Itunes folders missing 411

When I open an itunes library all of the music is there. However, when I select the same library folder from the HD and open an individual artist's folder, only some of the artist's various album's folders are there. Why is this?

In iTunes prefs>Advanced - are the 'keep'/'copy' options selected? If so iTunes will keep everything together for you.
If you do have the 'keep'/'copy' options selected then one reason that things are not where you think they should be could be how you have tagged the info for that file within the iTunes interface. For example if you have an artist that is part of a Compilation and the file is tagged as such then that tune will be in the Compilations folder and not that Artists folder.
MJ

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Help - moved itunes folders to external drive and now my itunes is totally

A few months ago, in order to free up space on my c drive, i had to purchase an external drive - everything i installed via itunes since that date has been on the hard drive and everything was fine.
Last night i needed more room on my C drive so i stupidly moved the remaining itunes folders from my C drive to my F drive - unfortunately, when i opened itunes it was blank.
i've tried a few things - including adding the folder from the F drive - and that retrieved about 80% of my music/videos and the last playlists i had - however, they were all missing songs - even if all the songs that should be included remained on my itunes
i began the tedious process of manually adding files back in but soon realized this doesn't help itunes consider this the same ipod as what's still on my actual ipod.
*What I'd like to do (if possible) is to wipe itunes clean and somehow restore everything on my ipod into itunes so that i retrieve not only the songs and videos but also the playlists that i've spent way too much time building. At this point i fear that the various components to my ipod are in too many files on my external drive to be easily restored another way (though if i'm wrong please let me know)*
sadly (as this story might suggest) I am borderline computer illiterate - I've read a few posts suggesting some sort of software online (something the apple help line also made an "off the record" remark about) - but I can't for the life of me figure out which i would use or how to do this without risking the contents of my existing ipod (which has the playlists and songs/video I want to reestablish).
*Can anyone possibly suggest how to best handle this and walk me through it in painstakingly basic and specific detail? I would be forever grateful.*
Thanks

iTunes uses the iTunes Library files - in particular the iTunes Library.itl file - to keep track of where your song files are located as well as playlist and related information.
Most likely in moving your folders around iTunes has been confused to such an extent that it created a new Library file. With a bit of luck you might still be able to find the old file which would restore your old Library.
So the first thing you want to do is look around your computer and make a note of any iTunes Library.itl files you can find. Generally speaking you'll find them in the iTunes folders on your system and depending on how you've been moving the folders - i.e. whether you "cut" them or "copied" them - you may still find at least one one on your F: drive and some on your C: drive.
Having noted where they are you know want to check each of them out as described in this article in the Apple Knowledge Base. In following those instructions you want to select the Choose Library option and use the pop-up window that appears to zero in on the various .itl files you've located.
Remember that each Library file will show a different Library in iTunes - perhaps slightly different, perhaps completely different - and if the first one isn't what you're looking for you'll have to close iTunes and repeat the procedure by selecting one of the other .itl's.
Post back for any clarification.

How do I find out where iTunes thinks missing files are?

I have several hundred "missing" files in my iTunes library but they are all actually on the computer. But I don't remember where the were previously. I add dozens of songs at a time to my library all the time and there is no Earthly way for me to constantly remember where they were before. I don't just want to reimport the files because I have several hundred playlists with these files and it would be completely stupid to edit them all one at a time when all I need to do is to move them back to where iTunes thinks they should be. So where is that? The Windows media player has a column that displays file location. Why doesn't iTunes? (This is so stupid. It makes things -not just this- so much easier when you have the file location in the music list in your music player.)
Is there a way to find out where iTunes thinks the missing files should be at?

