ITunes playlist--which file is it?

I am using FolderShare to move my iTunes music between my laptop and home desktop computer (for personal use only!!!) I have successfully moved my music but nto sure which file stores the Playlist. Any one know which one to copy over? (Or is it several?)

While it is true that playlists are also stored in the xml file called "iTunes Music Library.xml", this file is not directly used by iTunes. Rather iTunes periodically creates this file as an export of the main library file (iTunes Library), so that other applications like iMovie can access the iTunes database.
The xml file can be used to reconstruct a library on another computer by using the File->Import function in iTunes. This is a bit more tedious than simply placing the "iTunes Library" in the right place, IMHO.

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ITunes Playlist Main file disappears!!!! Alarm

Since I updated to 7.6.1.(9), 2 times this wk when I opened iTunes, it gave me a message, about a problem with the playlist, and turns out that the file containing all the info, folders, playlists, play counts, etc., etc., got erased or corrupted, and I end up having to re-import my music, but now there is not grading, no play count etc., everything is lost.
I can add to the new playlist all the files, they are still there but it is very annoying to have to deal with this.
Does anybody know what is causing this???
Message was edited by: gusluz

I wish I could tell you why it happened, but I can tell you how to help prevent future issues. I have so much stuff and so many playlists that having to recreate them will take days if I have to start over. In your itunes folder on your home drive (regardless of where you keep your music) back up the itunes library document (has the little note on it) and the itunes library xml document (has a text icon). Replacing these in the event of corruption will restore your settings. They're small in size, about 10-20 mb total.
Good luck with the fix--hope someone else can help!
Sharon

ITunes playlists crashing iTunes

I have a couple of iTunes playlists which, when I click on them, crash iTunes. I've tried re-installing iTunes and re-intsalling my user>music>iTunes>iTunes library from my back-up but the problem persists. I've set up the playlists again (under new names) and they work fine. But I want to get rid of the dodgy playlists. I can't do this within iTunes itself because the moment I click on them the app crashes. Any ideas as to where the playlists are kept and how I can delete them?

Playlists are stored in the iTunes Library file which contains everything textual about your iTunes collection. That file can't be edited. It has a sister file called iTunes Library.xml which can be edited. This sister file contains most of the data that is in your main library, but I know there are some omissions (just can't remember what - probably minor stuff for me such as ratings).
So, unless somebody has a better idea, you could open a copy of the xml file and see if you can spot the offending playlists and remove them, or maybe even see where the library is corrupted. Then start iTunes with the option key held down and create a new library. This will be blank but you can then import the xml file that you just edited into this library and basically re--create your old library, minus a few details.
I suppose if you have a backup of your library from before this happened you could use that, but of course if you have done major changes then you'll lose those. Some people do not back up their files, but iTunes will make an archive of your library every time you upgrade iTunes. If you have done that recently you can start up from the old file (hold option key down while starting iTunes).

How can I drag my iPhone voicemails into an iTunes playlist?

I want to find out how to put my voicemails into an iTunes playlist which I have created. This is related to other than syncing, which I already know how to do.

No such option on the iPhone.
Voicemails are included with the iPhone's backup.
You can use a 3rd party utility such as Backup Extractor to extract voicemails from your iPhone's backup.
http://www.wideanglesoftware.com
If your iPhone is being backed up over the air with your iCloud account, you'll need to create a backup on your computer's hard drive for your iPhone with iTunes.

Adding iTunes playlist as separate file in iDVD

I am creating a DVD using video created in iMovie. In addition to the movie, I would like to include a separate file of the music (something like a soundtrack in the form of an iTunes playlist) that can be accessed through the main menu. I have not been able to find an answer in iDVD Help.
How about adding a folder of the photos that were used to make the movie/slideshow?
Can either of these be done?

You can add music files to the DVD-Rom section of the Dvd but you won't be able to access the files unless it's from a computer (since the dvd rom section isn't readable on most set top dvd players).
You can add audio to slideshows ie "Fit Slides to Audio" or you can add audio as a separate track within the video editing application (iMovie). However, iDvd wasn't really designed as a video editing app (apple leaves this function to apps like i-Movie, FCP, FCE, etc.)
Essentially, iDvd is to iMovie what the candy wrapper is to a chocolate bar. It's simply the exterior packaging of the movie you made in iMovie or FCP.
frankly I normally use a CD for all audio files (that or an iPod). But if you want to write audio files to a Dvd then consider an app like Roxio toast and make an audio disc.
An audio disc is a CD or DVD that contains audio files. Audio discs are meant to be played in a home or car stereo, in a set-top DVD player, and can also be used in a Macintosh or Windows computer.
or select from these types of audio disc
Types of Audio Discs:
Toast can create many kinds of audio discs - more than any other Mac burning software.
• Audio CD: This CD can be played in most home or car stereo CD players, set-top DVD players, and computers. This is similar to a standard commercial CD you can purchase in music stores. This is the best choice for playback in a CD player. See Making an Audio CD.
• Music DVD: This DVD can be played in a set-top DVD player or in a Macintosh or a Windows computer with a DVD player. A music DVD can contain over 50 hours of music and has full navigation menus for song selection. This is the best choice for playback in a DVD player. See Making a Music DVD.
• MP3 Disc: This CD or DVD can be played in home or car stereo MP3 disc players, some set-top DVD players, and most Macintosh and Windows computers. MP3 discs have longer playing times than audio CDs but their playback is less universal. See Making an MP3 Disc.
• Enhanced Audio CD: This CD can be played in a home or car stereo CD player. It contains additional data content, which is accessible in a Macintosh or Windows computer. See Making an Enhanced Audio CD.
• Mixed Mode CD: This CD can be played in a Macintosh or Windows computer. It offers playback compatibility with older CD-ROM players and is rarely used. Enhanced Audio CD is a better choice for this type of disc. See Making a Mixed Mode CD.
Disclaimer: Apple does not necessarily endorse any suggestions, solutions, or third-party software products that may be mentioned in this topic. Apple encourages you to first seek a solution at Apple Support. The following links are provided as is, with no guarantee of the effectiveness or reliability of the information. Apple does not guarantee that these links will be maintained or functional at any given time. Use the information above at your own discretion.
Message was edited by: SDMacuser

