes Library Files
The library files are in:
My Documents\My Music\iTunes
Close iTunes and wait about 30 seconds.
Copy iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Music Library.xml somewhere else e.g. into the Previous iTunes Libraries folder.
To restore, with iTunes closed drag the current itl and xml file from the iTunes folder to the desktop, then copy the backup iTunes Library.itl into the iTunes folder. The xml file isn’t necessary but can come in handy if the library needs to be recreated and the itl file is causing problems.

Getting error message when trying to play songs from library saying original file could not be found

when trying to play songs from library, getting message saying original file could not be found .. my full library all says the same .. can anyone help ?

Hello Ceeclass,
I suggest this article named iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads found here http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408.
It should help you locate the media that is not playing in the iTunes library.
Take care,
Sterling

Recently bought a new computer and all my music appears in iTunes as well as on my computer in a saved folder. When I try to play the music in iTunes I get an error that reads"the song could not be used because the original file could not be found."

Recently bought a new computer and all my music appears in iTunes as well as on my computer in a saved folder. When I try to play the music in iTunes I get an error that reads"the song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" Hope you can help me solve this issue.
Thanks,
Shellyboo

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

Recently got a new computer and installed itunes from external drive - all music shows up in the library, however when i click on a song i receive this message "the song could not be used because the original file could not be found". What do i do?

I recently got a new computer and installed itunes from which had been saved onto an external drive - all music shows up in the library, however when I click on a song I receive this message "the song "abc" could not be used because the original file could not be found". What can I do?

I was given the option to locate the file where the song is held. If so select "locate" and direct it to the folder / file where the song is and open it. itunes then will give you the option to use this process to update all of your library. OK that as this will do it automatically instead of doing them one by one. I hope this helps.
Martin

I have purchased a new computer and authorized my iTunes with my Apple ID; however, my iPod Classic, which I have had for many years, will not sync hundreds of songs that I have purchased and says the device needs to be authorized. Help!

I have purchased a new computer and authorized my iTunes with my Apple ID; however, my iPod Classic, which I have had for many years, will not sync hundreds of songs that I have purchased and says the device needs to be authorized.
I have searched high and low and there does not seem to be a way to authorize the iPod Classic. What can I do to sync my purchases to my iPod? I have tried reformatting/restoring it as suggested. It continues to only allow me to sync non-icloud/itunes content.
Help!

What exactly happens when you try to sync?
Was the iPod previous synced to another iTunes library/computer?
Have you successfully synced from this iTunes library/computer before?
If so have you done anything like update iTunes on the computer since it last successfully synced?
Do the songs play in iTunes?
Does any media now sync to the iPod?
Do you have the right boxes checked to sync?
iTunes: Syncing media content to iOS devices and iPod
Try syncing using the manual method
Managing content manually on iPhone, iPad, and iPod

Library Lost - Please HeIp I tried updating my old ipod & now all 10,000 songs in my library have an ! next to them and I get the error message "song " " could not be used because the original file could not be found" on every song I try to play

Please help - this morning I tried updating one of my old ipods for my wife (this ipod hasn't been updated in 2-3 years). I plugged it into my pc, it was recognized and the software updated. I created a new playlist and tied to sync the ipod. This ipod had never been used on this pc/itunes since the pc is only 2 years old. When I tried to sync the ipod it stated that it would have to erase all the old songs on the ipod prior to syncing. I clicked ok and it proceeded to wipe out the old ipod and sync the new playlist (~1000 songs). When the sync was complete there were only 6 songs from the new playlist (all purchased this morning from itunes) on the ipod and to my horror all ~10,000 song on my pc in itunes now have a ! next to them. Only my recent purchases from itunes do not. When I click on a song with the ! I get the error message "the song " " could not be used because the original file could not be found." How do I correct this issue - I am scared to hook my ipads or other ipods to my pc for fear of losing everything?!?!? I spent 100s of hours burning the 10,000 songs from my cd collection and do not want to have to do it again.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

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

Error message when trying to play music on computer states The song ... could not be used because the original file could not be found. However, my library shows how many items and the GBs used. How do I locate the files?

When I try to play my iTunes music on my computer, an error message comes up and state "The song (title of song) could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?
When I click on Locate It, I cannot find where the music file may be located. Does anyone have any suggestions?
This all occurred when I attempted to do a backup to an external hard drive. Unbeknownest to me, the files did not copy over and do not appear on the external hard drive.
When I open my iTunes library, at the bottom of my music list it shows how many songs and the GBs, so it appears that the files are still there; however, cannot be located.
Thank you.

Hi angela dfromtx,
When tracks in iTunes display a it means the file cannot be located; it may have been moved or deleted. You'll have to locate the file manually if it is still available. For more information refer to the following article:
iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408
Alternatively, if your media was downloaded from the iTunes Store, you may be able to download it again free of charge:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519
Thanks,
Matt M.

