Library Unorganized

My library randomly changed the order in which my songs were (alphabetically).
It always listed artists with with symbols (such as +44), then numbers 0-9, and then A-Z.
I opened iTunes this morning and it had changed the order to A-Z, THEN symbols and then 0-9. I tried to re-organize them by pressing "artist" but it won't change back.
Any ideas? This is kind of annoying.
TIA
Mike

It was not a change to organization, only to display. The new iTunes has a new sort order, with numbers after letters, and no option to change it.

Similar Messages

  • Importing a large (7500) photos from an external HD used with a PC into an

    How can I Import a large (7500) library of photos from an external HD used with a PC into iPhoto? I know how to import, but can't figure out how to keep my folders (by year) and the sub folders in order. When I import they all end up in the library unorganized.

    Hi AzBill,
    I hope the following info might help you a little bit...
    Importing Images from the hard drive, CD, or DVD
    To import a folder with subfolders of images maintaining the same organizational structure (or close to it):
    Drag the folder with the subfolders into iPhotos viewing area.
    A film roll will be created with each sub folders name (the subfolder has to have images in it. To view the rolls in the Library you need to first go to the menu bar and choose View>by film rolls.
    To make each roll into an Album, highlight the title of the roll
    Go to File>new album from selection.
    You will now have an Album in the source column with the images from that roll. Do this for each roll if you want them to be an Album. This is your choice.
    Next, go to the menu bar and hit File>new folder
    Name this new folder with the year or whatever the name was of the Parent folder containing the subfolders that you had dragged into iPhotos viewing area.
    Next drag all the Albums into the respective new Parent folder you just made.
    Albums- collection of images from one roll or many rolls. The Albums will be listed in your source column when you make them. The albums only contain placeholders for the images that are still in the library. They are not duplicates.
    Rolls- rolls are created when you import folder of images. It will be given the name of the folder you are importing.
    Rolls are also created from each import from your camera. You are given the option to name the roll at import.
    Folder-a folder you create manually using the File>new folder command
    Folders can hold Albums, slideshows, books, another folder, etc.
    One other way you can import a folder of images and have an Album created for it as the same time it is imported as a roll in the Library view:
    Drag each folder of images into the source column of iPhoto. When you see the plus sign, drop it in the source column.
    An album will be created in the source column, and the roll that the album was created from will be in the library view window.
    Hope this helps!

  • Best way to add mass unorganized mp3 library to iTunes to stream on AppleTV

    Ok so I have a fairly large mp3 collection(well over 100 GB).  It is somewhat organized.  It is all on an external HDD under the folder music then from there there are subfolders for genres, then bands, then albums.  I am not sure I want to add all of it to my itunes library since there is a lot of it I never use, but I would like to add a good chunk of it to the itunes library so I can stream it to my appletv in the other room.  I am trying to figure out the best way to do this. If I click "add folder to library" it only lets me select the Main Music folder instead of the subfolders inside.  Any suggestions on how to simplify a mass add to the library would be much appreciatted.  Thanks in advance.

    If I click "add folder to library" it only lets me select the Main Music folder instead of the subfolders inside.
    That is not correct.  When you click File > Add Folder to LIbrary, it opens a dialog from which you can navigate to any folder.  If it happens to start with Music, then double-click to open until you find the folder you want, and then click Select.
    Try it first with a small folder so you can see how it arranges the music within iTunes.  Once you are happy with it, start doing slightly larger batches.

