ITunes unable to locate my songs

Recently iTunes has struggled to find my music. It is on my hard drive (the same place it has always been). There are 3,000 tunes out of my 20,000 it can't find, although when I click on locate, I can manually find them where they are expected to be and then itunes starts playing the song.
Is there anyway to sort this out without going through all 3,000 tunes individually?

I'm having similar trouble, in the OS X 10.6.5 iteration of (latest; I did check for updates) iTunes 10.
Same symptom: iTunes opens to library on a USB drive fine, w/ playlists and everything, but any song I click on, from a playlist OR Library-Music, iTunes tells me iTunes 'can't find the original file', and shows me a Locate and Cancel button.
I can browse to a song (in iTunes-iTunes Music-<Some Band>-song and when clicked on, it plays. It won't play the next song in the (purported) playlist, so if I choose another song in iTunes, gotta browse for it again. Ad infinitum.
Podcasts and Movies appear unaffected.
Rebooted, relaunched w/ (OPTION)-iTunes; I can point iTunes to my USB drive/iTunes/iTunes Library.xml, and iTunes appears to like that --but same symptom persists.
There's an iTunes/iTunes Library.xml on my HD and all that --but, I successfully launch to the USB drive. Which I wholesale copied the iTunes folder to, when I moved from one Mac to another (same patch-levels, same program iterations) and, all this worked up until, what? Three nights ago?
This issue has merit. I have a Genius Bar appt. tomorrow, but meanwhile, I looked here, found this discussion.
Apple Jedi's: any takers here????

Similar Messages

HT1451 iTunes unable to locate my songs

I have all my songs on my external hard drive, and that is where the iTunes Media folder and iTunes Library files are. But iTunes can't find the songs.
I am hoping the image I uploaded to give a picture of my setup is part of this message.
Thanks for any help.
I am on a Macbook Pro.

I'm having similar trouble, in the OS X 10.6.5 iteration of (latest; I did check for updates) iTunes 10.
Same symptom: iTunes opens to library on a USB drive fine, w/ playlists and everything, but any song I click on, from a playlist OR Library-Music, iTunes tells me iTunes 'can't find the original file', and shows me a Locate and Cancel button.
I can browse to a song (in iTunes-iTunes Music-<Some Band>-song and when clicked on, it plays. It won't play the next song in the (purported) playlist, so if I choose another song in iTunes, gotta browse for it again. Ad infinitum.
Podcasts and Movies appear unaffected.
Rebooted, relaunched w/ (OPTION)-iTunes; I can point iTunes to my USB drive/iTunes/iTunes Library.xml, and iTunes appears to like that --but same symptom persists.
There's an iTunes/iTunes Library.xml on my HD and all that --but, I successfully launch to the USB drive. Which I wholesale copied the iTunes folder to, when I moved from one Mac to another (same patch-levels, same program iterations) and, all this worked up until, what? Three nights ago?
This issue has merit. I have a Genius Bar appt. tomorrow, but meanwhile, I looked here, found this discussion.
Apple Jedi's: any takers here????

Lost 3GB of memory after Syncing with itunes, unable to locate/delete them?

This morning, I did the regular syncing with Itunes, and suddenly I noticed that my Free memory had suddenly dropped from 9.7 to 6.7 Gb
I also noticed while syncing that my iphone is syncing song titles that already exist on my iphone and itunes again for some reason.
after syncing,my free Memory dropped from 9.7 GB to 6.7GB and my OTHER memory went up from 1.36 to 4.36 for some reason.while Music, photos and APP memory stayed the same.
keep in mind the new added 3 GB are exactly the same total memory of my music.
I usually have a total of 14.28 GB out of 16 GB 3GS
music: 3GB
photos 146.9MB
APP:876MB
Others 1.36 GB
Free 9.7 GB
After this morning Sync I Have
Music: 3 GB
APP:876MB
photos 146.9 MB
Others 4.36 GB
Free 6.7 GB
I checked to see if I have duplicates titles of my music in my ipod, and everything was the same.no duplictaes
I am unable to locate the additional 3GB I have under Others in my memory.
Is there a way to break down the memory Status Other in order to see what are the new 3 GB added to my phone?
HOw can I free my phone from the new 3Gb data?
Hoe to locate or delete the new data? any application that can break it down in order to locate the folder with the new data either in itunes or on my iphone?
I tried resorting but I still got the new memory status since I had synced my iphone several times trying to resolve the issue.
any help on this issue is highly appreciated
Regards
Guss

