Syncing music- ITunes can't locate

When I try to sync my iphone to itunes there is an excalmation mark and it says "the song ... could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" When I try to locate it isn't anywhere on my computer. On 'my computer' when I click on my iphone the only stuff in there is my pictures ( other people have been told to go on "IPOD_CONTROL but I don't have that ). I have tried to 'transfer purchases', I have tried to 'back up', I have tried to go on 'purchased' on itunes store and nothing works, what can I do?

Can you actually play the music in iTunes? If not, then it is NOT on your computer. At least, it's not in the location iTunes believes it is. Re-add the music to iTunes, then try again.

Similar Messages

  • ITunes can't locate ⅔ of my Music Library -- How to repair?

    I manually reorganized the iTunes Media Folder on my MacBook Air because everything was all jumbled up in the Music folder -- Songs, Movies, Mobile apps etc. everything all mixed up in Music folder. I manually dragged the Movie, iTunes U, Mobile Applications  etc.Folders out of Music Folder and put everything into iTunes Media Folder. The same order as it is on my desktop iMac. Now iTunes can't locate about 1/2 of my Music library. Everything else (movies, TV shows etc.) works fine, but iTunes lost the location of 1/2my music library. I get the message "The song "ABC" could not be used because the original file could not be located. Would you like to locate it"
    Is there a way to reset iTunes so that it knows where all the songs are (they are all in the music folder which is in the iTunes Media Folder). If I have to locate every song individually it will take weeks. 
    File ->Library ->  Organize Library -> click Consolidate and Reorganize files in iTunes Media didn't seem to work. Isn't this the way to let iTunes know where all those songs it can't locate are?
    Kindly advise if you know how to slove this.
    Thank you.
    P.S. Still using Mountain Lion on this computer

    I manage my music manually by turning off the advanced preferences for iTunes managing my music and copying it to the iTunes folder when adding it to the library.  Realize if you do this you are taking responsibility for keeping track of your music -- you will have to be organized.  If you want to move your library you will have to track down all the files. Your files will retain their original names and folder names and structure, so make sure it makes sense.  There's a few other disadvantages which I can't remember right now.  Even with manually managing you still occasionally get a broken link, and my experience is all with iTunes 7.5 which I still use.  I may be wrong but I suspect newer versions of iTunes are trying to do more at one time with all the store and cloud interface and may be more "delicate".
    If you are downloading from Apple or ripping a CD, iTunes will put it in its normal folder structure anyway, though you can remove it from there.
    The various scripts on the Dougscripts web site were written at different stages.  You have to read about iTunes version compatibility in the blurb about each script.  I don't see how you end up with multiple libraries using hte scripts.
    The .itl file can reset itself but not with what you are doing.  If you had moved your whole library and broken all the links you could have found just one and iTunes might have offered to find the others based upon the same structure (not something it will do if you manually manage, by the way).

  • ITunes can't locate files, even though they never move.

    My iTunes is set to copy new files to a dedicated music folder on an internal storage drive and to keep this folder organized. I have never moved this folder or edited anything within this folder.
    Now, one day I start my iTunes and I'm greeted with thousands upon thousands of little exclamation marks telling me that iTunes can't locate the files. I made sure that the drive letter didn't change and that every file was still in there. There were too many songs missing to manually locate each song, so I highlighted my entire library and deleted it (while keeping the files, obviously). Several hours after re-adding my music library, everything was good and like it once was.
    Not even a day later, I re-open iTunes to find that all the exclamation marks were back and that it could not locate any of my files again. This time I decide to go through all the steps properly by clearing the folder where the xml files are located, uninstalling iTunes, moving my music to an external hard drive and making sure there was no trace of iTunes left.
    Ready to start again, I installed iTunes, set where I liked my files to be stored and set my other preferences (including "organize my iTunes folder" and "copy new files to iTunes Folder"). I then re-added my music and spent a day waiting for it to copy to the new iTunes folder. After this I deleted the folder that contained my originals and was left with a fresh install of iTunes and all my music was where I wanted it.
    This worked for almost a whole month before thousands of songs went "missing" again. I simply don't know what to do. I can't keeping re-adding my library again and again because a few thousand songs went missing. Each time I do it, it just takes longer and longer and i'm sick of it.
    Any help with my problem would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

    Presumably the location of the iTunes media folder is still correctly set in preferences when this happens?
    One thing you can do to investigate this is to select a track that can't be found and go to Get Info>>Summary tab.
    This will show you where iTunes thinks it is and the name of the file. Now find the file in Windows Explorer and compare the location and file name are they the same?
    A thing that occurs to me is that you have other software on your PC that is able to move/rename files. Do you have anything like that?
    Windows Media player has a check box that allows the renaming of files in Options, it's worth looking for that.