Chris CA wrote:
How do I find out where iTunes thinks missing files are?
The exclamation mark means ITunes doesn't think they are anywhere.
If you right click - get info on a song then view the Info tab, you will see where iTunes last used it from.
I'm not a newbie. I know quite a lot about iTunes. You sound like you don't though because if you did you would know that this is not true. If you "right click - get info on a song" (pressing cancel to the Locate popup) "then view the SUMMARY (not info) tab" you will see "Not Available" where the file location usually is. I wouldn't have asked this question if I hadn't gone through the steps already.
Thanks for trying though. Next time, please try the advice before you give it.
I add dozens of songs at a time to my library all the time and there is no Earthly way for me to constantly remember where they were before
You should not have to remember anything about where they were.
I agree.
Are you always moving them around?
When I install a new hard drive. Yes. I generally keep everything organized and I let iTunes keep the folder organized but several years ago I used windows media player to organize my media.
Frankly I don't know HOW the recent songs/videos/etc. go missing. But some do. Maybe I accidentally move a folder without realizing it. Mistakes happen. Then I need to move it back but since I didn't know I did it in the first place I can't possibly be expected to remember where I moved it from.
Do you have iTunes prefs -> Advanced Keep ITunes music folder organized ticked and Copy files to iTunes ... ticked?
*OF COURSE!* Again, I'm not a newbie.
I have several hundred playlists with these files
Why would you have several hundred playlists?
I don't mean to sound rude but you sound like an Apple fanboy. Are you trying to tell me how I should use my own program? The answer to the question is I am a salsa instructor/DJ and I am constantly adding songs and videos to my library. Every month I have various salsa events, classes and performances that I do. I use my iPhone for the music. I need to maintain the playlists because students/teachers/studios/clubs/bars/churches/etc. call me back and want a repeat of the great salsa night I gave them a year ago. Naturally my playlists are highly organized into folders. So, I still have them and I need them.
Apple has its own ideas about how people should use its stuff but everyone is unique and our needs therefore are unique too. Apple doesn't realize this and still wants us to do things "the Apple way" even though "the Apple way" only works well for people who want their hand held through everything. This is why I say you sound like a fanboy. You don't know my situation and question if I need hundreds of playlists. I do.
I just need an answer to the question.
Thank you for your reply though. It gave me hope, for a time.

How to copy HDD (MP3)Folders directly into specific iTunes Folders ?

I want to import specific music folders from my HDD into specified iTunes folder but I only can import the content of specified folders into the iTunes music library, then I have to manually copy them into the specified iTunesFolders or Playlists.
Any way to import folder from my HDD directly into iTunes Folders/Playlists ????

Hello Paul, welcome to discussions.
When the folders are copied to itunes and ipod, these folders are ignored, creating a big pile of mp3-files.
Sounds to me like your MP3 files are missing all of the data in the ID3 tags. If this is the case, then I can understand how your collection is not properly organized in iTunes.
If you are in fact missing the ID3 info... then any MP3 player is going to do the same thing to your collection. Just about every piece of audio software and every MP3 player that I know of relies on the ID3 tags to organize music.
I doubt any of them are going to rely on your folder structure and file names for organization.

Support for iTunes folders?

Anyone know when Apple will support iTunes folders on an iPod?
It was a great feature addition with iTunes allowed me to organize my music in a folder structure so that, for example, I could put all Beatles music together. Unforunately, none of this carries over to the iPod, so you end with with lots of duplicate playlists that say "Greatest Hits". Yes, I suppose I could back through and change all my playlists under folders to say something like "Beatles - Greatest Hits", but that just defeats the purpose of the folder structure.
What good is having folders in iTunes if they don't carry over to your iPod? Anyone know when Apple is going to fix this?

I'm getting a DNLA error on the upper right hand corner of the SP3 screen.
Also my art work is there on iTunes but a lot is missing with the Media Hub.
I also think for a product to be called "The Media Hub" that the option to play your music should be robust.
As most people by this to run Itunes I'm surprised that the setup is not better.
The conflict with their shadow software and what it takes on from a "personal" folder is nuts.
Why do I want my word documents and gif and jpeg files in my documents folders mixed in with my Photos that I want to view.
Now the Media Hubbhas multiple folders and directors and content I don't want on it.
It also now has multiple instances of Itunes and it still doed nor get iTune "right"
I could have saved $350.00 by just placing a hard drive with a CAT5 cable to the back of my router, What a mess!!! Who has the time for this????

Clean install but iTunes is missing files?