  • Creating a new library from a DVD Burn library

    I have my entire library of photos on my iMac in iPhoto 6.0.6. I recently spent quite a bit of time cleaning up what had been a rather messy, unorganized, photo library. My organizational method consisted of consolidating old film rolls which were inherited from original imports that were in different folders by moving groups of photos into single "film rolls" for older years and making fewer rolls for the last few years. I then went back through and corrected photo dates for a bunch of images that were scanned in, etc. I downloaded Keyword Manager, which I like a lot, and applied keywords to every photo in my collection. I also deleted a bunch of old photos which were too similar to better shots or simply not worth keeping. Once I finished all of this I had my new library consisting of 1892 pictures, which I hoped to backup and allow to serve as a "gold master copy" of all of my photos to date. In browsing the database in Finder, I noted that there were a lot of images in the "Original" folders that were not in the library. Some of these were images I had deleted in the library. (I know better than to do anything through the finder other than browse. I know that to maintain integrity of the library it is necessary to only perform actions through iPhoto.) I did a database rebuild and asked iPhoto to recover orphaned files which did nothing. I really wanted this database to be in pristine condition since I was using it as my master copy, but could not figure out how to do away with old unwanted images in the "originals" folders. I went ahead and created a DVD library with "Share -> Burn", and voila, the new iPhoto Library that was created on the DVD appeared to be "clean" with only the 1892 pictures in my viewable library existing in the Originals folder. OK, so far so good. I then took the DVD I had burned and attempted to replicate my library on my iBook which had a clean install of iLife '06 on it. When I launched iPhoto with the DVD in place it showed me an empty hard drive library and the burned library from the DVD. At first I attempted to just copy individual Film Rolls from the DVD to the local library. While this worked in bring the images over, the keywords became all jumbled. The resulting photos would have keywords attached which did not belong to them and were different from what was on the DVD. I then deleted the iBook library and tried copying the entire iPhoto Library folder from the DVD to the iBook via the Finder. When I relaunched iPhoto, presto all the photos were in my local library with keywords, film rolls and other metadata intact. However in browsing the library I came across a few photos which would cause iPhoto to crash when I tried to edit them. This was a consistent behavior on specific images. Reading through the forums I came across the color profile bug and through testing verified that this was not the problem. Meanwhile back on the iMac I could edit the photos in question with no problem. I verified that the image had not been corrupted during the DVD burn as well. The files are identical between the iMac and the iBook. I know this is a long drawn out post, but if anybody has read this far, here are my questions ...
    1) What is the best way to go about creating a "clean" database with internal integrity after a doing a lot of edits and metadata changes? Shouldn't the burn to DVD do what I want?
    2) How come when I copied subsets of my library over to a new machine from the DVD, the keywords seemed to get all jumbled? Is it a matter of indexing them? If I added all the keywords to an empty library before copying the images over, would it work? Is there not a way to just copy portions of a DVD library into another library?
    3) Any ideas on the crash while attempting to edit problem? The image will load as a thumbnail, and then briefly flas the full size image, before iPhoto crashes and pops up a dialog asking if I want to restart it.
    Thanks for staying with me!
    Mark

    Problems solved with iPhoto Manager's rebuild function! Thanks to Brian Webster of Fat Cat Software. Great program!
    Mark

  • Is there a way to reset all of the images in my library

    Hello All. I am New to Lightroom and accidentally imported every image on my hard drive. This includes photo's and CGI images that I created in my rendering programs. Now everything is a mess and unorganized. also, some new images do not show up in the library.  Can I reset and start from scratch? Thanks in advance for any help in this area. Mean while, I shall continue to look through the help menus.

    Here are 2 ways to "start over":
    1. remove all photos (or all extraneous photos anyway) from existing catalog (e.g. all photos collection, ctrl/cmd-a, then delete key).
    2. create a new catalog (see file menu).
    It sounds like #2 would be best for you, so you don't have extraneous keywords in your catalog etc.
    ~R.

  • Consolidating Library Error: File Name Too Long, But What File?

    I am trying to consolidate my library to put all my music (very unorganized) in one spot so I can back it all up. When I try to consolidate, it takes a second to prepare, then immediately brings up an error window saying "Copying Music Failed. The file name was invalid or too long."
    How do I fix this? I really would like to back up my music!

    Hi, ZeroGravity107.
    This can be a tricky problem to figure out since iTunes doesn't specify what file name is "invalid or too long" and there's no documentation on what determines if a file name is "invalid or too long".
    We had one user report that he was able to use his/her keen eyesight to note the last file that appeared before the error message appeared and it turned out that file was the cause of his/her trouble.
    If your eyesight isn't that keen, I'd suggest concentrating on the file name being too long possibility.
    The entire directory path leading to the file is considered part of the file name so, as an example, iTunes' default settings might place a particular file at C:\Documents and Settings\ user name \My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\artist folder\album folder\whatever.m4a.
    Is the directory path leading to your consolidated location much longer than that?
    polydorus has suggested a way to look over your file names: Assuming your music is currently in the default location, make your way there with Windows Explorer and select List in the View menu menu and see if anything stands out as being unusual.

  • Desperate for help: My iPhoto library is "unreadable"

    HELP!
    Earlier I tried to open my iPhoto library and it prompted me with a weird message that I've never seen in all of my years using the software. I forget the exact words of the alert because this occurred like two hours ago, but it was something along the lines of needing to upgrade my software in order to view my current library. Although I have an up-to-date version of iPhoto '08, I continued.
    Now, my iPhoto library quite literally went back in time; I don't have any of the photos I've imported since 2007, and the ones that are there are unnamed and unorganized.
    I was able to locate the images on my hard drive, but when I try to import them to the library, I get an error message: "The following files are unreadable because they are an unrecognizable format," or "The following files are unreadable or are already located in the library."
    I'm desperate to get those photographs back into my library, and I have tried everything. I downloaded a software called iPhoto Library Manager, and I've tried to rebuild iPhoto directly, but I kept getting error messages. Does anybody have any advice?

    Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
    iPhoto will not import pics from the active iPhoto Library - a sensible protection against duplication.
    Your database file is damaged, and as iPhoto Library Manager cannot rebuild it, you’ll need to either
    1. Restore from your back up
    or
    2. Create a new Library and start over:
    To create and populate a new *iPhoto 08* library:
    Note this will give you a working library with the same Events and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
    In the iPhoto Preferences -> Events Uncheck the box at 'Imported Items from the Finder'
    Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop
    Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
    Go into the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Event Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
    When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.
    In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.
    Regards
    TD

  • How do I update Library Files/Folders

    When I download music onto my hard drive then add the songs to the library through iTunes, how do I get the songs to sort themselves into proper folders by singer, and by albums on the hard drive of my computer. Instead of having them as individual songs and unorganized?

    - Edit=>Preferences=>'Advanced/General' tab
    - Make sure that both the 'Keep iTunes Music folder organized' and 'Copy files to Music folder when adding' are both 'checked'
    If the downloaded files still do not organize correctly, then the ID3 tags may be incorrect. Edit them within iTunes and they will be organized (moved) on the PC correctly.

  • IPhoto 08 library transfer

    I migrated my photos from iPhoto 6 to my new MacBook Pro with iPhoto 08. I imported the photos using "Import to Library" but noticed that iPhoto 08 reorganizes all the pictures when viewed in the "Events" mode. I have several photos that are duplicated in "Originals" folders as well as some in randomly named folders. I also noticed that some of the photos did not list chronologically and had incorrect dates assigned to them. All in all, I have 30% more items than my original iPhoto 6 library. My photos are now unorganized, duplicated, and take up more hard drive space. Did I do something wrong in the transfer? Anyone else see this?

    1- it probably is better to post in the iPhoto '08 forum - http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1192&start=0
    2 - yes you did do the transfer wrong -- assuming that you still have the intact, working iPhoto 06 Library in iPhoto 06 on your old computer, quit iPhoto '08 on your new MBP, drag the iPhoto Library from the picture folder to the desktop and copy the iPhoto 06 Library from your old computer to the picture folder on your new MBP - then start iPhoto '08 - it will request permission to update the library and after you let it you will have a new library that should match your old library with events replacing rolls
    Once you are happy that the transfer is good, delete the iPhoto library from your desktop
    LN

  • Scrambled library

    I recently began having problems with the latest version of iTunes. I opened it up and when I double-clicked a song to play it, nothing happened. Then I clicked on my library and all the songs were scrambled! They were completely unorganized, as before they were organized by artist. Now it's completely random. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling, restarting, etc... finally after reinstalling I completely deleted my library and thought it would work if I added everything back. I've only added one folder and I immediately saw that the songs are once again, not in order by artist. How can I get my library to be alphabetized by artist again? Any help would be much appreciated!
      Windows XP Pro  

    let me guess, you clicked on the artist heading in itunes and it re-alphabetized you library!

  • If I uninstall/reinstall iTunes will I lose my library?

    I want to uninstall iTunes, as I have too many files that are unorganized. I am worried that I will lose my library. Will I lose it, or is there another way within iTunes to update all my file names and locations?

    Uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes will not help with disorganized files unless you intent to allow iTunes to create a new library and have it organize things for you automatically. If that's what you intend, then no, uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes should not cause you lose any of your content.
    That said, it's wise to make a backup of any content that you've purchased from the iTunes Store or that would otherwise be difficult to replace and of your playlists before you upgrade, just in case something would happen to go wrong.
    Regards.

  • ITunes Library is not organized

    My itunes library seems to have suddenly been unorganized. It used to be in alphabetical order, but it seems to have broken up the library. Some are still grouped in order, but most of my songs are all out of order. How could this of happened and how can I fix it?

    Have you accidentally clicked on a different column heading that sorts your Library into a different - apparently haphazard - order? Make sure you've clicked on the Album column heading and see if that organizes things.

  • Updated iPhoto '08 and library no longer found, all events gone

    I just updated iphoto '08 via update manager. Now it can't find my library. When I navigate to the folder of photos, it refuses to accept it, and when I do an import, I lose all my events and get a mass of 12,000 photos completely unorganized? Why does Apple do this? Its an incremental update - if its going to corrupt your library why not some warning.

