I get the following message on certain songs in my library: the song could not be used because the original file could not be found

I get the following message on several songs in my library: the song could not be used because the original file could not be found. How can I download these songs to my new iPod?

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

Similar Messages

Why do I receive the following message when I try to sync my itouch, "this ipod cannot be used because apple mobile device is not started?

why do I receive the following message when I try to sync my itouch, "this ipod cannot be used because apple mobile device is not started?

See Here
AMDS for Windows
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1567

When i try play a song i get this message " the song could not be used because your original file could not be found, would you like to locate. I tunes works on my iPad

OSX 10.9.5

I am getting this same message. I recently bought a new Macbook Pro and the geeks transferred my files from my mini-mac. Perhaps they did not transfer something critical? I follow the "locate" option when it asks to find my files and I get a file folder that has a red circle with a white bar in the middle.
I have the same issues with my downloaded movies but my apps all seem to be fine.
Even more confusing - it seems to allow random songs to play and download on my Macbook and other devices. But most of my music - whether downloaded from iTunes or my CD collection comes up with that message about the original file.
Should I get new geeks to locate these files on my old mini-mac?

HT4236 I get an error message with I try to plug into itunes; This iPhone cannot be used because the Apple Mobile Device service is not started.

I get an error message with I try to plug into itunes;
This iPhone cannot be used because the Apple Mobile Device service is not started.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1567

After installing iTunes 10.5 update i get the following message when trying to play any song in my Library "The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" how do i fix this??

I have an iPod Classic and work on Windows 7.
i recently installed iTunes 10.5 update and since then i cannot play any of the songs in the Library - i get the following message
"The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"
what happened to all my songs (almost 2000) How can i get them back into my music library?
Please help - i do not want to spend another week downloading all my cd's onto my computer !!!!!

Try my script FindTracks. Select a few of the missing files to start with then run the script. Choose No at the first prompt so that you can check how it works track by track, then confirm or edit the location of the media folder where your files are. Once you are happy with how it behaves let it process larger numbers of tracks automatically.
tt2

Some of the songs I have downloaded onto i tunes won't play when I select it to do so. The error message I get is "The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" How can I get my songs to play?

Some of the songs I have downloaded into i tunes won't play when I select it to do so. The error message I get is "The song can not be used because the original file can not be found. Would you like to locate it?" When I select yes I'm sent to a screen that has my i tunes library listed. When I select the song in question I'm asked if I would like to open the song. When I select this option I get nothing. The songs I have downloaded must be somewhere because they are listed in my i tunes library and on the screen I've been sent to. I can't the songs to play however. This is not true of all of my songs but it is true of quite a few of them. Actually, one song is too many. How do I get my music to play that seems to be locked up somewhere in the computer?

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

On some of my files there is a ! in front of it, if I try to play the song, I get an error message; "The song "_____" could not be used, because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" Then when I click "Locate", I get nothing.

I'm really dumbfounded on this one and it's driving me bonkers!!!! On some of my music files there is a ! in front of it, if I try to play the song, I get an error message; "The song "_____" could not be used, because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"
This began to happen when Chuck made playlists2burn on2CD-and then he would delete the playlist; sending all the song files into oblivion. Certain songs have a ! right next to the file name, and as I stated before, i get that error message:
"The song "_____" could not be used, because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"
So I click on "Locate". No help. I get a menu with folders that say "catroot" and other folders which names I cannot remember, but I scroll PAST the file folders, & it's just a bunch of ".DLL" files.....I don't understand what any of the names of the folders mean...it's frustr8ing-coz this is my 2nd iTouch, my 1st one got stolen & I can't afford2buy my music back at this time & i NEVER before had a single problem with losing song file locations.
              Is there anyone out there who has been through this frustrating game of chasing your tail?....<that's how I feel>
If so I would be ever so gr8ful if maybe someone with the knowledge would be so kind as 2 tell me how/where 2 retrieve these songs & how to put everything back where it belongs, I would be 4ever gr8ful !!!
I can't afford 2 replace the songs just like I'm unable 2 buy back my old music from my stolen iTouch....man that was an awesome collection-someday I'll be able 2 afford 2 do that & I would like 2 have all the new music that I paid 4 but cannot find when I got my new iTouch....that would just be wonderful.
             I hope someone sees this post that can help me retrieve these files....losing $100.00 of iTunes is a REAL BUMMER!!!!!!
                                                  ThanQ SO very much!
                                                                         [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected] .
                                                                                           You can also find me on Facebook, my given name is Tiffinie Trimmer, &
                                                                                            that's my Facebook "handle". ThanQ 4 taking the time 2 read all of this!
                                                                                            hope 2 get a reply someday....I'll B checking all my emails & my Facebook, as well
                                                                                            as marking this page in my FAVORITES so I can find it fast! Take Care!!!

