How to recover lost itunes library

During iphone software update I have lost my itunes library for 2 iphones. How can I recover my full libabry?

You can either sync it from iTunes (you have been backing up the purchased music to iTunes, haven't you) or go to iTunes app > More > Purchases and download the music.

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Recovering lost iTunes library

My husband is a PC and I am a MAC.
He has lost his entire iTunes music library from his PC, after making a purchase from iTunes Store. His library is still on his iPod.
The message says his iPod is synched with another computer. He has never plugged his iPod into another computer. He has downloaded/synched all purchases but wants all his other music that was downloaded from CD's.
How can he fix this?
Notes: I recently added Apple TV to the household and have several shared computers. My iTunes library is tied to the Apple TV. We tried to add his library, but did not succeed. Not sure if this caused problem?
Thank you!

It has always been very basic to always maintain a backup copy of your computer files/docs/pics/music/etc.
Use the backup to put everything back.
The music sync is one way - computer to ipod. The exception being itunes purchases.
You can try a forum search, as this is asked very often.
The forum search bar is on the right side of this page.

How to recover my iTunes library?

Hey Guys,
After updating my iTunes application and relocation some music flies, my entire iTunes library disappeared. I found a backup file dated back to September 2013 but I don't know how to proceed from there. Any help would be appreciated!

It has always been very basic to always maintain a backup copy of your computer. Use your backup copy to put it all back

7.2 upgrade: how to recover corrupted iTune library index file from backup?

Hi folks,
I upgraded to iTunes 7.2 and my library file (the xml one)
got corrupted...
My >40 GB of mysic seem to be on the safe side fortunately,
same for a half way recent backup of the file
iTunes Music Library.xml.
Both sit on an external hard drive, while the corrupted files
are on the main disk. Sounds not to bad, compared to what I read from others!
Questions:
1) How can I use my backuped XML index file to recover my playlists etc in iTunes? Unfortunately I only backuped this single index file, i.e. the "Music"
one, yet not the other iTunes database file.
2) Then, I had still made some modifications (mostly MP3 file tags)
after the backup of the index file. I realized that while looking on
the time stamps of the directories that contain my actual music.
Do I need to do something to make these modifications visible
in the recovered iTunes??
Thanks for any useful hints in advance!!

I solved my problem through a minor variation of this recipe:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93313

Hard Drive Failure, so I've lost ITunes Library. Ipod more up-to-date how do I transfer music from IPod to library?

Hi,
I had a hard drive failure on my old PC and I couldn't retrieve anything. I have purchased a new PC and downloaded itunes (Version I'm not use to which isn't helping) and signed in however it only has my purchased songs on the cloud which I need to download into my library from cloud. However I have thousands of songs that I imported into my old library from CD's etc which is no lost apart from all the data held on my ipod.
So my Ipod is more up-to-date then my library now. When I look to sync my ipod it says everything will be removed and will be replaced with content from the library. I've had a look around and I can't see a way to get my music from my ipod to my library.
Is there anything I can do, please help?
Thanks

See:
Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive: Apple Support Communities
or
Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device: Apple Support Communities

TS1967 When trying to recover a lost iTunes library file, the programme moved all the normal contents of iTunes folder to the desktop. Now what must I do?

When trying to recover a lost iTunes library file, the programme moved all the normal contents of iTunes folder to the desktop. Now what must I do? There is no iTunes Library.itl file. On the desktop it is labelled iTunes Library.xml. Several others files have appeared there too including iTunes Music Library.xml
Before I can use the programme is it necessary to take another step?
Thanks for advice.

