"Original file could not be found" DELETED MY MUSIC!!!

I am so mad right now... I really will never buy a product from Apple again -- such bad service! It is so hard to get a number when you finally get one they aren't open 24hrs. There is no one to e-mail. In other words no way to get help when you need it!
So here is my story - I get an I-pod Nano for my mother as a birthday gift (thinking it would be a good thing) - oh I was so wrong! We only have one computer in the house so when I try to install it - they tell me I need to download itunes 7 or something. So I do that and when I do that guess what - A lot (most) of the songs I had are deleted. It is supposed to be a better system but it doesn't look like it is. How in the world can most of my songs be deleted when I had them on my old Itunes and listened to them all the time! And I also still have the songs on my Ipod, I am even skeptical to plug my Ipod into the computer because I may lose all my songs.
Hopefully apple will be courteous enough to give me a solution to this huge problem.
Does anyone know what can be done? Can I get my old Itunes back with all my songs? Can I convert my songs in my old Ipod back to Itunes.
I am fuming right now... I don't think I have ever been so mad before....
Windows XP Hopefully apple will be courteous enough to give me a solution to this huge problem.

Well if anyone is having this problem - I have found a solution of course not through Apple but through copyPod a paid ($19.95) program but it is so worth it! Since Apple can't help!

Similar Messages

My iTunes library shows all music but there is an exclamation mark to the left on all entries and there is a message stating "original file could not be found" although all music is on the iPad.

My iTunes library shows all music but there is an exclamation mark to the left on all entries and there is a message stating "original file could not be found" although all music is on the iPad.

The massage means what it says. iTunes can't find the actual music files. All iTunes has is a database of where the files should be and they are not there.
Try:
- iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
- Redownloading iTunes purchases by:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store

My partner deleted my itunes (10) library. I use a WD external back-up and retrieved my itunes library, but when i try to play a song i get the message 'could not be used because the original file could not be found Would you like to locate it?'

My partner deleted, by accident my itunes library. I have an iMac 10.6.7, Itunes 10. I use an WD passport as an external back up and retrieved my itunes library but now get the message "could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" so itunes is not recognised the exclamation marked songs, how do i get the retrieved files recognised. At times I get fed-up with Apple blocking files being used, although I like the product its restrictions are so silly!

You not only have to retrieve the library file from the backup drive but the actual music files (usually stored within the "iTunes Media" folder) as well.

How can I bulk delete songs from the playlist, if original file could not be found.

I deleted the original files from the Library iTines. The songs are still in the playlist. How can I bulk delete songs from the playlist, if original file could not be found. Thank.

Take a look at my FindTracks script. Download it and test it out on a few tracks first. Use the No option first time around to manually confirm each path that it wants to fix so you can see how it works. When you're happy it does what you want select a larger group of tracks to process automatically.
tt2

Deleting Duplicates creates "original file could not be found" error

I am not running iTunes 8.2.1.6 and trying to delete duplicates that were created as I tried to move my iTunes Library to other drives. Now I have many duplicates - sometimes 3-4 of the same song. If I delete them I begin to get "original file could not be found" error when trying to play the one version I kept.
Is there some magic to which one I should keep?

iTunes doesn't help you distinguish between duplicates that are two identical copies of the same file or two separate references to the one original file. If the later is the case and you delete any reference allowing the source file to be deleted then ALL other references to the file become invalid. You can either check the properties of each file before deleting and choose whether to keep or delete accordingly or use itunesremoveduplicates from Teridon's iTunes Scripts.
tt2

On some of my files there is a ! in front of it, if I try to play the song, I get an error message; "The song "_____" could not be used, because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" Then when I click "Locate", I get nothing.

