ITunes can't find files in library

I moved my iTunes library to an external hard drive following the instructions but after I consolidated I saw that most of the files were not moved so I dragged and dropped the missing files into the library. The problem is that iTunes does not recognize the files that were dragged and dropped into the library and each time I try to open one from iTunes I have to manually direct it to the file. Since I have thousands of files I need to find a way to do this without going one by one. Can anyone help?

Can anyone help?

Similar Messages

  • I get itunes can't find file when I tried to play a TV show I had purchased that was supposed to be in the cloud. There are several of these, including an entire season. In the store it shows that I purchased these shows when I checked them.

    I get itunes can't find file when I tried to play a TV show I had purchased. I then checked and had this problem with an entire TV season I had purchesed. The shows were supposed to be in the cloud. I went to the itunes store, went to the tv shows and they showed that I had purchesed them. They do not show up when I click on purchesed in the store.

    Try this...
    Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash
    Hopefully it's not been too long since you last upgraded iTunes, in fact if you get an empty/incomplete library immediately after upgrading then with the following steps you shouldn't lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping. In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these and copy it into the iTunes folder. Rename iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl and then rename the restored file as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. Should all be good, bar any recent additions to or deletions from your library.
    See iTunes Folder Watch for a tool to catch up with any changes since the backup file was created.
    When you get it all working make a backup!
    tt2

  • ITunes can't find my music library. Pleas help!

    I just upgraded my iTunes. Next time I tried opening it a window appeared that read: "Can't find your iTunes Library..."
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    If you did not rename that file, then I am a little worried there might be a larger problem looming (malware, etc.). If this is so, then finding the file might not even help.
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    If you would like to stick with what you've got, then this Apple Support article should provide you with the instructions you need: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1391
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  • Itunes can not find  file. Locate file.

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    Hi, welcome to Apple Discussions.
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  • Itunes can't find files

    ok - this has probably already been asked somewhere but i've been reading and reading and everyone else seems to have split their library or failed to copy their files properly when moving them to an external, etc, etc, and i don't thik i've made any errors here...
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    i keep my entire itunes library on a portable external hard drive that i take everywhere i take my computer, and that i always attach when using itunes and my ipod. i have been doing this for a few months and have not had any trouble. the default folder in preferences>advanced>etc is set to the hard drive and all the files are there.
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    am i going to have to do this track by track for 30 gig of music, or is some wonderful person out there going to be able to tell me how to grab itunes by the back of the neck and march it down to my external hard drive, showing it all the files at once and shouting "there they are - right there!"...?
    thanks in advance.
    macbook   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

    nope - that's not it either! all my xml text things have identical paths to the real location of the files. nice idea, though!
    i have fixed my problem, though. probably not permanently or in a very convenient way, but at present itunes is working for me again. here is how i did it...
    all my files were also on my ipod, so i used a downloadble software package (music rescue, which is fantastic!) to copy all of the mp3 files from my ipod to my internal hard drive. i then dragged these and dropped them all into my itunes library. this meant that after a lot of copying i had all tracks twice, and every other track had the '!' symbol next to it.
    i therefore had my library twice over, once working and once not working. i highlighted all the tracks with exclamation marks and deleted them, leaving the new version of my old library. i lost my playlists but i didn't really have any anyway, and no smart lists or anything like that. i probably also lost playcounts and the like but i don't really care about that either because i don't use itunes in that involved a way...
    i am fully expecting itunes to work fine for a while, then do the same thing again, so i am leaving this as a unanswered question in the hope that someone has a suggestion that will offer a more permanent solution.
    thanks to everyone for their help...
    macbook   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

  • ITunes can't find my music library

    Hello-I have all my music files on a external hard drive,when I want to play a song in iTunes 7 it can't locate my music on my external hard drive. How to I get my iTunes library to see my external hard drive?
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    If you did not rename that file, then I am a little worried there might be a larger problem looming (malware, etc.). If this is so, then finding the file might not even help.
    I recommend restoring from a backup. If the backup was made before this file changed, then you should be fine.
    If you would like to stick with what you've got, then this Apple Support article should provide you with the instructions you need: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1391
    Best!

  • ITunes can't find file path

    A year ago I moved my iTunes Library (iTunes Music Folder) to a second internal drive following Kim Komando's instructions and all went well with no problems. I called the second drive M and created a folder called "My Music 2" where I put the iTune files.
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  • Itunes can't find file, finds file, then duplicates. can anyone help?

    Recently i purchased music from the itunes store. days later i went to listen and it could not locate file. so i searched and found it where it should be (in my external drive). when i played the track, it duplicated in my library!!! so naturally, i went through and deleted the duplicates (i deleted the newly added files keeping the originals). now, the files are completely gone. no originals. nothing. (and i know i will have to purchase the songs again because no, i did not back them like i should have). now when i go to play certain existing tracks (not purchased), same thing. cannot locate file, i go to my external hard drive, find the file, and it duplicates in my library, only now i am not deleting anything until i find out what is causing this. can anyone help, please?

