Q: what happened to my playlists? I just loaded version 11.0.4.4 and all my playlists and songs uploaded from CDs to iTunes disapeared!!!!

Thank goodness for those who take the time to post here - totally wondered where it had all gone, now restoring some order - thank you

You're welcome.

tt2

Here we go again, Ive just updated to 12.3.1.23, and once again ALL my non iTunes purchased songs (thousands and thousands of them) are gone! While I used your wonderfully helpful article in Jan 2014, this time around there are no recent .itl files or .tmp files for that matter.

In fact there is only one old .itl file from the last time I undertook this process, yes you guessed it in Jan 14. I have two questions, 1) why do Apple do this? They don't own my other music? And 2) why are there no other .itl files between Jan 2014 and now Nov 2015?

Please help.

And this will be the very last time I ever take an iTunes update. If it ain't broke, Apple will make sure it is.

Take a look at Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash which is an updated version of the advice given at the start of this thread in case something there proves useful.

I don't know why this sometimes happens but I'm certain it isn't intentional. If you don't see any .tmp files or the Previous iTunes Libraries folder then you may well be looking in the wrong place. The Previous iTunes Libraries folder is updated when there is a change to the structure of the library database. This can happen when iTunes is updated, though not always. I have six archived libraries made during 2014 & 2015, but at a guess there have been a least a dozen different iTunes builds over the same timescale, and I will have installed every one of them. If you haven't updated since January 2014 then I would expect to see at least the one archived .itl created during this update.

There is always a risk of losing data with computers, whether through hardware failure, a software bug, or operator error, which is why it is so important to back up your data. The user tip Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy gives a suggested strategy for doing this.

tt2

Thanks, unfortunately I had already run a wildcard search for *.itl and *.tmp on the complete C Drive and nothing showed only the old 2 year old itl and of course the new V12 itl. Its strange beause I took to almost every single update of the past 2 years yet there is no list of historic .itl files.

Im baffled.

Do you have more than one drive?

Where is your media located?

Do you have any devices that you can pull back data from?

The .tmp files are likely hidden and may not show in your search unless you display hidden & system files.

tt2

Really appreciate your help and time. Yes I have 3 drives (two internal, one external), and checked all 3. The media is actually stored on the external and is all there thankfully. My iTunes folder is on my C Drive, and I always have display file extensions enabled anyway due to my job. I think sadly its a case of either I go back to the .itl from Jan 14 and then figure what ive added since then, but first I think Ill try a free 3rd party program to see if I can get everything from the iPod into iTunes as the iPod was synced just before the iTunes update so is 100% up to date with my music folder. Thanks again TT2

If you've got the media you don't need to pull it back from your iPod. See Make a split library portable and set out your library in the standard portable shape. Once you've imported the media see the two scripts near the end of Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device to pull back ratings, play counts and playlists from your device. Then back it all up to another drive.

tt2