I'm really dumbfounded on this one and it's driving me bonkers!!!! On some of my music files there is a ! in front of it, if I try to play the song, I get an error message; "The song "_____" could not be used, because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"
This began to happen when Chuck made playlists2burn on2CD-and then he would delete the playlist; sending all the song files into oblivion. Certain songs have a ! right next to the file name, and as I stated before, i get that error message:
"The song "_____" could not be used, because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"
So I click on "Locate". No help. I get a menu with folders that say "catroot" and other folders which names I cannot remember, but I scroll PAST the file folders, & it's just a bunch of ".DLL" files.....I don't understand what any of the names of the folders mean...it's frustr8ing-coz this is my 2nd iTouch, my 1st one got stolen & I can't afford2buy my music back at this time & i NEVER before had a single problem with losing song file locations.
              Is there anyone out there who has been through this frustrating game of chasing your tail?....<that's how I feel>
If so I would be ever so gr8ful if maybe someone with the knowledge would be so kind as 2 tell me how/where 2 retrieve these songs & how to put everything back where it belongs, I would be 4ever gr8ful !!!
I can't afford 2 replace the songs just like I'm unable 2 buy back my old music from my stolen iTouch....man that was an awesome collection-someday I'll be able 2 afford 2 do that & I would like 2 have all the new music that I paid 4 but cannot find when I got my new iTouch....that would just be wonderful.
             I hope someone sees this post that can help me retrieve these files....losing $100.00 of iTunes is a REAL BUMMER!!!!!!
                                                  ThanQ SO very much!
                                                                         [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected] .
                                                                                           You can also find me on Facebook, my given name is Tiffinie Trimmer, &
                                                                                            that's my Facebook "handle". ThanQ 4 taking the time 2 read all of this!
                                                                                            hope 2 get a reply someday....I'll B checking all my emails & my Facebook, as well
                                                                                            as marking this page in my FAVORITES so I can find it fast! Take Care!!!

I was not complete clear.
Since you never changed the settings in the advanced section of iTunes preferecnes, you have to chech that your music is really in the location setted in the folders reported in the advanced section. If not you have 2 ways: reset the position of this folders or in the actual disk organisation or in the pointing on the preferences.
If you press the reset button you just give to itunes its default setting as for the position of the music files: probably this will be a good choice if you have never changed any default preference.
But before I would check the folders and see if the songs are really there
In my iTune I have this, and I believe it is the default.
Users/YOURHOMEFOLDERNAME/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music

Library Lost - Please HeIp I tried updating my old ipod & now all 10,000 songs in my library have an ! next to them and I get the error message "song " " could not be used because the original file could not be found" on every song I try to play

Please help - this morning I tried updating one of my old ipods for my wife (this ipod hasn't been updated in 2-3 years). I plugged it into my pc, it was recognized and the software updated. I created a new playlist and tied to sync the ipod. This ipod had never been used on this pc/itunes since the pc is only 2 years old. When I tried to sync the ipod it stated that it would have to erase all the old songs on the ipod prior to syncing. I clicked ok and it proceeded to wipe out the old ipod and sync the new playlist (~1000 songs). When the sync was complete there were only 6 songs from the new playlist (all purchased this morning from itunes) on the ipod and to my horror all ~10,000 song on my pc in itunes now have a ! next to them. Only my recent purchases from itunes do not. When I click on a song with the ! I get the error message "the song " " could not be used because the original file could not be found." How do I correct this issue - I am scared to hook my ipads or other ipods to my pc for fear of losing everything?!?!? I spent 100s of hours burning the 10,000 songs from my cd collection and do not want to have to do it again.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

This "original file cannot be found" 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 .
tt2

I recently reset my computer and copy my music from an external hard drive to my itunes library. When I click on a song to play i get an error message that says " the song could not be used because the original file could not be found". need help

I recently reset my computer and copy my music from an external hard drive to my itunes library. When I click on a song to play i get an error message that says " the song could not be used because the original file could not be found". But when I have my external hard drive plug in the song will play with no problem. What do I need to do to play my music without having the external harddrive plug in ???????? Please help

