Song file "could not be found."

I've been using iTunes and my iPod problem free for a couple years now. I've had a house guest staying with me/sharing my computer, and today was unable to access many of my songs in my iTunes library. I re-installed the most recent iTunes program, which didn't change the outcome.
When I click on random songs, I get a message that says, "The song 'xyz' could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" The song is not located in previous iTunes libraries or in the music folder on my hard drive. When I did check the music folder, only a fraction of my music is located there. I'm not sure where the rest is or how to find it.
Clearly I've learned why backing up is so critical the hard way; is there anything I can do to recover my music/solve this problem? I have all of it on my iPod, but I'm assuming if I connect that to the computer, I'll mess it up too.

yes, I'm having the same problem, instead every time i open itunes it will have ti missing icon beside the song. when i quit itunes and reopen it it tells me the same thin only it is all different songs but the other one are no longer there, they are MIA. Ever since iTunes 9 came out all I've had is problems with it. Any way to get my music back?

Similar Messages

  • Original song files could not be found or located

    Hi,
    I just went to play some music in my iTunes library and nothing would play. Many songs have little exclamation marks next to the numbers along the left-hand column. When I click on songs without exclamation points they don't play either. Each time I click on a song a message box pops up saying that iTunes is unable to locate the file. It asks if I want to locate the file. Clicking yes leads me to a little finder window but I can't find the files.
    I went to the Finder, Music folder, iTunes folder, iTunes Music folder and there are only a few folders left in there from things I purchased over the last few days. Those songs will play.
    The only strange thing I've done in the past few days is to try to figure out how to share files with my wife as two different users on the same computer. I moved some files into the Public folder and the Shared folder, and then changed some permissions from Read Only to Read and Write. Maybe that goofed things up.
    Any advice?
    Thanks,
    Dave

    Yes, there are ways to do that...I'm passing on info from one of our seasoned members in the forum.
    Courtesy of Zevoneer
    The transfer of content from other sources such as songs imported from CD is designed by default to be one way from iTunes to iPod. However there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos, s and games as well. Have a look at the web pages and documentation, this is just a small selection of what's available, they are generally quite straightforward. You can also read reviews of some of them here: Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
    iRepo Mac and Windows
    iPodRip Mac & Windows
    YamiPod Mac and Windows
    Music Rescue Mac & Windows
    iPodCopy Mac and Windows
    Senuti Mac
    http://playlistmag.com/help/2005/01/2waystreet/
    There is also a manual method of accessing the iPod's hard drive and copying songs back to iTunes on Windows or a Mac. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available at this link: Two-way Street: Moving Music Off the iPod
    http://www.co-bw.com/iPodmoving_musicoff.htm

  • There are about 8 songs in a playlist on itunes that are listed in the playlist but cannot be transferred to my ipod because it states: "..the original file could not be found." When I try to locate the song I get a list of the different music librar

    There are about 8 songs on a playlist that are listed in the playlist library but when I try to transfer them to the playlist, it states that they can't be transferred because the original file could not be found. Then it asks, do you want to locate the file but when I try that I get a few libraries but am not sure how to locate the particular songs. Some of the songs were purchased and some were transferred from a CD. I have seen the same question asked on the help page but haven't found an answer.
    Thanks.

    Hi dones49,
    It sounds like your issue here is that iTunes can not find the files for some of the songs you have brought into it. This happens occasionally even if the songs have not been moved from the location that iTunes places them on import or purchase. When you try to use the song, iTunes prompts you to find the file, as you have seen.
    To find the file, use the information in this article to navigate through the iTunes media folders -
    Locate and organize your iTunes files
    If you are still unable to locate the files, you may need to download them from the iTunes store again, or rip them from your CDs. See this article for assistance with downloading your past purchases -
    Download past purchases
    Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
    Best,
    Brett L 

  • 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

  • I can no longer play my music from iTunes on my computer.  i get the error prompt: The song (name) could not be used because the original file could not be found.  What do I do?

    not sure what to add other than to repeat myself.  ive lost ability to play music from my iTunes library on my computer.  Everything is there but i get an error message that says '"The song (name) could not be found.  Would you like to locate it?   Then it gives me the option to locate or cancel.  i can't do that for 3800 songs!!  i have all my music in separate folders by album and all individual selections in an external hard drive.  i can play from there but thats clicking on one number at a time.  i lost my capability in the process of Microsoft correcting a problem with my outlook program.  Why, i haven't a clue.   help!!