Don't worry. I'm all for caution. I guess I should have asked a little more about what steps you took while trying to recover your lost library?
The permissions thing may be a red herring, but if there is a problem with file access rights to the designated media folder iTunes has been known to place files on the desktop instead since it can access this location. The most common cause for such problems is working with a folder on an NTFS drive via a differnt account or on a different computer. In the normal course of events folders created inside user profiles have limited rights for other users.
Here are the typical layouts for the iTunes folders:
Normally the iTunes folder will be created at <User's Music>\iTunes with the media folder inside it. The library files should all appear in the same place so your comment about there not being an iTunes Library.itl file is confusing. Is it just the case that the .itl extension is hidden? The two .xml files makes sense from the above and indicates that the active library is not in <User's Music>\iTunes, but you have a recovered file from when it was.
If, in fact, the situation is that your desktop is acting as the main iTunes folder, and contains the library file, Album Artwork, iTunes Media and (optionally) Previous iTunes Libraries folders, with all other content being inside the iTunes Media folder, then it should be relativly easy to rearrange your into the correct shape and move them to the correct location.
If things are more complex, with something other than a library folder containing a media folder, then reestablishing the normal order is more complicated. The iTunes consolidate function is used to bring copies of files stored outside of the media folder into the media folder. It may sometimes be needed as part of the process of tidying up, however it leaves behind originals. There are circumstances where there isn't room for two complete sets of the media files on the same drive which is why I suggested the script might be useful as it produces the same results for the library without leaving the originals for manual clear up.
I think before you do anything however, we should get a clearer picture of exactly what is where. Could you perhaps take a screenshot of the desktop and post it here? Take a look at this post on making a split library portable. The same techniques I outline there can be used to lick your library into shape, it is just a question of working out which to use in which order for the best effect.
tt2

How to recreate an iTunes library

I recently had to restore my computer from an image (Norton Ghost), and in doing so, lost my iTunes.
I've reinstalled iTunes, but the music library is empty.
Is there any way of re-creating it from the iPod itself? I'm unsure how syncing works. Is it computer to iPod, iPod to computer, or both?
Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

Yes. See:
Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive: Apple Support Communities
Sync Your iOS Device with a New Computer Without Losing Data - How-To Geek
Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device: Apple Support Communities

How can I get iTUNES library to display renamed files and folders (renamed with Windows Explorer)?

How can I get iTunes library to display the new names and organisation of tracks and albums (ie files and folders) that I have renamed and reorganised (using Windows Explorer) having previously imported them using iTunes?
(Even when I relocate "lost" tracks in iTunes (using the drop down menu facility to view in Windows explorer), although iTunes will then play the track, and knows where to find it, it refuses to display the track with its correct (new) name, or show it the correct (new) album. That means I have lots of things called "Untitled" and "Track 01" etc, all of which have actually been renamed, but iTunes does not seem to have the capability to recognise the changes and update its library listing. Another example - a Tchaikovsky CD with 3 major works in 13 tracks insists on displaying in iTunes as 13 tracks in one album, despite the fact that I have reorganised the tracks into 3 albums - two being Swan Lake and The Nutcracker - and renamed the individual tracks to a more useable format.)

Thanks for your replies ckuan
I agree with Tgod that your first solution does not work. It appears unpredictable whether the old or new file names are listed when you drag the folders into iTunes from Windows Explorer. The folder structure is completely missing. I reckon if you have to muck around spending days/weeks/months finding out how to fix links to a secret meta-file (obviously designed by some deep-cover microsoft worm working in the Apple!), then it's pretty obvious that almost any alternate way of doing this would be better. Bye bye iTunes!!
Incidentally, I tried several other things that (if the software was designed intuitively) should work, but give disastrous results:
1) when deleting the library listing in iTunes, it gives you two options - one is to remove the listings to the Recycler. Be aware that IF you select that option, it removes not only your library listing, but also your ACTUAL MUSIC FILES to the Recycler. Moreover, it does NOT remove the insidious secret meta-file that is what apparently keeps rewriting old names over your carefully renamed file names, and keeps totally ignoring your carefully designed folder (album) structure. OK - not a complete disaster, as I realised and went hunting through the chaos in the Recycler to recover all my files. No thanks to the genius who designed this brilliant feature!
2) after deleting the library listing in iTunes, I attempted to import just the folders that I wanted. iTunes refused to allow me to do that, and proceeded to try to import every frigging music file it could find on my whole hard drive, in apparently random fashion into the library. Whoever thought up that doozy either never ever tried to use or market test it, or has modified their mind rather too many times with artificial substances so their brain is like muesli chop suey.
3) oh why go on, it's too depressing ...

How to play my itunes library on my pc or external hard drive?

How can I import and play my ITunes library on my pc and external storage device?