Playlists empty, no iTunes Music Library file

Is it possible to recover songs from a playlist?
I was reading over some posts on the subject, which mention moving the iTunes Music Library file. I see the iTunes Library file, but not the iTunes Music library file.
Thanks for any help!

I don't know exactly what you mean by recover songs from a playlist. What are you trying to do?
The two library file terms are the same, just differ with iTunes versions.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391

Itunes has changed the way it stores files over the years and now i am having trouble figuring out which files are where so I can back them up

Hi
I have backed up itunes by copying my itunes file to an external hard drive. I try to keep my large media files (like TV shows) in a separate folder so that I can keep my hard drive on my macbook from filling up. Problem is, apple has changed the way Itunes is organized and backs up over the years. Now I am having a hard time keeping straight what is where. When I go to support, it has different instructions for the various versions of itunes. I am using version 10 now but it seems like I can't see all my files within the itunes music or media folder. I want to get everything in one place so that I can easily back up, regardless of which version of itunes I am running at the time.
I have selected to let itunes organize my files. It keeps all the files I have purchased in one place apparently, but items I have imported don't seem to always be there.
How can I best sort this out?

I have, but if I don't have that particular external hard drive connected when my time machine backup hard drive is connected, then I don't think it is all backed up together. It is getting too complicated to get out all this equipment every time I want to buy some music.

Is it possible? to switch from the orignal computer, in which my iTunes playlist was created, to a new computer?

Is it possible to switch from the my orignal computer (in which my iTunes playlist, and iPod itself, were first setup) to a new computer?
Or am I able to branch my account onto two separate computers?

I had zero problems going from pc to pc to mac with my ipod. i did have poblems going from mac to pc. I now put my tunes, books on an external to my old pc when my daughter wants something.

I recently lost my windows laptop due to a virus. I had backed up all files onto a drive(files only). However no itunes playlists. i have all my playlists on my iphone and pics etc however when im trying to sync to my new computer itunes deletes all data

I recently lost my windows laptop due to a virus. I had backed up all files onto a drive(files only). However no itunes playlists. i have all my playlists on my iphone and pics etc however when im trying to sync to my new computer itunes wants to deletes all data off of my iphone so i click cancel
i want to update to iOS 5 and still have itunes be able to copy my playlists from my iphone. for free. why does apple provide a recovery from iphone option?

If you have a backup, restore the ENTIRE iTunes folder to the computer. This restores the library and device association files. If for some reason you chose to only back up the media and not the entire iTunes folder, then the only option is to let iTunes wipe the drive and re-sync.

Itunes was reinstalled on my MacAir and in the process my playlists disapeared. How can I sync theses playlists which are still on my Ipod back to the iTunes library? PS: these are not purchased from iTunes, they are my own cd's.Thanks.

Itunes was reinstalled on my MacAir and in the process my playlists disapeared. How can I sync theses playlists which are still on my Ipod back to the iTunes library? PS: these are not purchased from iTunes, they are my own cd's.Thanks.

Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive: Apple Support Communities

Is there a way to access my iTunes Library, which is stored on a (PC) External Hard Drive, on a MacBook Air (through an Apricorn Universal Hard Drive Adapter), without transferring the music files off of the external hard drive?

Is there a way to access my iTunes Library, which is stored on a (PC) External Hard Drive, on a MacBook Air (through an Apricorn Universal Hard Drive Adapter), without transferring the music files off of the external hard drive?
In other words, because the MacBook Air only has 120 gbs of hard drive space & my old hard drive, from a Lenovo, has 500 gbs of hard drive space (and I have over 120 gbs of music), I’m looking to manage my iTunes music from the external hard drive permanently. Upon attempting to access the iTunes library held on the external hard drive the following message comes up: “The iTunes Library.itl file is locked, on a locked disk, or you do not have write permission for this file”. Is there a way to get around this?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks so much!