Because the location for each song in your library is on your hard drive. If the hard drive isn't there, how can iTunes play it?
You'll have to move/copy the music from your hard drive to your computer's hard drive.
Basically, EASIEST way to do all this, if you don't care about your play counts, etc...
-Delete EVERYTHING from iTunes, so that your library is now empty.
-Go to "Advanced" inside of the "Preferences" window, found in the "Edit" drop-down. You can also access Preferences by pressing Ctrl+, (Press Ctrl and the comma key)
-Change your iTunes Media Folder Location to something simple, but on your computer. I use C:/iTunes. Make sure "Keep iTunes Media Folder Organized" and "Copy files to...." are both checked. You can close Preferences now.
-Now, drag and drop your music from your hard drive into your iTunes library. iTunes will automatically add the music to your library, as you would expect, and also creates a copy of each file to place into that iTunes Media Folder you just created.
Shouldn't have any more problems...

Error message when trying to play music on computer states The song ... could not be used because the original file could not be found. However, my library shows how many items and the GBs used. How do I locate the files?

When I try to play my iTunes music on my computer, an error message comes up and state "The song (title of song) could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?
When I click on Locate It, I cannot find where the music file may be located. Does anyone have any suggestions?
This all occurred when I attempted to do a backup to an external hard drive. Unbeknownest to me, the files did not copy over and do not appear on the external hard drive.
When I open my iTunes library, at the bottom of my music list it shows how many songs and the GBs, so it appears that the files are still there; however, cannot be located.
Thank you.

Hi angela dfromtx,
When tracks in iTunes display a it means the file cannot be located; it may have been moved or deleted. You'll have to locate the file manually if it is still available. For more information refer to the following article:
iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408
Alternatively, if your media was downloaded from the iTunes Store, you may be able to download it again free of charge:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519
Thanks,
Matt M.

I have a new hard drive as my old one crashed. Everything seemed to transfer fine except for my entire iTunes library. It shows all of my old songs, but when I click on one it states "the song could not be used as the original file could not be found

I have a new hard drive as my old one crashed. Everything seemed to transfer fine except for my entire iTunes library. It shows all of my old songs, but when I click on one it states "the song could not be used as the original file could not be found.would you like to locate it".
Either how do I locate it, and I've tried every trick I know, or how do I restore all of my songs from one of two sources. I have my old hard drive backedup on an external drive which should have all of my songs, and I have most of my songs on my old iPhone 3S which I'm using as a backup iPod.

The "missing file" error 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, one of its parent folders, or 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. In the case of a library moved from one system to another there are also potential permissions issues. See Repair security permissions for iTunes for Windows.
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to Get Info, then click No when asked to try to locate the track. (Due to a bug in iTunes 12 you currently have to say No twice!) 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, a folder renamed, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions. If the difference between the two paths is an additional Music folder in one path then this is a layout issue. I can explain further if that is the case.
In some cases iTunes may be able to repair itself if you go through the same steps with Get Info but this time click Locate and browse to the lost track. It may then offer to attempt to automatically fix other broken links.
If another application like Windows Media Player has moved/renamed the files then the chances are that subtle differences in naming strategies will make it hard to restore the media to the precise path that iTunes is expecting. In such cases, as long as the missing files can be found somewhere, you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes. See this post for an explanation of how it works.
See also Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
tt2