    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

  • 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.

  • "The song could not be used because the original file could not be found"

    Hello,
    I purchased the new iPhone 3G 16gb White on friday afternoon at the local AT&T store(they were all sold out,of course),so i went ahead and ordered it for gauranteed delivery within 7 to 10 days.It says to be sure and sync you're old iPhone once more before coming back to AT&T to have the iPhone 3G set up to be installed and turned on.
    So i figured i would upgrade my iTunes to 7.7 and upgrade the software to 2.0 before i get my new phone,that way i will be ready when it comes in.
    I was just doing what the apple website said to do and went ahead and tried to upgrade to iTunes 7.7,which worked out good,EXCEPT that now all the music has an exclamation point next to it and nothing will play because the original file could not be found.I know i'm not the first here to have this problem,but i cant find a post that explains what procedure i need to do to fix it so i can play my music on iTunes again.
    I have my iTunes music folder located on an external hard drive (Drive i ). It used to be Drive H,but i plugged in an SD Memory card into the front panel of my computer tower and now my external hard drive is recognized as being on Drive i. How could that have changed?
    I have it on a 500 gb external drive,because my C & D drives are both almost filled up and i wouldn't have enough room to put all my cd's into iTunes if they were on those drives.
    I have an iPod Classic 160gb that i want to fill once i get all my cd's into itunes.
    Anyways,when it asked me what drive to put iTunes under when i was installing it,i chose the "i" drive.That is where my iTunes music folder is located with almost 10 gigs of music in it.
    But now when i go to play anything it wont play as it can't locate the music.
    Sorry for rambling on so much.Just trying to explain,in detail,what my setup is so someone with knowledge can instruct me as to what to do to fix it.
    Thank's for the help ahead of time,
    Dan

    I am getting this same message.  I recently bought a new Macbook Pro and the geeks transferred my files from my mini-mac.  Perhaps they did not transfer something critical?  I follow the "locate" option when it asks to find my files and I get a file folder that has a red circle with a white bar in the middle. 
    I have the same issues with my downloaded movies but my apps all seem to be fine.
    Even more confusing - it seems to allow random songs to play and download on my Macbook and other devices.  But most of my music - whether downloaded from iTunes or my CD collection comes up with that message about the original file. 
    Should I get new geeks to locate these files on my old mini-mac?

  • This is a new notification coming up with iTunes, why and how do I fix it? The song "Penny Lane" could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?

    This is a new notification coming up with iTunes, why and how do I fix it?
    The song “Penny Lane” could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?
    Max

    Hey xxCreepyFiaxx,
    First, I would try the following suggested steps for when you don't see content in iTunes after updating:
    Quit iTunes.
    Download and install the latest version of iTunes.
    Use the Finder (Mac) or Windows Explorer (Windows) to go to the iTunes folder that contains the iTunes library files:
    Mac OS X
    /Users/username/Music/iTunes/
    Microsoft Windows Windows XP and Windows 2000
    \Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\
    Microsoft Windows Windows Vista and Windows 7
    \Users\username\Music\iTunes\
    Drag the iTunes Library file from the above location to the Desktop.
    Open the Previous iTunes Libraries folder in the iTunes folder.
    Locate the file named iTunes Library YYYY-MM-DD where YYYY-MM-DD is the date you upgraded iTunes (Year-Month-Day).
    Drag this file to the iTunes folder (the enclosing folder).
    Rename this file to iTunes Library.
    Open iTunes.
    You should now see your missing content in iTunes.
    via: No content shows up in iTunes after updating
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1967
    If that doesn't resolve the issue, then I'd go through the steps in here:
    iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408
    Have a good one,
    Delgadoh

  • 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

  • After installing iTunes 10.5 update i get the following message when trying to play any song in my Library "The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"  how do i fix this??