I have a new hard drive as my old one crashed. Everything seemed to transfer fine except for my entire iTunes library. It shows all of my old songs, but when I click on one it states "the song could not be used as the original file could not be found

I have a new hard drive as my old one crashed. Everything seemed to transfer fine except for my entire iTunes library. It shows all of my old songs, but when I click on one it states "the song could not be used as the original file could not be found.would you like to locate it".
Either how do I locate it, and I've tried every trick I know, or how do I restore all of my songs from one of two sources. I have my old hard drive backedup on an external drive which should have all of my songs, and I have most of my songs on my old iPhone 3S which I'm using as a backup iPod.

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.
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.
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.
See also Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
tt2

On itunes everytime I try and play a track the warning 'the song could not be played because the original files could not be found' please can anyone help me? Thanks

Hi. I have been having problems with my PC and recently removed a lot of rubbish to clear it somewhat. I dont know if that is relavant however on top of that I have just received my replacement iPad2 which i had a proble with and thought I would just tidy up my tunes before sycing. The problem is that everytime I click to play a track in iTunes on my PC, whilst the track is showing on my itunes, it comes up with a warning 'the song cannot be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to find it'. I have tried clicking 'locate', but all that appears is 'music Library' 4 different dates. Help i am very confused, can any shed any light on this
Thank you

Sounds like you have somehow moved your itunes music library to a different location to where iTunes thinks they should be. Your music should be in a folder called "iTunes Media>Music". If they are located there, try going into iTunes, right clicking on one of the songs and then "get info". When the box pops up, on the first screen it should give a location line where it thinks the music is located. If it is differen't to where you music is stored, try and match it up to the location line that was in the "get info" box.

I can't listen to at least 100 of my songs on itunes. When I try it gives me a message that it can't play that song because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it? What do I do?

When I try to listen to certain songs a message pops up that the original file could not be found. Do you want to locate file? I don't know how this happened and I don't know what to do. I have tried repairing Itunes and also uninstallng and reinstalling. I have restarted my computer and even done some troubleshooting. When I tried hooking my ipod up to my computer to see if that would help I got a message that said "At least 100 songs could not be transferred, including "You found me."" I have no such song in my itunes. Can itunes get a virus?
Does anyone have any ideas what I can do? I'm at a loss and would really like my itunes to be back to normal.

I was not complete clear.
Since you never changed the settings in the advanced section of iTunes preferecnes, you have to chech that your music is really in the location setted in the folders reported in the advanced section. If not you have 2 ways: reset the position of this folders or in the actual disk organisation or in the pointing on the preferences.
If you press the reset button you just give to itunes its default setting as for the position of the music files: probably this will be a good choice if you have never changed any default preference.
But before I would check the folders and see if the songs are really there
In my iTune I have this, and I believe it is the default.
Users/YOURHOMEFOLDERNAME/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music

I have a new computer that downloaded all of my playlist. but i cannot play all songs. i get a error that say "the song could not be used because the original file could not be found. would you like to locate it? but it does not help to resolve.

i installed itunes to my new computer and transfered all my playlist from the older computer. the software came with the new computer hp link up. the problem
comes in where i want to play a certain song on a playlist and this error pops up "the song could not be used because the original file could not be found.
would you like to locate it? which is of no help.
is there a solution to this problem?

The file path for these songs IS NOT correct per your iTunes Library file.
See: http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=listmias for an Applescript to locate these files for re-adding.

I downloaded the new version of iTunes and now over 100 songs have an exclamation mark beside them and won't play. The message says: "The song ... could not be used because the original file could not be found." How do I get these songs back?

I downloaded the new version of iTunes and now over 100 songs have an exclamation mark beside them and won't play. The message says: "The song ... could not be used because the original file could not be found." How do I get these songs back?

Presuming they're on your computer, right click on them and then follow the prompts to locate hte file on your computer.

Got a new computer now I'm getting a new error "The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"

So i got a new computer and before i did i backed up al my music onto an external hard drive. I downloaded itunes and went to put my music back on and when I unplug my hard drive i get this message "The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?". I have close to 3500 songs so its a little annoying that i cant update or sync my ipod/iphone. Are there any tips or tricks you could help me with in order to fix this problem

Here is the folder hierarchy of my /Home/Music/folder:
Music folder
iTunes folder
iTunes Media folder
Music folder
Note that the contents of this last folder in the hierarchy will be different on your computer.

Hello. I have a new Computer and import my mediathek with an externe storage. When opened the new Mediethek in front of every song there is a explanation mark: original song could not been found. I try everything. Whats the Problem??

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