Itunes purchased song could not be located because original file missing

I got a new Air and downloaded several songs from the Itunes store, but after I imported my library from my old G4 it no longer can play the new songs. The error message says, "The song 'blank' could not be located because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" When I select yes, it sends me to a window with the documents folder selected. Of course the song is not there.
I have the new songs on my ipod nano, is there any way to get them back from there? Or perhaps another way? Help.

Hey there!
Thanks also by replying... It seems that my library is back to normal now... But as soon as it starts asking for original file locations, I'll try that what you told me!
Merci and have a good day!
Vincent

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Song could not be played because original file could not be found

Song could not be played because original file could not be found."
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Hello bartap,
I would be concerned too if I was not able to locate my music in iTunes. I recommend reviewing the following articles to locate you music files on your computer:
iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1408
Where are my iTunes files located?
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Sheila M.

The song could not be used because original file could not be found

I just loaded iTunes on my new laptop running Windows 8. I then synced my iPod Nano hoping existing songs would be imported. Songs seemed to come across but when I try to play on my computer I get message - "The song could not be used because original file could not be found." Can anybody help?

Solution may be found if you search in the "More Like This" section over in the right column.

Help with iTunes "the song could not be used because original could not be found"

Please help!! I just recently got my pc laptop back from being worked on and the hard drive had to be replaced. Tonight I had to download iTunes and now all my purchased music (which in in the 1,000's) gives me a message when I try to play it,
"the song could not be used because the original file could not be found." I'm really frustrated since this music was purchased why can't I play it this is ridiculous! I've had numerous problems with iTunes before but I have to say this really is the worst. I realize these songs are still on my iPhone but I have really nice built in speakers and I like to listen to music while in my office right from my pc. Any advice would be helpful, I'm at my wits end. Please advise!!

Please help!! I just recently got my pc laptop back from being worked on and the hard drive had to be replaced. Tonight I had to download iTunes and now all my purchased music (which in in the 1,000's) gives me a message when I try to play it,
"the song could not be used because the original file could not be found." I'm really frustrated since this music was purchased why can't I play it this is ridiculous! I've had numerous problems with iTunes before but I have to say this really is the worst. I realize these songs are still on my iPhone but I have really nice built in speakers and I like to listen to music while in my office right from my pc. Any advice would be helpful, I'm at my wits end. Please advise!!

"song could not be used because original file could not be found..."

My entire music library files cannot be found. When I click on a song I get a popup that says "song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" I can't find the files anywhere, can't open any from my Windows Media player, from Quicktime or anywhere and can't find them on my hard drive. I have about 2300 songs downloaded from my CD collection and a handful of songs purchased on itunes. I have searched for all "mp3" files, no luck, searched by "title/artist", no luck. Yikes!!

I've occasionally had an artist or LP go missing from my library, but to have the entire library disappear is incredible!
Depending upon which version of itunes you are using, you should find your music here: (if it still exists)
User (insert name here)>Music>itunes music>(Folders for each artist)
or
User (insert name here)>Music>itunes media (I think)>music> (Folders for each artist)
If you find your music folder in either of these places, close the windows, open itunes, from the file menu, select "Add to Library" and navigate to the music folder and select it. Itunes should recreate your library.

Problem saying song could not be used because original file not found

Hi,
I updated itunes to 10.1.1 over the weekend and now my libray has massive problems. Most of my older music has an exclamation mark next to it and when I try and play it, it says "Song cannot be used because orginal file could not be found".
I have tried to reload the content but the same problem persists, this is really annoying to say the least. What can I do.
Thanks

Solution may be found if you search in the "More Like This" section over in the right column.

Song could not be found because original file could not be located

Hey gang - I'm new to help and can't seem to stumble my way to an answer. i have a regular and an external hard drive. i have two music libraries and wonder if that is my problem on where i originally loaded music. all my songs are showing up on my ipod and playing but in iTunes i get messages on half of them that have an "!" mark and say that they can't be found. as a result i can't play them or move them in to a new playlist. i'm not sure what i should do - please help...

Probably not every one, but you will have to do it several times. Right click on the name of the song, show in window's explorer and when it can't it should give you a dialogue to find the song.
Once it finds one it'll offer to find more and you can locate stuff that way.

When accessing my itunes library of music I get the notation on all songs ...The song could not be located because the origional file could not be found...how can this be corrected or did Apple wipe out all the files

wien I access Itunes I get the notification....the song could not be located because the origional filoe could not be found...I have over 2000
songs in my library ....Does this mean they are all gone....How can one retrieve them???

This missing song 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 .
Once you've sorted out the broken links I've written a script called DeDuper which can help remove unwanted duplicates. See this thread for background.
tt2

I can not play a large percentage of my music due to "could not be used because original file could not be found" How do I locate these files again? Thanks

So I have not been able to play a large number of my songs duw to a message that reads "could not be used because original file could not be found". Does anyone know how to locate these files so that itunes will play them again? Thanks

by following this document here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93313
and then doing something else at the end.
I followed the instructions from 1-6:
Then rather than importing the XML file I open iTunes, selected "Add to Library" from the File menu then navigated to the itunes library on my external disc then let it do its work.
I guess something got fragged when I changed computer but it's all ok now.
This worked on a Mac I don't know about Windows

Song could not be used bc original file could not be found?

song could not be used bc original file could not be found?
I uploaded a bunch of cds into itunes a while ago now, and for some reason more than half my library has this error. Is there anyway to solve this without reloading everything???

Well usually when this happens you have eaither changed the files location, changed the files or folders name, or somehow deleted the file.
You have to put it back EXACTLY where it was and with its name

Song can not be used because Original file can not be located - HELP

Hi - Newbie here and I have run into and error and don't know how to fix it. When I try to play a large number of songs from Itunes I get the following message. "The Song (NAME) could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" I have no idea where the orginal files are and I am not sure how to fix this error. Could someone please help me out! Thanks - KAggie

This happens if the files are no longer where iTunes expects to find them. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the files, or that the drive they live 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.
If the files are nowhere to be found on your computer, but exist on a device, see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
While deleting & reimporting works when the media can be found the process will delete user playlists, ratings, play counts, date added information and any other metadata not stored in tags.
tt2

"File could not be used because original file cannot be found." Locate File?

Everytime I try to play a song on iTunes, I get a message that says "The song cannot be played because the original file cannot be found. Would you like to locate it?" I also cannot add songs to playlists, or pretty much do anything. The only songs that will play are ones I recently purchased from the iTunes store. I also have 2 libraries setup on my computer. The original library is fine, its the second one that is a problem. Should I just go back to one library? or how can fix the problem?

This 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

Post-Match: "song could not be used bec original file could not be found"

I have subscribed to iTunes Match, completed the Match process and transfered my music to iCloud, I then deleted the local music files. My music played fine until today in which each song has the exclamation point before it indicated the music file does not exist and I cannot play the song. I am still subscribed to Match, I updated it and it confirmed that my 5000+ songs are in the cloud. Why won't they play????

Well usually when this happens you have eaither changed the files location, changed the files or folders name, or somehow deleted the file.
You have to put it back EXACTLY where it was and with its name

My songs disappeared- get message "could not be used because original file could not be found?

how can I access my songs?

This 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

Itunes purchased song could not be located because original file missing

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