    I have an iPod Classic and work on Windows 7.
    i recently installed iTunes 10.5 update and since then i cannot play any of the songs in the Library - i get the following message
    "The song could not be used because the original file could not be found.  Would you like to locate it?"
    what happened to all my songs (almost 2000) How can i get them back into my music library?
    Please help - i do not want to spend another week downloading all my cd's onto my computer !!!!!

    Try my script FindTracks. Select a few of the missing files to start with then run the script. Choose No at the first prompt so that you can check how it works track by track, then confirm or edit the location of the media folder where your files are. Once you are happy with how it behaves let it process larger numbers of tracks automatically.
    tt2

  • On itunes everytime I try and play a track the warning 'the song could not be played because the original files could not be found' please can anyone help me? Thanks

    Hi. I have been having problems with my PC and recently removed a lot of rubbish to clear it somewhat. I dont know if that is relavant however on top of that I have just received my replacement iPad2 which i had a proble with and  thought I would just tidy up my tunes before  sycing.  The problem is that everytime I click to play a track in iTunes on my PC, whilst the track is showing on my itunes, it comes up with a warning 'the song cannot be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to find it'. I have tried clicking 'locate', but all that appears is 'music Library' 4 different dates. Help i am very confused, can any shed any light on this
    Thank you

    Sounds like you have somehow moved your itunes music library to a different location to where iTunes thinks they should be. Your music should be in a folder called "iTunes Media>Music". If they are located there, try going into iTunes, right clicking on one of the songs and then "get info". When the box pops up, on the first screen it should give a location line where it thinks the music is located. If it is differen't to where you music is stored, try and match it up to the location line that was in the "get info" box.

  • I tried to play my iTunes and suddenly get an error message that says "The song (name) could not be used because the original file could not be found.  Would you like to locate it now?"  It happens on all my tunes and each one I select ends up with a "?"

    I tried to play my iTunes and suddenly get an error message that says "The song (name) could not be used because the original file could not be found.  Would you like to locate it now?"  It happens on each tune I select and a "?" appears beside the song.  Does this sound familiar to anyone?

    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

  • ITunes tells me "Could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"  I can locate it and all my other music, but can only open one song at a time.  How do I set it to open all my music whenever I want it?

    iTunes tells me my song selection: "Could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"  I can locate it and all my other music, but can only open one song at a time.  How do I set it to open all my music whenever I want?
    Message was edited by: Woildbill

    I just spent several hours dealing with this when switching to a new PC. It was extremely frustrating as I knew my files were on my external HD but no matter how many times I copied my old iTunes folder over the files were still missing...because dummy me had forgotten to "unhide folders" on my new PC and my old files were actually stored in a hidden folder created long long ago.
    This is how I did it on Windows 7 with iTunes 10
    1. Look in iTunes Advanced Preferences to see where iTunes is saving files. (Edit, Preferences, Advanced)
         Example: C:/Users/Woildbill/My Music/iTunes/Music
    2. Ensure you are able to see hidden files - Control Panel, Folder Option, View, Show Hidden Files
    3. Use Your Computer's Search Function to Locate the Missing File (Start, Search, type name of song - I started my search in "My Music" folder but be sure to expand to entire Computer if not found right away)
    4. In Search Results, right-click found folder and select properties. This will tell you where the file is actually stored.
    5. Use Windows Explorer (right-click start) to navigate to the location of the file. It is likley your other missing files are in the same location.
    6. In Windows Explorer, copy the newly located files to the iTumes location from Step 1 and everything should work again.
    Hope this helps!

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