I've had my itunes folder and all media on an external drive for a few years with no problems. Last weekend I did a clean install of ML on a new SD drive.
The install went fine and after it was done I pointed itunes to the media folder on the external drive that I have been using for years. Itunes seems to have accepted the folder but itunes is missing albums , songs and movies that are on the drive and in the correct folders. It's showing half of the movies I have in my movies folder. Any idea what's going on? Why would itunes see some of my media but not all? I have itunes match also if that's part of the puzzle.....
Thanks!
Dave

I've had my itunes folder and all media on an external drive for a few years with no problems. Last weekend I did a clean install of ML on a new SD drive.
The install went fine and after it was done I pointed itunes to the media folder on the external drive that I have been using for years. Itunes seems to have accepted the folder but itunes is missing albums , songs and movies that are on the drive and in the correct folders. It's showing half of the movies I have in my movies folder. Any idea what's going on? Why would itunes see some of my media but not all? I have itunes match also if that's part of the puzzle.....
Thanks!
Dave

How do I consolidate multiple Itunes folders on one computer?

I had a mishap with my external hard drive (I didn't know how to use it properly..yup USER ERROR!) so I have three different Itunes folders intertwined in my music folders with different previous Itunes libraries. I made a backup of the entire music mess on a flash drive, have a new computer and finally an ipod to put my music on...
Can someone give me some detailed steps to be able to consolidate all of my many Itunes libraries and let me know how I can access the music in my previous Itunes libraries? I want to make sure that I still have the rights to the music that I purchased in the past. I had some music in the Itunes cloud which is great but not nearly all of it...DRATS!
I found some steps to consolidate music from different computers onto one but I'm not sure that the same steps apply to my situation. Here are the links that I was looking at in eHow: http://www.ehow.com/how_5704389_consolidate-multiple-itunes-libraries.html and http://www.ehow.com/how_8149083_can-itunes-libraries-two-computers.html.
Thanks so much in advance!
Itunes libraries make my brain hurt!

Import everything into one library and then dedupe it.
tt2

I received a gift card and when I redeemed it an error message said that I had some itunes files missing and that I needed to reinstall itunes. Will I still have all my credits when I download itunes?

I received an online gift card for Father's Day. When I tried to redeem the gift then I received a error message saying I had some itune files missing and I needed to reinstall/download itunes. Will I still have my previous purchase credits after downloading and reistalling itunes?

You will, because the credited funds are on your iTunes account, not the application. When you reinstall iTunes just configure it with your old iTunes account and your credits will be there waiting for you.

2 iTunes folders on one computer, 1 iPod - does it work?

This part seems to work: putting one iTunes folder into the users>music folder at a time, with the other iTunes folder (containing its own iTunes Music folder and library) into a folder located elsewhere on the computer. If I just switch the entire iTunes folders then I can access each as I please. So far it works great that way (eventually I may merge the two but there are thousands of songs in each so it will be a monster job just creating new playlists). So now -- unless someone tells me that there is a problem with that part -- my question relates to putting music into my one (1) iPod. Can I do it from both iTunes libraries (one at a time)? Or can I just do it from one library?

Import everything into one library and then dedupe it.
tt2

Two iTunes Folders on one PC (My mistake). Please help!

Sorry, I had this in another post that was too long and could not edit. Please don't punish me, mods...
https://discussions.apple.com/message/12497755#12497755
Edited:
My old computer crashed and I couldn't recover the most recent iTunes folder on that drive. However, I did back-up the folder to an external drive a few months ago (I know, why so long).
Here's where I did something wrong... I installed iTunes on my new Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit computer, then I copied the older backed-up folder from the external to write over the iTunes folder installed on my PC by the iTunes app after installation (can't remember which location I put the B/U folder, I am new to Win7).
I did a "Shift" Open iTunes to choose folder and the app informed me I have two (2) iTunes folders. One is path "Home -> My Music -> iTunes" and the other is under path "Libraries -> Music - iTunes". I think I really screwed-up here.
* How do I tell which folder the app iTunes is using (they are both the same size and same number of files)?
* How do I tell which folder to safely delete since I don't know which one iTunes is accessing?
* How do I get this back to way it was on my old XP machine? (iTunes folder was in failed machine "My Documents -> My Music -> iTunes")
When I try to delete the one in "Libraries -> Music - iTunes" the computer also deletes the one in "Home -> My Music -> iTunes".