Page 204 of the manual:
"If you restore, the latest version of iPhone software is reinstalled, settings are restored
to their defaults, and data stored on iPhone is deleted, including downloaded
applications, songs, videos, contacts, photos, calendar information, and any other
data. If you’ve backed up iPhone with iTunes on your computer, you can restore data
from the backup at the end of the restore process. "

ITunes Unable to Locate Music File

I have a few hundred songs in iTunes that have been loaded over the years. Their source is CD's and iTunes. Tonight on an airplane, I was listening and noticed that I had red circles with red squares inside of them next to song titles. When I selected these, they were not available. This happened more and more as i selected different songs, eventually I was left with just a handful of songs. Immediately when I got home, I snyched to my computer and it said that there were items unable to synch because iTunes was unable to locate the original file. (it did restore a few but still over 100+ missing files). The titles are still listed.
However, I am unable to play any song in itunes on my computer. Just on my iPhone. When i ask it to loacte it directs me to a catroot file from 2009???
I have not added or removfed songs in weeks and it has been working fine (iPhone and computer) for months.Any help in finding these files or restoring them would be appreciated.

Use the iTunes command File > Add Folder to Library, and navigate to the folder containing the music.

Missing links-Itunes unable to locate files after having ext HD unplugged

I have my music in different folders on my laptop, some on the internal hard drive, and most on my external hard drive (labeled drive F). I recently went out of town and didn't bring my external HD, and while I was gone I used my laptop to play songs and burn CDs from the folders I have on the internal hard drive (drive D). Now I got back home and plugged my external HD back in, and every time I try to play a song on that drive, I get the message "The song "_" could not be located because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" I can go and locate each song individually exactly where it was before, but I have way too many songs to do this. When I hit "Get Info" for one of these missing songs, at the bottom next to "Where," the filename starts with "file://localhost/G:/MP3 Library/etc." It should be "F://MP3 Library/etc." Is there a way for me to get Itunes to locate these files without going through them individually? I don't even have a drive G on my computer. If I changed my external HD's label from F to G, would that help? I have no idea what to do and I don't want to lose all of my playlists that I have made over the years. I also do not want to consolidate my music/folders into one Itunes library folder.

likely your ext hd used to be G and when you had it unplugged for a while your computer gave it the F drive when you plugged it back in. therefore the path was broken
So yes, changing it back to the G drive SHOULD fix it.
Message was edited by: Nudethecih

Itunes can't locate purchased songs

I'm trying to sync my library to my phone and I get an error message saying that it can not locate songs, including ones I purchased from Itunes.
I found the songs in my account, but I can't figure out a way to download them again.
The account thinks that the songs are already on this computer.
Suggestions?
Thanks.

Hello JKEdison,
There are a couple of methods that can potentially get your music back into place. One would be to remove the existing (missing) entries, then re-download the content from the iTunes Store. The second, and likely easiest, would be to remove the existing library altogether, import its contents to a new library, then download the remaining content from the iTunes Store.
Method 1:
Deleting files from the iTunes library and your computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3842
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519
Method 2:
After quitting iTunes, browse to the location of your iTunes Library, and move it to the Desktop. Then follow the following article for steps on creating a new library. Once the new library is created drag the 'iTunes Media' (and 'iTunes Music' folder, if it exists) folder on top of the iTunes window (that should now be displaying a new, blank library). Once the import process is complete, remove the iTunes Library folder from the Desktop, and download remaining content from the iTunes Store.
iTunes: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1589
Cheers,
Allen

ITunes unable to locate my music

iTunes has been periodically doing this weird thing: it loses track of my music. The music files are on my computer, their names appear in iTunes, but when I click on some songs a window pops up that says "The song "blah blah blah" could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?". Then I locate the song and it plays just fine. But every now and then I have to help my computer re-locate all my music, which is really annoying and takes a lot of time. Is there something I can do to avoid this from happening?
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4)

The most common cause of iTunes loosing links with the songs, is moving them around in the Finder.
If you don't move songs around, repair the disk using Disk Utility. If there are errors found, that could be the cause.
To repair the startup volume, you have to run disk Utility from the first OS X install CD/DVD.
M

ITunes unable to locate music files saved on external drive

Hi all,
This is proabably something incredibly simple but my iTunes was installed on to my laptop wih music added till my memory was all used up.
So I bought an external drive, and re-added all my music saving it to the external drive, my iTunes however remained installed directly on my laptop.
This worked fine initially as long as my external drive was selected in the Preferences section of my Itunes, but recently all my albums are available but it says that Itunes is unable to locate the files, even though none of them have been lost or deleted from the external drive.
Ive tried everything I can think of - does anyone know how to rectify this?
Thanks....