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  • ITunes can't find file - updating several file locations at once

    I've got several audiobooks that are in a different location than my music library.  I recently reinstalled my laptop and restored the older iTunes folder (so I don't have to repopulate my 120gb worth of mp3 files in iTunes).
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    nope - that's not it either! all my xml text things have identical paths to the real location of the files. nice idea, though!
    i have fixed my problem, though. probably not permanently or in a very convenient way, but at present itunes is working for me again. here is how i did it...
    all my files were also on my ipod, so i used a downloadble software package (music rescue, which is fantastic!) to copy all of the mp3 files from my ipod to my internal hard drive. i then dragged these and dropped them all into my itunes library. this meant that after a lot of copying i had all tracks twice, and every other track had the '!' symbol next to it.
    i therefore had my library twice over, once working and once not working. i highlighted all the tracks with exclamation marks and deleted them, leaving the new version of my old library. i lost my playlists but i didn't really have any anyway, and no smart lists or anything like that. i probably also lost playcounts and the like but i don't really care about that either because i don't use itunes in that involved a way...
    i am fully expecting itunes to work fine for a while, then do the same thing again, so i am leaving this as a unanswered question in the hope that someone has a suggestion that will offer a more permanent solution.
    thanks to everyone for their help...
    macbook   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

  • HT4527 Itunes can't find files!

    I transfrerred my entire Itunes folder from one external drive to another.  I held option and selected the new folder as the library and it opened fine, showed files but when I tried to watch a TV show it said it couldn't locate the file.
    I tried going throught the Itunes option after this of changing media folder location (http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449) but this is even worse where the library data files and random folders are still on one drive and only media on the other (the point was to completely move from one d

    Sounds like you may need to undo what you did and then try again. Normally moving the entire iTunes folder as a unit will work, provided everything is in the correct layout.
    That said, it may be that there is another way to fix things. Select a broken track and press CMD+I to Get Info. Say no when prompted to look for the file, then look at the location given on the summary tab - it will begin file://localhost. Now find out where that same file really is. If you post back the two paths I may be able to suggest the easiest path to a resolution.
    tt2

  • HT203288 Itunes can not find my music files. But I can with Windows . Lost over 8 hours trying to fix stupid itunes, Even removed it and reinstalled. Still nothing.

    But I can using Windows.
    Lost over 8 hours today. Still not working
    Even deleted itunes and reinstalled.
    My Music files are still there. But itunes can not find them.

    Empty library or library full of broken links?
    tt2

  • After an iTunes update I can't access my library as iTunes can't find my .itl file

    After an iTunes update I now. Can't  access my library as iTunes can't find my .itl file. Any ideas how to rectify this?

    Your iTunes Library.itl file will normally be at C:\Users\<User>\Music\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl. If it isn't there should it be somewhere else (you ought to know if you deliberately moved it) or is there a Previous iTunes Libraries folder containing backups made during iTunes updates.
    See also Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash.
    tt2

  • Can not find file must locate each song one at a time need to restore my whole library

    can not find file, must locate each song one at a time need to restore my whole library

    Hello BadSteve,
    It sounds like iTunes seems to have lost track of all your music and you must locate each file individually. I would recommend at this point that you check for 3rd party plugins to see if there are any causing an issue:
    iTunes: Troubleshooting issues with third-party iTunes plug-ins
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3430
    If the issue persists after removing the plugins, I would next try recreating your iTunes library:
    iTunes: How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1451
    Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
    Regards,
    Sterling

  • I installed the upgrade and now itunes can't find my library and doesn't recognize my devices. Using Windows 7. Any help?

    Help!!! I installed the 10.5 update and now itunes can't find my library or recognize my devices. Running on Windows 7.

    For moving your iTunes library, I recommend this method...
    Assuming you use the iTunes default settings where iTunes copied added items to your iTunes folder and organizes your library (meaning - everything is all self contained in the iTunes folder), then all you have to do is drag & drop your iTunes folder (not just the iTunes Music folder you find inside the iTunes folder) to the external drive and copy the entire thing.
    If you want to test that it worked or would like to actually start using it from that location instead, use these instructions when you start iTunes to point it to the new location...
    How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304447
    If you are just testing, then close iTunes after you verify it works, and restart iTunes again with the same instructions and point it back to your internal drive (original) location.
    Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307074
    Patrick

  • I created a 2nd library for my husbands music and now I can't find my original library. I did hold down the shift key to open itunes but is still comes up with the new library. What am I doing wrong? I tried several times with no luck. Thank you.

    I just got an Ipod Classic recently and downloaded Itunes. Got my music on my Ipod. My husband just got an Ipod Touch. I followed the directions on how to create a 2nd library and was able to load his music onto his Ipod. My problem is now I can not find my original library. I did what the directions said about holding down the shift key while opening Itunes and it still goes to the 2nd library that I created. How do i get my original library to come up? I tried several times with the same results. Please let me know what I need to do to be able to get into either library. Thank You.

    Does the original library file still exist on the computer?  Hopefully when creating the new library it was done in a seperate folder as I do not believe iTunes allows for two library files in the same location.

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