  • Since downloading 11.0.1 (12), Itunes can't locate or play many songs but the same songs still play on my synched iPod.

    Since downloading Itunes 11.0.1 (12), Itunes can't locate or play many songs but the same songs still play on my synched iPod. I have a MacBook Air, Lion OS, Itunes version 11.0.1 (12).  I didn't see this problem with older versions of Itunes.  I do not manually change the organization of the Itunes library.  I use the Itunes "add to library" feature or Amazon's MP3 downloader.  Sometimes, however, I have changed song information in the "info" window.  Such as unchecking the "compilation" button and sorting by artist (for that song), so that I can search by artist in the top pane of Itunes (otherwise the song is sorted in an album that is a "compilation," but not under the name of the artist who sang a particular song.  I've done this without problem in the past, but perhaps the newer version of Itunes can't handle the changes I made and has lost track of where the older version of Itunes stored such songs?    How do I fix all these older previously ok changes if that's the case...  If I could just find where they are stored in Itunes it would be easier perhaps.  I've looked in compilations, unknown artist, and so forth to no avail.  And Finder search can't find them.
    Details: suddenly, many songs are marked with "!," denoting that Itunes cannot find the songs in the library and cannot play them. Oddly, my iPod CAN play the "unlocatable" songs with no problem (it has been synched "post problem").  So the songs are still there somewhere in the Itunes library.  This problem occurs by album, that is, all songs from the same album become unlocatable, although different albums by the same artist may still be found and played. 
    Exploring the Itunes library to try to locate the missing albums/songs, I discovered that generally there is no longer any folder specified for any artist associated with a missing album [artist is the top level of organization and album is the second; compilations are in the same folder]. This is true even if I have other albums from the same artist which Itunes IS able to locate.  I cannot find a single song/album by such artists anywhere in the Itunes file system, even the ones that Itunes can still play.  If I right click and "get info" for an unlocatable song, I get a notification box that asks if I want to locate the file.  If I click "no," next thing-- the info window for the song pops up, with all the correct info (including sort info, which I double check)!  Why is Itunes able to locate all the info on the song, but is not able to play the MP3 file? 
    Using Finder I cannot locate the songs that are unlocatable by Itunes (except the original download files in the Amazon MP3 folder).  Finder is, of course, able to find Itunes songs that Itunes has no trouble locating.  What's up?!  My iPod can find them just fine.  I just synched my iPod again and am playing the "unlocatable" songs right now.
    I can "fix" most of these files by downloading files one by one into Itunes from my Amazon download folder or from my CDs using the "add to library" feature. In fact, it is strange.  But this will take a very long time!  And what if this problem continues recurring?   But something strange happens when I implement this fix.  I added one song to Itunes (from the Amazon MP3 folder, using "add to library") for one "unlocatable" album of Pete Seegers. After adding that one song, I looked at the Itunes music library and discovered that a folder for Pete Seeger (which was not there before I added the song) had been newly created, or restored.  In this folder was the one song I had just added, but ALSO all my other Seeger albums that had previously remained "locatable" by Itunes.  But the other "unlocatable" songs were not restored, unfortunately.  

    I have found a workaround. When I create a new playlist, iTunes allows me to add or remove songs from existing playlists for a short while. Then, for some reason it prevents me from adding and deleting songs again. Not sure why. Go figure.

  • Itunes can't locate files after I listen to it on the Ipod

    It seems that every time I listen to a song, I notice that Itunes can't locate it anymore. When I go to Itunes and look in my music folder, there is an exclamation point next to the song. When I click on it, the error message reads "cannot locate file, would you like to locate it now". At first it was only one or two songs, now it's over 50! These songs are still on my Ipod,just no longer in Itunes. I know how to recover the music b/c it's in my hard drive, I just don't want to sit there and find all these songs all over again. Help please.