I switched computers and tried to reload all my backed up itunes files. It loaded the files fine the first time. After I logged off the files disappeared from my Itunes. Apple tech told me to add itunes folder to library. It worked fine until i logged off again. I tried it several times because my files never stayed on itunes. Finnaly I added two new CD's into my library and I went to file Libray and I entered consolidated Library. This brought everything I had before and then some to my itunes library. I logged off, shutdown and even hibernated and my files still remain. I was able to create playlist, my movies, podcast, there all there. Hope this helps.

Itunes unable to locate music

after much itunes drama and loosing much of my music, I finally got it all make into my itunes library by moving my finals from my ipod back to it. now I tried to sync my ipod again and it says all of the music cannot be located. any idea how i can get it back again or is it now gone for good?

The most common cause of iTunes loosing links with the songs, is moving them around in the Finder.
If you don't move songs around, repair the disk using Disk Utility. If there are errors found, that could be the cause.
To repair the startup volume, you have to run disk Utility from the first OS X install CD/DVD.
M

Itunes unable to locate zeppelin remote speakers

We have just purchased a wireless zeppelin speaker and my itunes is unable to locate devices, I have followed instructions within preferences set up - how do I access devices menu to add a new device?

The exclamation marks (and the accompanying note) inidicate the files aren't located where iTunes expects them to be.
This most often happens when the files have been deleted or moved to a different location than where iTunes expects them to be.
If the files are still on your computer but have been moved, the best solution is to get them back where they were in the first place. iTunes will be able to find them again - happy ending.
It can also happen if the files have been renamed in which case changing the name back to what it was in the first place is the way to go.
Sometimes though, it seems iTunes loses track of files for no apparent reason. In that case, other than telling iTunes where they are on a one by one basis, your only other option is to start with a new iTunes library. Regrettably, this method will lose your playlists and related information (Ratings, Play Counts, Dates Last Played, etc.).
If that's not a deal-breaker for you, delete the current entries in your Library by highlighting them - iTunes Edit menu > Select All - and then right-clicking > Delete . You are removing the entries from your Library but keeping the files themselves in your iTunes Music folder, or wheresoever they happen to be stored.
You can then add them back into your Library by selecting the iTunes Music folder in Windows Explorer and dragging it into the Library entry in the iTunes Source List (left-hand column). Reference this article in the Apple Knowledge Base.

After Defrag, unable to locate some songs, iTunes only - iPod intact

I removed 40G of junk from my drive to get needed headroom; then I defragmented the drive. YES, Files MOVED! Upon connection of my iPod Photo, I received a notice stating missing location of files with a list of 100 items which I browsed and continued.
The update was uneventful (new music). The iPod STILL contained the "missing" songs and the was on the iTunes library affected files. The second time I accessed iTunes, there were NO files.
When I added more music and connected the iPod, The 100 were again referenced. I copied all 100 down and located the physical CD's and reloaded them with the "option" of not reloading the not missing items (some full, some partially missing).
Upon connection of the iPod, another 100 tem list (must be maximum) - new items AND repeats.
I have over 4000 songs in this 60G. If I wipe the iPod clean and the iTunes Library, I'm sure that starting from scratch will work; BUT..... I'm hoping for a better option.

Okay, I think I've solved this.
Problem: Intermittent, but consistent of songs NOT playing. Attempted to play via Songs, Albums, Artists & Playlists. When the problem occurred - the playtime of effected song would permanently stay "0:00" - move to the next song. The fault had reproducebility of 5 in 6 songs not playing.
Solution. I think the problem was a corrupted playlist. This is what I did - BEFORE - solving the problem.
Restored my iPod back to factory settings.
Setup iPod as a NEW iPod.
Re-Sync copying across PlayLists from iTunes.
This did NOT resolve the fault (Tried this 3 times)
i) So, restored iPod back to factory settings and setup asa NEW iPod.
ii) NO syncronisation was performed between iTunes and iPod. (The iPod had NO music, no playlists - NOTHING)
iii) Deleted ALL playlists from iTunes. Except the Party Shuffle - which you can't delete anyway.
iv) Created a NEW playlist in iTunes.
v) Copied a range from music to the PlayList (Started off small number. 1, 5, 10, etc)
vi) In iTunes - specified that the only thing to be syncronsied was the PlayList that was newly created
vii) In iTunes - Sync to iPod.
The first time I did this - it only sync-ed 1 song. I made sure, that the first song that sync-ed was a song that couldn't play.
Guess what ? It worked!
I continued selecting ranges - and syncing. I made sure that all songs were ok - as I played the first couple of seconds of each song - every time I synced. I have 77 in total. Not much, I know
Not suggesting that you sync 10 of your songs out of 50k then re-check, then sync again etc etc.
What I mean - is try it for a small number. If it works for the first 10 of your syncs then it should work for the others.
Wonder if the playlists are stored as XML on the iPod touch. If so, wonder if it was a case of the XML not being sync-ing to it's DTD .
I dunno. At least my iPod touch is working now. Hope this helps somebody.