Is the iPhone the only location or your media now? See Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
tt2

New computer how do i see itunes library

Have installed itunes on new laptop. How do i sync ipod so that i see library on new laptop

Ideally you would copy over your iTunes library and other personal data from your previous computer or the backups of it. If that isn't possible see the user tip Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
tt2

My computer The File "itunes library.til" does not appear to be a valid iTunes library file. iTunes has attempted to recover your itunes library and renamed it to "iTunes Library (Damaged itl)"

My computer crashed when I was using Itunes. I got everything up and running and got this message "The File “itunes library.til” does not appear to be a valid iTunes library file. iTunes has attempted to recover your itunes library and renamed it to “iTunes Library (Damaged itl)” Everything loads up put in takes 10 min. then my music playlists are deleted everytime I turn Itunes on. What can I do to solve this problem? Thanks.

Hi shyanne23,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. If your iTunes library file has become damaged in some way, you may want to try recreating your iTunes library and playlists by following this article:
iTunes: How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1451
Cheers,
- Ari

Is there any way to recover lost iTune I purchased from the itunes store?

Is there any way to recover my iTunes Library without re-purchasing all the songs-library was lost in PC problems.

Go to the iTunes Store, log into your account, and click the Purchases link under the Quick Links. From there you should be able to re-download some or all of your purchased content. Note that not all content has been licensed for re-downloading in all countries at this time; you can see what content you can download here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5085
You can also re-download content using an iOS device.
For more information, see:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2519
Regards.
Forum Tip: Since you're new here, you've probably not discovered the Search feature available on every Communities page, but next time, it might save you time (and everyone else from having to answer the same question multiple times) if you search a couple of ways for a topic, both in the relevant forums and in the Apple Knowledge Base, before you post a question.

How to transfer my itunes library to a new computer

How to transfer my existing itunes library to a new laptop?

These are two possible approaches that will normally work to move an existing library to a new computer.
Method 1
Backup the library with this User Tip.
Deauthorize the old computer if you no longer want to access protected content on it.
Restore the backup to your new computer using the same tool used to back it up.
Keep your backup up-to-date in future.
Method 2
Connect the two computers to the same network. Share your <User's Music> folder from the old computer and copy the entire iTunes library folder into the <User's Music> folder on the new one. Again, deauthorize the old computer if no longer required.
Both methods should give the new computer a working clone of the library that was on the old one. As far as iTunes is concerned this is still the "home" library for your devices so you shouldn't have any issues with iTunes wanting to erase and reload.
I'd recommend method 1 since it establishes an ongoing backup for your library.
Note if you have iOS devices and haven't moved your contacts and calendar items across then you should create one dummy entry of each in your new profile and iTunes should merge the existing data from the device.
If your media folder has been split out from the main iTunes folder you may need to do some preparatory work to make it easier to move. See make a split library portable.
Should you be in the unfortunate position where you are no longer able to access your original library or a backup then then see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device for advice on how to set up your devices with a new library with the maximum preservation of data.
tt2

How to transfer my itune library to a new computer, how to transfer my itune library to a new computer

How can I transfer my itune library to a new compturer

See this migrate iTunes library post or Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
tt2

HT1451 recovering old itunes library with playlists

my itunes library is trapped on a dead laptop with all my playlists. i have a new laptop and new itunes account but not of my music came over from my old computer and itunes account. can you help me

These are two possible approaches that will normally work to move an existing library to a new computer.
Method 1
Backup the library with this User Tip.
Deauthorize the old computer if you no longer want to access protected content on it.
Restore the backup to your new computer using the same tool used to back it up.
Keep your backup up-to-date in future.
Method 2
Connect the two computers to the same network. Share your <User's Music> folder from the old computer and copy the entire iTunes library folder into the <User's Music> folder on the new one. Again, deauthorize the old computer if no longer required.
Both methods should give the new computer a working clone of the library that was on the old one. As far as iTunes is concerned this is still the "home" library for your devices so you shouldn't have any issues with iTunes wanting to erase and reload.
I'd recommend method 1 since it establishes an ongoing backup for your library.
Note if you have failed to move contacts and calendar items across you should create one dummy entry of each in your new profile and iTunes should merge the existing data from the device.
If your media folder has been split out from the main iTunes folder you may need to do some preparatory work to make it easier to move. See make a split library portable.
Should you be in the unfortunate position where you are no longer able to access your original library or a backup then then see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device for advice on how to set up your devices with a new library with the maximum preservation of data.
tt2

How to recover lost itunes library

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