    Gregory
    if its going to corrupt your library why not some warning.
    If they thought it would corrupt your library then they'd hardly have released it now would they?
    Of course before any update, you backed up right?
    Try these in order - from best option on down...
    1. Do you have an up-to-date back up? If so, try copy the library6.iphoto file from the back up to the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) allowing it to overwrite the damaged file.
    2. Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums back.
    3. If neither of these work then you'll need to create and populate a new library.
    To create and populate a new library:
    Note this will give you a working library with the same Events and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
    In the iPhoto Preferences -> Events Uncheck the box at 'Imported Items from the Finder'
    Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop
    Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
    Go into the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Event Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
    When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.
    In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.
    Regards
    TD

  • Library Organization/Consolidation problems

    Before I get to my problem, I'll provide a little back story just to make things a little clearer: Recently I decided I'm going to get a new desktop, since my current computer is utterly outdated in almost every aspect, I'm very restricted with what I can do on it. It has two hard drives, both are horribly unorganized with programs just randomly installed on either one; my music files and other documents all scattered about the two as well (not to mention both are near full capacity).
    So, what I planned on doing to move files from this computer to the next was with a 250GB external hard drive I have. My music is the most important thing on my computer, so those files were the first move I wanted to make. And I figured that I'd kill two birds with one stone by consolidating my entire iTunes Library (11,062 songs, 61.54 GB) onto the external HD; so everything would organized in one folder on one HD, and already transferred onto it. So I set the iTunes Media folder location to a folder on that, and began the Organize Library process on iTunes.
    As a fortune of having a slow computer that's unable to handle any amount of stress, iTunes froze and the process stopped - though not too far into it. Not thinking at the time, I deleted the copied files and figured I'd just start the consolidation over again. As I was permanently deleting them from my Recycling Bin to save space, it hit me that most likely the file locations for the songs that managed to be copied were already changed to the new location on iTunes. Alas, this was the case, meaning I have countless 'dead songs' in my library now.
    I have no idea what songs were affected by this at all, and I have far too many to just sort through them myself. And I just can't wipe out my Library and reinput the songs, as that would mess up my Playlists which I've spent a mind-numbing amount of time on. I'm not sure how to fix it in anyway; it's truly frustrating when things like this happen. Should I just do a system restore and recover the copied files or what? What should I do?
    Thank you so much for the help! I apologize for the essay, but I like making sure everything is explained - no stone left unturned.

    Hi, welcome to Apple Discussions.
    If you "Get info" on a missing file and cancel when it asks you to try to locate it, then the Summary tab should show where iTunes "thinks" the file ought to be, e.g. *file://localhost/<Path to media folder>/Music/<Artist>/<Album>/## <Name>.<ext>*. This should let you confirm that iTunes has updated the locations of the dead tracks to point at your external drive.
    Consolidating doesn't delete the old files, so if you have a recent backup of your library database taken before you started to consolidate then you could restore that and start over. If you haven't taken your own backups then you could restore the library file backed up during your most recent iTunes upgrade which will be stored in the *Previous iTunes Libraries* folder. This will lose track of any recent additions/deletions/playlist changes but may be better than starting over.
    If there's any pattern to the "dead" tracks then you could manually copy these into the new location again so that iTunes can see them, but this might prove time consuming.
    An alternative approach would be to try repair things by relinking to the original files. iTunes won't reveal where it "thinks" files are via script or it would be quite easy to implement a simple search & replace script, but if iTunes was managing the file & folder names then I have a script which may suit your needs. See this thread for the background or just download SwitchLinks.vbs, select a few of your missing files and double-click on the script to attempt to reconnect them.
    If you're still not getting anywhere let me know where iTunes "thinks" the disconnected files are and the possible true locations, i.e. the different media locations you've used, and I'll try to come up with a tweak to make the script work for you...
    tt2

  • My music library on my phone doesnt match what itunes shows it has on it

    Suddenly the music on my iphone library doesnt match even what itunes is showing is on my phone. I purchased some new songs yesterday from Itunes, and then tried to compile them into an album like I have for years. I go into info, leave only the name and artist, create my own album name, click part of a compilations, blah blah blah.  When I transfered over the new personally made album, first I noticed the songs didnt transfer over under one album, they all retained there original album info even though I deleted it, so I now have 8 songs unorganized just floating around on my phone. Then I noticed that music I have deleted from my phone is on there, music I want on my phone is not showing, and best of all, when you compare the music on my iphone to what Itunes is showing on my iphone, they dont even match! And, I cant add or delete songs from my phone. Any suggestions on how to fix this mess?
    <Edited by Host>

    Connect your device to your computer.
    On iTunes left Pane, select iPhone under "Devices".  Then on right Pane, click the "Music" Tab, make sure "SYNC MUSIC" tab is checked.  Click the SYNC button on the lower right Window.

Maybe you are looking for