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

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What does this message mean: This song could not be used because the original file could not be found--When I try to play songs there is an "!" next to it.

A friend recenlty replaced my hard drive.
When I try to use itunes--I receive this message: "The song could not be used because the original could not be found, would you like to locate it? Next to my songs I see this: "!" Help--Please!!

Well what happened is the pathname to the song has changed slightly.
For instance if the song was located say c\:Windows\User\Mary\Music\iTunesFolder
and now it's c:\Windows\User\MaryXray\Music\iTunesFolder
I'm assuming here your music was replaced in the Music folder like on the old hard drive, that iTunesFolder was simply copied over in whole.
So to fix things, you go into the iTunes Folder in your Music Folder and look for a iTunes Music Library .XML file and open it in a Text Program that has "find and replace" ability.
You find the partial pathname of the old drive and you replace ALL instances of it with the new pathname.
so \Windows\User\Mary would be changed to
\Windows\User\MaryXray
Save the file and reopen iTunes.

When I try to listen to a song I purchased last week, I get the message, "could not be used because the original file could not be found. would you like to locate it?" What do I do to find it?

When I try to listen to the songs I purchased from iTunes last week, I get the error message, "could not be used because the original file could not be found. would you like to locate it?" What do I do to fix this problem or locate the song?
Thanks!

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?

I have a new computer that downloaded all of my playlist. but i cannot play all songs. i get a error that say "the song could not be used because the original file could not be found. would you like to locate it? but it does not help to resolve.

i installed itunes to my new computer and transfered all my playlist from the older computer. the software came with the new computer hp link up. the problem
comes in where i want to play a certain song on a playlist and this error pops up "the song could not be used because the original file could not be found.
would you like to locate it? which is of no help.
is there a solution to this problem?

The file path for these songs IS NOT correct per your iTunes Library file.
See: http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=listmias for an Applescript to locate these files for re-adding.

Error code; original file could not be found, would you like to locate it?

when i try to transfer songs from my library to my ipod shuffle, i get this error message (error code; original file could not be found, would you like to locate it?). Then an exclamation point(!) in the first column it appears next to the song in the library.
When i go to the folder mymusic/itunes/itunesmusic folder, the song is there, but why is there an exclamation point next to the song in the library? And how do I restore all these songs, and what causes this?

Sounds like your iTunes .ITL library file got corrupted.
What are the iTunes library files?
There are some posts around here by Buegie on how to fix that...

"original file could not be found, would you like to locate it." error

I recently bought my first MAC and imported my Itunes library onto it using my 3G 40GB ipod. When I try to play some songs in Itunes on the MAC I get the "original file could not be found, would you like to locate it." error message. The songs are on my IPOD and able to played from my ipod, yet they will not synch or transfer to the MAC.
What can I do other than reload the songs from the original cd's?
Thanks in advance.
Sean

Click on this earlier post of mine and read ALL the info listed before trying any fix.
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=5351732#5351732
DIXIE

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!

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I recently restored my laptop and also iTunes from an external hard drive, but when I play songs, it says the original file could not be found. How do I locate and fix this?

I recently restored my laptop with Windows 7 and imported my iTunes library from my external hard drive. When I try to play songs, it says it cannot and that the original file could not be located. How do I fix this?

Put the files back where iTunes expects them to be.

When i try play a song i get this message " the song could not be used because your original file could not be found, would you like to locate. I tunes works on my iPad

OSX 10.9.5

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?

Hi all, when i use itunes , to play a song this message comes up ,the song could not be used because the original file could not be found would you like to locate it?

help !

dwmwood,
Double click a song with ! mark on side, you will be given an option to locate the file where the song is held. If so select "locate" and direct it to the folder / file where the song is and open it.
iTunes then will give you the option to use this process to update all of your library. OK that as this will do it automatically instead of doing them one by one.
I hope this helps.

Original file could not be found when I click on song

I had to restore my hard drive but had everything backed up. But I don't remember the exact directory it was in to point the Itunes library to. How can I find this previous link to the songs? When I right click on the song it doesn't show any previous address.

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

Now all of a sudden, most of my music will not play "because the original file could not be found" for no apparent reason, and I can't get it back. Thanks a ******* LOT, iTunes!! Now I can't even listen to over $1,000 of my songs because of

FU

The "missing file" 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 say no when asked 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. I can provide a step by step guide if you give me the two paths.
In some cases iTunes may be able to repair itself if you go through the same steps and locate the lost track. It may then offer to attempt to automatically fix other broken links. 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

Original File Could Not Be Found - Would you like to locate it? Yes!!!

Hey Folks,
I notice that Apple basically doesn't support iTunes judging by the number of unanswered questions -- I mean officially answered.
I'm having the problem where my iTunes shows the songs but with the ! icon. When I try to access them, I get the message such as above.
If I say yes, I can easily find the songs right where they were put by iTunes when I loaded them from disc.
There are hundreds of songs in this predicament. Is there a way to fix them in bulk?
Thanks in advance for any help you fellow users can provide.

Is there a pattern as to where iTunes thinks the songs are?
For example, does itunes think the songs are in c:\users\bob\music\itunes\spicegirls\* when the actual location is c:\users\bob\music\itunes\itunes library\spicegirls\* ?
Is it ALL of your songs which are affected?
If so, perhaps moving them to the correct place using explorer might be the better options, otherwise you may be there for a while.
however, ensure that you have you itunes library backed up first before you go ahead with this task.
Rgds
Paul
PS: Sorry for the poor taste shown in my example. Worryingly, the Spice Girls were the first thing that popped into my head!
PPS: iTunes has limited support because it's free. iTunes Billing has better support because you've paid for something

'Original file could not be found' Would you like to locate it?

I gotta admit to being pretty sick of seeing this message, when trying to edit/play songs from itunes.
Could someone please tell me where I'm going wrong.
All my music is on an Ext HDD simply because there is more than my laptop can handle. I have changed the preference settings so that the itunes music folder location is this one folder on the HDD. All of the music was transferred to the ipod from this particular folder on the HDD.
However, I almost always have this message pop up. The strange thing is that it also seems random as in, some songs can't be found one day and a different batch the next day! I know that in computer software terms, that doesn't make sense but that is the way it appears.
Thanks..

You're welcome!
+the ITunes folder that is automatically created from the beginning and defaults to My Documents, has been moved to the designated music folder in the HD, thats right isn't it?+
Maybe, depends how you did things. If you just changed iTunes Edit > preferences > Advanced tab > music folder location, that only affects future music that you add.
Older files will still be on the default C: drive unless you did the Consolidate library command.
Also, you might have a few itunes database ITL libraries floating around, one on your C: drive and another on your G: drive.
You can open different libraries by starting itunes, and immediately *press & hold* the shift key.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iTunesWin/7.6/en/15502.html
Mayeb someone else will chime in with thoughts.

TS4062 i cannot sync all the songs/artists i want with i tunes I am getting the message "The song could not be used because the original file could not be found would you like to locate it" but it cant... most of my music on i tunes is now saying this I h

Help I cannot

Hello Imelda2
You would need to locate those songs on your computer. Check out the article below for tips on how to locate the files and relink them.
iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1408
Regards,
-Norm G.

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

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