    I too have been having the same problem... I am a new ipod owner and same with itunes. And being a new owner and user I got the new itunes. It has done the exclimation point since the first day I got it. But mine is simple to fix. I mearly just exit out of itunes and re-open it. I dont evn have to wait at all. It shows the exclimation point with about 20 of my songs and it hasnt gotten in my way yet. But the main problem that makes me mad is that my ipod is only 2 weeks old but I tried to get some of my friends music and she has the older version of itunes and my ipod ONLY works on the new version. Very frustrating if you ask me.
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  • ITunes Can't Locate Original File - 7.7 error?

    hoping someone out there can help me....
    basically, I have 2 external hard drives. the first one is a 160GB hard drive, the second one is a 250GB hard drive. initially I had all of my music on the 160GB, but when it got too full I copied everything over on the 250GB drive, so I could add more music to it. everything's been working fine for 2 years on the 250GB drive until this weekend when all of the sudden, iTunes is now looking for the music on the old drive again, saying that it can't find the original file. the songs are all on the new drive, but for some reason it will only look for them on the old one. So - if I have BOTH drives on, everything works fine. If I turn the old drive off, iTunes can't locate 3/4 of my music. it's frustrating because all of the old stuff is on the new drive but iTunes won't see it. I've even tried copying some of the stuff from the old drive onto the new drive and itunes still seems to be looking for it the old drive even when I change the pathway to the new drive in the general preferences.
    the only thing I can think of is:
    1) buy a new larger drive and cut and paste everything onto it. not sure that that would fix it.
    2) reinstall itunes, but I'm afraid of losing my settings and all of the movies,
    apps, games I've bought etc.
    anyone have any advice? is it a library file issue?

    Yeah,
    I've upgraded to 7.7 and have a large library of tracks on an external drive. I added them manually to the library - rather tedious, it took me about 3 days!
    I was careful to choose the iTunes folder in the correct location and I chose to uncheck the "keep iTunes organised" box as it messes up where things are kept. I'm now starting to get ! against about 25% of the library. I really don't want to manually re-direct it to about 5,000 tracks. Is there any way this can be done en masse or is this a 7.7 bug?
    This is a real pain. Can anyone help?
    curly

  • I home shared from my PC to my new Mac and now my iTunes can't locate the original files?

    It was working fine for about 12 hours but now my iTunes can't locate any of the files. None of my songs will play, even those I downloaded directly from a CD. Help?

    It sounds like this is much more than an iTunes problem.  I suggest you post in the operating system forum version for your computer (we have no idea which OS you are running nor what model computer).

  • HT1212 hi my daughter has disabled her iphone 4 and its never been synced with itunes can anyone help please

    hi my daughter has disabled her iphone 4 and its never been synced with itunes can anyone help please

    iOS: Forgotten passcode or device disabled after entering wrong passcode - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1212 - Learn what to do if you have forgotten or can't remember your passcode, or if your device displays a message saying it is disabled.

  • ITunes can't locate some of my music... seems random... some was purchased, other songs from my CDs.  Also, it won't sync some that were purchased to my iPhone even though it shows in my iTunes. What to do?

    iTunes shows quite a few songs that it can't locate.  Some were songs that were purchased, others are from my CDs... not the entire album, just some of the songs.  The songs still show up on my iPhone from previous syncs.  Also, I purchased some that I've put in a playlist and it plays fine on my computer, though it won't sync to my phone.  The others that I've purchased in the same manner do, just not that one.  I've tried adding it elsewhere, I have deleted it and re-downloaded it... yet it still won't show up on my phone when I attempt to sync it.  This has all occured since I've updated it to iOS 7. Any advice to remedy this is greatly appreciated.

    Not sure how this is an ipod touch question.
    Perhaps you should post in the itunes forum.

  • Moved music, now itunes can't locate songs

    I moved my music to a second internal hard drive hard drive. Now Itunes can't find the songs even though I have changed the music file location. Each song title has an Exclamation point next to it in the itunes library window. Any suggestions?

    when it asks you if you want to find the song after you double click on a song to play it, click 'yes' and browse to the folder that the song is in, and click 'ok' and it will work.

  • ITunes Can't locate most music files

    I updated iTunes and it can't locate most of my music. I'd say only about 10% and that being the most recent stuff I added is all it can locate... it asks me to look for the file and I point it exactly to where it should be.
    I searched around and some have had this happen when they move files or store on an external HD whose name (ie F: or G:) switches. I did not do any of that, though, and everything is where it should be. The only answer seems to be reimporting the songs, I did that, but I have lost all my playlists, ratings, and counts.
    I think this is a serious issue and no one seems to have an answer on how to solve it.