You will have to engage a split library which means you will have to start answering questions on this forum because you will need to learn a lot about how iTunes works in order not that have a big mess at the end of it all. It also won't be easy when the time comes to relocate it all to different drives.
You can go to advanced preferences and turn off organize media and copy to items to media folder when adding items to library. Next read about how to selectively consolidate items to the external drive.
Sept. 2010, Consolidate selected content - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2589812 and April 2014, https://discussions.apple.com/message/25414357
"...selected the new tracks directly in iTunes, Control-clicked on the selection, and saw that now you can consolidate selected items." - http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20090919000326840
Remember that when you start iTunes without the external drive turned on iTunes will present you with a bunch of broken links. If you have automatic downloads enabled with iCloud you may have to turn that off to prevent iTunes from repopulating your drive trying to deal with those "missing" tracks.
If you add tracks in bunches to iTunes and want them to go to different media folders you will need to either add them by holding down the option key while dragging if the desired media folder is not the one set in preferences, or by changing the media folder in preferences. Changing media folder preferences only applies to new files added, not old ones.
Okay, I am going to stop typing because you might just reply to me, "Oh, okay, forget it," and I don't need the exercise.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391

I have hard drive from trashed MBP15"..want to put iTunes music on my MBP17". The content is almost identical, but 17" has been showing a lot of "cannot be found" messages. Previous suggestions have always failed to identify which file/folder/library item

Greetings..my 15"MBP crashed. I pulled hard drive and have it available as "external drive"..with all info intact. I am currently using my 17"MBP, which has really been acting up in iTunes..many of my songs are showing the dreaded "exclaimation mark"..still don't understand how this occurs. BOTH computers are almost carbon copies of each other, so I just want to copy tunes from 15" hard drive to my 17" working computer, to try and rescue all these "lost" tunes. I've asked this before and always get several answers (for which I am grateful!)..but..they are always different.."You gotta get this library folder!..just drag and drop..erase and reinstall!.."...nothing has worked yet..I'm trying one more time. Mainly need to know which file/folder to drag to what location. Should be simple,.maybe you can help. There will be TON'S of duplicates (unless program catches this and asks if I want to import dupes!!)..so I am prepared to run "dupe-elimination" program. Thanks for your time and suggestions!

iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Open iTunes and immediately hold down the Option (alt) key (shift on Windows), then guide it to the new location of the library.

I want to move the location of my iTunes library music files. At present they are all on my time machine . I want to move them all to my imac. Can I do that and keep all my playlists and play counts? Thanks in advance

I want to move the location of my iTunes library music files. At present they are all on my time machine . I want to move them all to my imac. Can I do that and keep all my playlists and play counts? Thanks in advance
its 1000s of songs . Originally I used the time machine as a networked drive but it can cause the songs to pause so I'm thinking it would be better to have the songs on the internal imac drive
how can I move the songs so I can re-open iTunes and the playlists (with plays in the 100s) find the song in the new place?

Do you mean on your Time Machine backup drive? Or are you actually accessing the backup? In either case you shouldn't be doing that. If you haven't space on your HDD to store the iTunes Library, then at least put it on another external drive.
Since you did not provide any information about what's actually "on my time machine," here's what you would do. The entire iTunes folder should be stored in the /Home/Music/ folder. Within that folder you would have three folders: imm Media, iTunes, and iTunes Playlists.

I cant uninstall my itunes off my computer, i have followed instructions and i still have errors, including error 2330 and redundance cyclic. the only software i have left is itunes.exe and file es.lproj which is located in the ituneshelpresources folder

I cant uninstall my itunes off my computer, i have followed instructions and i still have errors, including error 2330 and redundance cyclic. the only software i have left is itunes.exe and file es.lproj which is located in the ituneshelpresources folder. i recently installed a second hard drive and that let me uninstall everything. I just want to get itunes off my computer and reinstall itunes, i have deleted everything i can and i ran "chkdsk" this did nothing. I would have just updated the oild itunes to the newest version but it didnt ley me do that. installing/ uninstalling or deleting just lets me get half way and shows me these errors. Please help, thank you.
JPHowarth

the only software i have left is itunes.exe and file es.lproj which is located in the ituneshelpresources folder.
If the chkdsk isn't fixing the damage, and those are the only iTunes that can't be deleted, try renaming the "iTunes" folder that they are contained in (in your Program files) to iTunesOLD.
Now try another install. Does it go through without the 2330 this time?

I have iTunes ver 10 on a PC with Playlists which do not sync to ITouch or Nano (6th Gen). All the music does not appear and the playlists do not appear at all. I have selected to manually manage music on the sum tab

I have iTunes ver 10 on a PC with Playlists which do not sync to an Itouch or Nano (6th Gen). Also, all the music does not appear when I check entire library and there is enough memory on the device. When I select to manually manage music on the summary tab and selected playlists on the music tab nothing changes. Either way all the music isn't on either device and the playlists are not on either device. Please advise next steps. Thank you.

Connect the device to the computer.
In iTunes, select the content desired to sync.
Sync.
This is all described in the User's Guide, reading it may be a good place to start.

ITunes playlist--which file is it?

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