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.

Similar Messages

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

Song could not be played because original file could not be found."
how do I fix/replace a damaged library without reloading all of my 3000+ songs?

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.

I want to play songe in itunes bur all i get i "song could not be used because original file could not be found"

i want to play songe in itunes bur all i get i "song could not be used because original file could not be found"i want to play songe in itunes bur all i get i "song could not be used because original file could not be found"

but they are on my phone and play

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 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.

Error " song can't be used because original file can not be found"

Our computer was about to crash, so we backed up our iTunes library to disc like it suggested. However, once we imported the library back to the new computer, iTunes will no longer play the songs without the disc in! It says the "original file can not be found" unless the disc is in. How do we get the "originals" off the disc and back onto the computer so I don't have to carry the disc everywhere?? I can't seem to find any help on any of the help sights about this problem. I tried using iTunes Folder Watch like another post suggested and it didn't work. I still need the disc to play the songs.

Roberta hello,
The remedy is very easy...
Open the iTunes folder and select the iTunes Library file and type command -D
this will make another copy for safe keeping, if anything goes wrong you can always return this copy ... leave the duplicate file where it is.
Start iTunes in the normal way and open the preferences > advanced > general tab... set NOT to copy files when adding to library and DO keep iTunes Music folder organized.... OK your changes.
From the file menu select 'add to library' and choose the iTunes Music folder.
After iTunes has checked and made any adjustments needed have a look and see if any problems still exist ... come and let me know Roberta ... TP
iMac 800MHz PowerPC G4 17 Flat Screen. G4 iBook. Mac OS X (10.4.3)

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

Songs cannot be found because original files could not be found, but...

I've just imported over 2,000 songs to iTunes and had my preferences set (Edit/Preferences/Advanced tab/General tab) to copy each file to my iTunes music folder when copying to iTunes library (I thought--at least the box is checked). However, when I moved several hundred of the files from their original location on my hard drive, the link was broken to iTunes. Each time I try to open or play one of these tracks, I get the error message that the file cannot be used because the original file cannot be found. Itunes is looking for the original files in folder(s) outside of my iTunes folder, instead of in the itunes folder. Or so I think; I'm still pretty new at this.
1. What did I do wrong?
2. Is there an easier way to fix this than to delete all 2,000 songs and re-import them?
3. Is it really necessary to re-establish links one song at a time, instead of a group of songs at a time? (UGH!)
4. I want to delete these songs from the other folder once they're copied into my iTunes folder AND FUNCTIONING in both iTunes and on my iPod. Can I do that?
5. What does the exclamation point icon mean that's appeared next to some of my songs (and Why can't I find any info about it in the iTunes help file or on apple.com)? In some cases it correlates to broken links, but some disappear when I open the song.
6. What does the check box mean that's next to each song (and why can't I find an info about it in the iTunes help file or on apple.com)? (GRR!)
7. A friend suggested I drag and drop files from my iPod disk space directly into iTunes, but I have USB1 ports/drivers which are excruciatingly slow. Is her idea better than copying the files from iPod to an intermediary folder on my desktop? I've already copied everything onto my computer, and having the iPod plugged in seems to slow everything down.
I've spent two days trying to fix this and the longer I look for answers on iTunes help and on apple.com, without finding a single one, the more questions I have. Please help!

happyhannah wrote:
I right-clicked on the song to 'get info' and found out that the path is 'file://localhost/users/Hannah/desktop/iTunes' etc. I remembered that I had moved the iTunes library to the desktop as not to forget to back it up.
Hmm, if the active iTunes library knows where to look for files but they have been misplaced then putting them back where it expects to find them should work. However you should only be moving the media folder not the library files, or if moving both you should shift-start iTunes and choose a new library.
Now, I have deleted the iTunes library from the (default) Music folder and have put it on the desktop with the hope that this is now where iTunes will find the original library. However, it's still not working!!! Please help!!! I really cannot lose my whole iTunes library
As long as you have the media files and a copy of the library files from your old system it really should be possible to coax them back into working order.
Are you currently connected to a library which lists your media? If so what is the path given for a sample missing file and where is the actual copy of that file now?
tt2

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

I have moved my file from my old computer. Now that I am trying to play songs and movies iTunes says the original file could not be found. How do I reverse this problem?

I have moved my file from my old computer. Now that I am trying to play songs and movies iTunes says the original file could not be found. How do I reverse this problem?

Put the files back where iTunes expects them to be.

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

How do I fix Camera Raw in CS6? I get "Could not complete request because the file was not found"

How do I fix my Camera Raw in Photoshop CS6? I tried to view an NEF file in CS6, but it said I had to update my Camera Raw to 7.3 (I had 7.0). I went online and the only thing I could find was to download 8.6 so I started with that, and installed something and it didn't work, and then it told me I couldn't download 8.6 because my OS X is not 10.7 ( I have 10.6.8). Now when I go back into photoshop it gives me this error "Could not complete request because the file was not found" and I cant open any jpegs in photoshop. I have tried shutting down my computer, deleting caches, and uninstalling photoshop and reinstalling it. Still no luck. Any idea how I can fix this?

Follow these instructions to manually update your ACR plug-in to ACR 8.3, which was the last version compatible with your OS:
http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/multi/camera-raw-84-support-policy.html

Could not save preferences because the file could not be found (Windows) then Error 1 on PS,AE,PR,ID

I was trying out Photoshop, everything was running fine then one day when I close it I get an error:
"Could not save preferences because the file could not be found..."
Now when I boot it I get the Configuration Error 1.
After Effects still boots, but it reset all my preferences there. For example the workplace layout was reset, all my saved Output presets were removed and my memory-cache and performance settings were reset again.
Premiere and InDesign get the error too and won't boot.
This is the second time it has happened, I'll try wiping every Adobe program and reinstalling all over again, but it had run fine before for a while and it randomly happened.
Any idea how to fix this?

Nope I havent touched the Documents folder.
Forgot to mention that I'm on Windows 7

I received error message that 6 of my songs I purchased on a workout album could not be copied because the file could not be converted. How do I get these 6 songs to download on my ipod shuffle?

I received error message that 6 of my songs that I purchased on a workout album could not be copied because the file could not be converted.
How do I get these 6 songs downloaded to my ipod shuffle?

I can think of only one reason a song would be "converted" while it is being loaded on a shuffle.
Select the iPod in the iTunes sidebar, under DEVICES. Over to the right, depending on iPod model, go to the Summary or Settings tab. There should be a setting there that says Convert higher bit rate songs to 128 kbps AAC (the 128 kbps part may be adjustable). If that checkbox is checked, try unchecking it.
NOTE: This setting may allow more songs to fit on the shuffle, but for any converted song, the sound quality will become inferior. So I don't use it.

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

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for