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 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.

When I try to listen to a song I purchased last week, I get the message, "could not be used because the original file could not be found. would you like to locate it?" What do I do to find it?

When I try to listen to the songs I purchased from iTunes last week, I get the error message, "could not be used because the original file could not be found. would you like to locate it?" What do I do to fix this problem or locate the song?
Thanks!

I am getting this same message. I recently bought a new Macbook Pro and the geeks transferred my files from my mini-mac. Perhaps they did not transfer something critical? I follow the "locate" option when it asks to find my files and I get a file folder that has a red circle with a white bar in the middle.
I have the same issues with my downloaded movies but my apps all seem to be fine.
Even more confusing - it seems to allow random songs to play and download on my Macbook and other devices. But most of my music - whether downloaded from iTunes or my CD collection comes up with that message about the original file.
Should I get new geeks to locate these files on my old mini-mac?

I get this message when I try to listen to my itunes on my computer. Song could not be used because the orginal file could not be found

i get this message when I try to listen to my itunes on my computer. Song could not be used because the orginal file could not be found. WHy do I get this and how do i correct it?

Hi ihrtthecowboys,
When tracks in iTunes display a it means the file cannot be located; it may have been moved or deleted. For this issue, see 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:
Download past purchases
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519
Thanks,
Matt M.

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

I recently reset my computer and copy my music from an external hard drive to my itunes library. When I click on a song to play i get an error message that says " the song could not be used because the original file could not be found". need help

I recently reset my computer and copy my music from an external hard drive to my itunes library. When I click on a song to play i get an error message that says " the song could not be used because the original file could not be found". But when I have my external hard drive plug in the song will play with no problem. What do I need to do to play my music without having the external harddrive plug in ???????? Please help

Because the location for each song in your library is on your hard drive. If the hard drive isn't there, how can iTunes play it?
You'll have to move/copy the music from your hard drive to your computer's hard drive.
Basically, EASIEST way to do all this, if you don't care about your play counts, etc...
-Delete EVERYTHING from iTunes, so that your library is now empty.
-Go to "Advanced" inside of the "Preferences" window, found in the "Edit" drop-down. You can also access Preferences by pressing Ctrl+, (Press Ctrl and the comma key)
-Change your iTunes Media Folder Location to something simple, but on your computer. I use C:/iTunes. Make sure "Keep iTunes Media Folder Organized" and "Copy files to...." are both checked. You can close Preferences now.
-Now, drag and drop your music from your hard drive into your iTunes library. iTunes will automatically add the music to your library, as you would expect, and also creates a copy of each file to place into that iTunes Media Folder you just created.
Shouldn't have any more problems...

I tried to play my iTunes and suddenly get an error message that says "The song (name) could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it now?" It happens on all my tunes and each one I select ends up with a "?"

I tried to play my iTunes and suddenly get an error message that says "The song (name) could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it now?" It happens on each tune I select and a "?" appears beside the song. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

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

My partner deleted my itunes (10) library. I use a WD external back-up and retrieved my itunes library, but when i try to play a song i get the message 'could not be used because the original file could not be found Would you like to locate it?'

My partner deleted, by accident my itunes library. I have an iMac 10.6.7, Itunes 10. I use an WD passport as an external back up and retrieved my itunes library but now get the message "could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" so itunes is not recognised the exclamation marked songs, how do i get the retrieved files recognised. At times I get fed-up with Apple blocking files being used, although I like the product its restrictions are so silly!

You not only have to retrieve the library file from the backup drive but the actual music files (usually stored within the "iTunes Media" folder) as well.

I cannot play music from my library on either my external drive or my laptop - keep getting same message "___ song (all of them) could not be used because the original file could not be found. I have tried changing the path in prefernces many times.

I cannot play music from my libray on either my external drive or my laptop. I keep getting the same message - "___ song (all of them) could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" I have changed the path several times under preferences and it still won't recognize any songs from either my laptop hard drive or my external drive. I can't play any music at all.

I think I've fixed this on my machine. If you look in the ITunes folder there is a subfolder called Previous iTunes Libraries. In my case for some reason this contained the one which had always worked and a new one was in the main folder. I closed iTunes, deleted the new one, and moved the old one back to the main folder, then opened iTunes. It then rebuilt the library and it plays correctly. Hope it works for you.

I get the following message on certain songs in my library: the song could not be used because the original file could not be found

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for