The TV show could not be used because the original file could not be found

"The TV show “Blah-blah ep.23” could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"
I know this problem is listed (and unanswered) from quite a few users in the forums for song files, but I haven’t found any that mention TV shows. To add to the heap, and help emphasize to iTunes that this is a major bug in need of fixing, here is my version of this problem.
I have a variety of season passes to TV shows that normally download on almost a daily basis (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, for example). About once every four or five downloads iTunes decides to silently delete a file. No warning given, no chance to stop it, just gone. ITunes downloads the file (clearly seen in the process in the Downloads part of the Store menu) and then lists the file under its correct menu in the TV Shows Library section (with the correct amount of MB listed for the file). I usually watch the episode right after I download it (with no problems), but of course I have left episodes unwatched when I shut iTunes down.
On the next startup of iTunes, I go in to watch an old episode again or click on an unwatched episode, but it isn’t there anymore and the old “would you like to locate it?” message pops up. After being through this at least a dozen times in the last year, I know there is no point in looking for the file because it’s gone. The only choice is to go into iTunes support and ask them to reset the download, which they’ve always done without question, and then I have to download the file all over again. This is a huge hassle and all the more frustrating because it happens so irregularly.
I’ve tried to find answers in these discussion forums, but have been unable to see any reasonable solution and wish to add to the voices of annoyed paying customers in the hope something will be done. If anyone is interested, the bizarre and time consuming workaround I’ve had to employ is:
1. As soon as any of my TV shows are downloaded, I stop whatever I’m doing to go grab the file out of iTunes’ folder and move it to a location where iTunes can’t get its grubby little silent deleting hands on it.
2. On the next shutdown-startup cycle, I can then go back and move the file back into its correct location in the iTunes TV Shows subfolders and I’ll never have a problem again with THAT particular file being deleted.
Of course, the problem with this solution is that it’s painfully annoying to have to do it every time. I get lazy, iTunes seems to get its evil deleting ways under control and downloads all seem to work again. That is, until they don’t and the issue mysteriously returns with files being picked off anew and I have to return to these forums in the hope of finally finding out why this is happening. After more than a year and two or three iTunes version updates, it’s the problem that just won’t die.
Anyone?

Yes, only TV shows. I've never had a random silent delete of a song file. I also considered that Windows might be blocking the file to save space, but with no limitations set in the control panel that isn't the problem either. In fact, I've only had this problem with season pass downloads. It's never happened with a single download of a video or TV episode.
Tonight, when I downloaded my Daily Show episode, I really kept tabs on what the heck iTunes is up to during the process. As many know, iTunes creates a folder called Downloads during the download process. Inside that folder, a video file gets downloaded as “download.m4v” along with another Qtime info file. When the download is complete, iTunes is supposed to use the info file to identify and tag the download.m4v file and then move it over into its correct artist subfolder with the correct file name.
The problem, I discovered tonight in watching this process, is that iTunes (for mysterious reasons) does not do the relabel/move step with some of the downloads and leaves the files in situ as download.m4v in the download file. Additionally, in the iTunes software you can click on the file (correctly labeled and appearing, as I said in the first post, under the correct TV show banner) and watch it one time. However, after shutting down and restarting (and this is where the evil happens) iTunes will delete all files in the Download subfolder as part of a cleanup process. I suppose because it assumes that those files were correctly relabeled and copied into the corresponding TV show folders. So, there is the reason for the loss of downloaded video files (in my case).
There appears to be no way of knowing, from within iTunes, when the file has been correctly copied over to its corresponding folder and when it hasn’t and remains in the Bermuda Download Folder of Death. Again, I have to go into that folder each time (before shutting iTunes down) to make sure the move took place. If it didn’t, then I have to make a copy of the download file and place it outside that folder.
Finally, since this only happens occasionally, I’m wondering if it doesn’t have something to do with the way the info file is being tagged and labeled prior to being made available to download. However, if that were the case then the problem would be happening to lots of users and I would have expected a lot more complaints in the forums.
By the way, I’m not big on fidgeting with any of iTunes folders or settings. It hasn’t been the case where the downloads were fine, I made some goofy change to the folder structure and then it doesn’t work. I haven’t fiddled with the settings for months, but all of the sudden this issue starts to appear and can just as easily disappear in the following week’s downloads.
Still seeking answers or advice.
Cheers.

Recently bought a new computer and all my music appears in iTunes as well as on my computer in a saved folder. When I try to play the music in iTunes I get an error that reads"the song could not be used because the original file could not be found."

Recently bought a new computer and all my music appears in iTunes as well as on my computer in a saved folder. When I try to play the music in iTunes I get an error that reads"the song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" Hope you can help me solve this issue.
Thanks,
Shellyboo

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

'The song "xyz" could not be used because the original file could not be found.