Unable to locate lost songs

I lost my previous computer with about 1000 itune songs on it. I had forgotten my apple id and just created a new one. However, even after following online instructions, I cannot locate any of my previously purchased music (some a few years old). I just need to be able to access my old account on the itunes store showing all previously purchased music, but am unable to do so. Thank all of you for your help!

Just to confirm you are going into the Purchased link in the store :
And that is where you are seeing them with the cloud symbol ? Any that I have with the cloud symbol allow me to redownload them (i.e. they are not listed in the Music part of my library) :
If they don't have the cloud symbol against then they are already listed in my library (whether or not the actual music file is on my computer) - deleting one of them from my library then gives the cloud symbol against it in in the Purchased link

ITunes can't locate the songs that I bought from the iTunes store on my new computer

I just got a new computer today and I backed up all my songs from old computer onto an external hard drive. When I sent my songs over onto my new computer and freshly downloaded iTunes, the songs that I actually purchased from the iTunes store won't play. It says that the item cannot be located.

Hello, brandma4.
More than likely iTunes was set to read the media on the external drive. If this is the case and the drive is not connected when attempting to play music, you will receive these alerts. The other possibly is that iTunes is not directed to where you placed the media on the computer. Here are the best troubleshooting articles that direct you on how to correct this issue.
iTunes: Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Cheers,
Jason H.

Itunes can't locate purchased songs even after re-downloaded from itunes

Hello,
I had lost some of my data and with the help of this forum I was able to find my purchase history and re-download 580 songs to my computer but when I go to itunes alot of the items I just downloaded are not located by itunes? Did I miss something? Please help.
Thank You.

I just bought an iMac and am having trouble getting my iTunes transferred over from my PC. Is there a faster way than transferring the songs to my external hard drive, then to the Mac? Also when I signed in as myself to iTunes on the Mac, I bought a couple of songs from iTunes and now it won't allow me to play them. It asks me to authorize the computer and then says it was successful. But then it goes through the same thing motions each time on the same song. I can't play them at all and I bought them on the Mac TODAY! I have only had one iTunes account, so that isn't the issue...any idea what I can do? Is this going to happen with all of my songs? Also it says I authorized 3 other computers to use my iTunes but I have no idea aside from my PC how that occured and how to undo it. Any help would be appreciated....

ITunes can't locate my songs

First to mention that updating ITunes to 7 version I lost the entire library and all my songs from IPod, major inconvenience before going in a holiday…obviously I hate ITunes now.
Anyway, coming back from the holiday I tried to access ITunes again and when I try to play a song it asks me if I want to locate the file. I didn’t move my music in an different location. I’m thinking to uninstall it and try to add all the music again but with 120G of music is really time consuming as it would not consolidate, I don’t know why, and also I tried to add all the music folder and would add only about 20G and the rest I had to drag and drop.
Please somebody help me.

Two directions one can go with iTunes. 1) Let it do things as it wants to (99% of users) and sit back and mostly not worry about it, but you have to not, errr, mess with it or do anything out of the ordinary. 2) Learn how iTunes functions and uses files and then do things as you want because you know what to do and how in order to not upset it.
Things not to do in case 1). Do not move files manually. Do not rename or move anything in the iTunes folder. If something was outside of the iTunes folder and you added it, it will place a copy in the iTunes folder and leave the original in place. Do not add it again or you may end up with a duplicate. Once you have verified iTunes did place a copy in the iTunes folder (highlight a track, press command+r to reveal it in Finder and check it is in the media folder it should be), trash the original.
Compiling takes the files already added to iTunes and organizes them as set in the preferences. It won't find files not added.
If you add files, then bring over more copies of the same and add them again, it will generate duplicates. I suspect multiple ripping will do the same (never done that).
Don't be fooled by duplicates. Make sure they really are. iTunes may call something a duplicate if it is the same track on two LPs (unless you use exact duplicate view), or maybe a live version and studio version with the same name. Unless a script takes you through them one by one so you can call it, I don't really use them.
There's a Dougscript that will wander through folders looking for music and add it to iTunes.
How to Consolidate Your iTunes Library and Keep It Organized - http://www.switched.com/2010/11/02/itunes-consolidate-library-keep-organized/
What actions take place when itunes "consolidate library" is used?

ITunes unable to locate my songs

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for