    Welcome to AD!
    Your best hope is to see if there is an ITL file in a folder named *Previous iTunes Libraries* that will have most of the metadata.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1967

  • New Version of iTunes can't "locate" a lot of my music

    Almost 1/4 of my music is now unplayable because the new version of itunes can't find it. Anyone know how to remedy this?
    inspiron 8200   Windows XP   Dell

    See
    iOS: Device not recognized in iTunes for Windows
    - I would start with
    Removing and Reinstalling iTunes, QuickTime, and other software components for Windows XP
    or                     
    Removing and reinstalling iTunes and other software components for Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8
    However, after your remove the Apple software components also remove the iCloud Control Panel via Windows Programs and Features app in the Window Control Panel. Then reinstall all the Apple software components
    - Then do the other actions of:
    iOS: Device not recognized in iTunes for Windows
    paying special attention to item #5
    - New cable and different USB port
    - Run this and see if the results help with determine the cause
    iTunes for Windows: Device Sync Tests
    Also see:
    iPod not recognised by windows iTunes
    Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates
    - Try on another computer to help determine if computer or iPod problem
    Note that you can only sync with one computer/iTunes library. To change syncing computer's:
    Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive: Apple Support Communities

  • ITunes stuck to ~/Music/iTunes, can't change folder location

    I recently moved all my media files off my local drive and onto a FW-attached RAID device. I changed the iTunes music folder location in Preferences::Advanced to the new location, and BAM, nothing.
    If I delete ~/Music/iTunes and restart itunes, it will RECREATE the old folder, and it won't touch the file modification times of the files in the new folder. So basically, it's completely ignoring the folder location set in preferences, and using the default location instead.
    Bear in mind that iTunes IS REMEMBERING the new folder location, it's just that it doesn't actually use it. In other words I can change it, but it doesn't care.
    Am I screwed? Does Apple DRM prevent me from having my media in a different location than the default?
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    haploid
    Did you just move the music? Or did you move the library files as well?
    If you moved the library files as well, then hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iTunes, use the Locate command to navigate to the new location.
    Regards
    TD

  • ITunes can't locate song/music in Mac iTunes.

    Suddenly, all of my music in iTunes has a little exclamation point next to the track, and it can't locate the song.  They are all there.  Is there a fast way to get iTunes to find ALL my music, without having to go back manually and click on each track to find?

    iTunes keeps a record if where it thinks the files are located. If you change a file or folder or drive name, the links are no longer valid.  If you did this, change it back.
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  • ITunes can't locate music files

    Any music that was copied into my iTunes music folder cannot be located. Anytime that I try to play the file from iTunes, it shows an error message, requests that I locate the file, and then proceeds to tell me that I need to format my hard drive. When I try to open my iTunes music folder directly, my computer freezes and then after 10 minutes informs me that my hard drive needs to be formatted. I never had this problem until I downloaded the new version of iTunes. This is only going on with music I have copied into my iTunes folder, which is all the CDs I have or had. Many of these CDs I no longer physically have. I have tried to use a previous iTunes library to fix the problem. I have also moved my preferences files to the desktop as suggested in another thread, but neither have worked. I am not having any other problems with my computer that would encourage me to format my hard drive besides this issue. I would appreciate any help possible with this predicament.
    Compaq Presario V2000   Windows XP   AMD 64, 60GB

    Any music that was copied into my iTunes music folder cannot be located. Anytime that I try to play the file from iTunes, it shows an error message, requests that I locate the file, and then proceeds to tell me that I need to format my hard drive. When I try to open my iTunes music folder directly, my computer freezes and then after 10 minutes informs me that my hard drive needs to be formatted. I never had this problem until I downloaded the new version of iTunes. This is only going on with music I have copied into my iTunes folder, which is all the CDs I have or had. Many of these CDs I no longer physically have. I have tried to use a previous iTunes library to fix the problem. I have also moved my preferences files to the desktop as suggested in another thread, but neither have worked. I am not having any other problems with my computer that would encourage me to format my hard drive besides this issue. I would appreciate any help possible with this predicament.
    Compaq Presario V2000   Windows XP   AMD 64, 60GB

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