I am quite new to iTunes so please excuse me if the questions seem daft
I have recently changed my default iTunes Media folder location from my local C:\ drive to my home network storage device
(my PC is permanently mapped to this NAS storgae drive)
Now When I go to play a song in itunes I get the message 'The song "xyz" could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it"
Looking in the new iTunes Media folder, I can see the following folders and they are mostly empty:
Automatically Add to iTunes
Downloads
Mobile Applications
Music
Note that I have music that I bought from iTunes and music from other sources \ given to me by friends
Questions:
(1) How do I get all my music back into this new iTunes Media folder?
(2) Exactly which files contain my music? (I ask because we have 2 or 3 libraries that I wish to consolidate into 1 master Library for us all)
If I know exactly which files are required I can delete any other files cluttering up my storage and PC

Changing the media folder path tells iTunes where to put new media that is ripper or purchased. It may offer to consolidate to the new location when you make the edit, if not iTunes will expect existing content to remain on the original path.
The "missing file" error 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, one of its parent folders, or 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 click No when asked to try to locate the track. (Due to a bug in iTunes 12 you currently have to say No twice!) 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, a folder renamed, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions. If the difference between the two paths is an additional Music folder in one path then this is a layout issue. I can explain further if that is the case.
In some cases iTunes may be able to repair itself if you go through the same steps with Get Info but this time click Locate and browse to the lost track. It may then offer to attempt to automatically fix other broken links.
If another application like Windows Media Player has moved/renamed the files then the chances are that subtle differences in naming strategies will make it hard to restore the media to the precise path that iTunes is expecting. In such cases, as long as the missing files can be found somewhere, you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes. See this post for an explanation of how it works.
For more background on the typical layout of the iTunes library see Make a split library portable.
1) It depends on exactly what you have done to break things.
2) Your media files are where you put them, or where iTunes copies them to when they are added to the library. If multiple libraries use the same set of media folders there can be problems if edits in one library cause content to be moved as the other libraries will no longer see those tracks on the original path, and won't know to look in a new one.
tt2

When trying to sync or listen to songs in itunes library it says the song on itunes could not be used because the original file could not be found. I am using windows 7.

I have imported cds into my itunes and they appear on my playlist, but when I try to sync to my ipod or listen to them on my computer a message comes up stateing " the songs on itunes could not be used because the original file could not be found". I have not deleted them and am importing them the way I always have. This problem has only been for the last 4 or 5 months. Since updating to the last 2 itunes versions.

The message means that iTunes can not find the original imported music files. iTunes should display a red exclamation mark next to the songs it can not find. You will need to look on your hard drive for the songs/files and than correct the file path in iTunes or just delete the files in your iTunes library and import them again.

Original file could not be found

I just went into iTunes and was going to make a new playlist. When I tried to click and drag songs to the playlist an error box says the song can not be used because the original file could not be found. I went randomly through all my music and everything says that. Warning: things have to be dumbed down for me because I'm not very computer or iTunes savvy. What happened and what should I do? (I use Windows 8.1)

The "missing file" error 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, one of its parent folders, or 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. (In the case of a library moved from one system to another there are also potential permissions issues. See Repair security permissions for iTunes for Windows if this might apply.)
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to Get Info, then click No when asked to try to locate the track. (Due to a bug in iTunes 12 you currently have to say No twice!) 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, a folder renamed, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions. If the difference between the two paths is an additional Music folder in one path then this is a layout issue. I can explain further if that is the case.
In some cases iTunes may be able to repair itself if you go through the same steps with Get Info but this time click Locate and browse to the lost track. It may then offer to attempt to automatically fix other broken links. Although it says something like "use the same location" it expects to find the tracks in the same artist & album layout that it generates, not all in one big folder.
If another application like Windows Media Player has moved/renamed the files then the chances are that subtle differences in naming strategies will make it hard to restore the media to the precise path that iTunes is expecting. In such cases, as long as the missing files can be found somewhere, you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes. See this post for an explanation of how it works.
tt2

"Original file could not be found" DELETED MY MUSIC!!!

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