Here's where the duplicate folder is:
But I want to consolidate to my path "Home - My Music - iTunes" and have one folder only.
Ideas? Thanks

How do you move or can I move Itune folders (Movies), (TV Shows) and (Home Videos) to other internal hard drives (running out of space) on my computer's main hard drive and have Itunes recongize where they are?

I built my own computer which has 4 internal hard drives with 3 internal hard drives that are 3tb. With my movies and tv shows, I need to know if I can move the Itunes folders (Movies, TV shows and Home Video's) and move each one of them to 3 seperate internal hard drives while Itunes can still find them to play with my apple tv. Does anyone know how I can do it?

While you can do that, it is not a feature of iTunes. Put your movies on the external drive, then add them to iTunes by dragging the files to iTunes while holding the option (alt) key down so it leaves the files where they are located. There are other ways to move them if they are already added but they can be more involved and tricky. If it's just one or two try: http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=relocateselected

How can I download a previously downloaded purchase to my iTunes library on my laptop when the listing for the song in my library won't play because it says it cannot locate the file. Yes I have searched my iTunes folders and also done a full windows sear

How can I download a previously downloaded purchase to my iTunes library on my laptop when the listing for the song in my library won't play because it says it cannot locate the file. Yes I have searched my iTunes folders and also done a full windows search. The track plays on my iPad and my iPhones but will not play on my laptop!?
It has an "!" To the left of the song title in my library
My worry is that if I sync my iPad/iPhone then I will lose the track on those also!

If you cannot find the file on your hard drive then once you delete the current broken entry you should be able to redownload from iTunes in the Cloud. This assumes the item in question qualifies. Note that audiobooks, digital booklets, iTunes LPs & Extras, ringtones, selected movies etc. don't.
If prompted don't hide the item. You may find that you need to close and then reopen iTunes before it will appear for download.
tt2

My iPod 4G, after reset and iOS 6 install, now has only some album art after syncing music. Even music directly downloaded from iTunes is missing album art. (I'm using iTunes 11.0.1 on Windows Vista)

My iPod 4G, after a reset and iOS6 install, after I recopied and synced music, is missing most album art. Even songs directly downloaded from iTunes are missing album art. I'm using iTunes 11.0.1 on Windows Vista. My iPod isn't full. Whenever I go to "On This iPod" and add album art and sync, nothing happens. Please help :/

Try:
- Reset the iOS device. Nothing will be lost
Reset iOS device: Hold down the On/Off button and the Home button at the same time for at
least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
- Unsync all music and resync
- Reset all settings
Go to Settings > General > Reset and tap Reset All Settings.
All your preferences and settings are reset. Information (such as contacts and calendars) and media (such as songs and videos) aren’t affected.
- Restore from backup. See:
iOS: How to back up
- Restore to factory settings/new iOS device.

All of the music from my itunes is missing. I do not have a Mac or PC, how do I get my music back?

all of the music from my itunes is missing. I do not have a Mac or PC, how do I get my music back?

If the music was purchased from iTunes and if you are in a country where music can be redownloaded and it's still available in the store, then you should be able to redownload it via the Purchased tab in the iTunes store app on your device, or turn on Settings > iTunes & App Store > Music (under the 'Show All' heading) 'on' on the device and it should then show in the Music app with a cloud icon against them for redownloading

How do I permanently delete music files from itunes AND my computer (without going to the folder to delete each item)? It's a windows system. I've tried 'reset all dialogue warnings' as I've been told to do but no luck. Files are still in Itunes folders.

How do I permanently delete music files from itunes AND my computer (without going to the folder to delete each item)? It's a windows system. I've tried 'reset all dialogue warnings' as I've been told to do but no luck. Files are still in Itunes folders. I would really appreciate help!

Solved! Music was in Itunes folder but not in Media folder within that. It doesn't seem like a very user friendly system so far!

Itunes folders missing 411

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