Sarah-1997
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: All the content from my iTunes library has disappeared

The other day I went onto iTunes and everything had disappeared from it except for the music in the Cloud.  All the music is still intact in the folders on my computer and when I double click any song it reappears on iTunes but without any information like number of plays, and I obviously don't want to do this manually for every song as I have nearly two thousand.  I synced my iPod with iTunes again but no message came up and the music is still on my iPod, as if it is only 'hiding' on iTunes.  I'm not sure if it's something to do with the fact i got a new iPod a few days ago, but iTunes worked perfectly when I first got it so I'm confused about what's happened.

iPod touch

Posted on Apr 2, 2013 8:54 AM

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Sarah-1997

Q: All the content from my iTunes library has disappeared

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  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Oct 21, 2015 7:29 AM in response to lleesseell
    Level 10 (86,362 points)
    Apple TV
    Oct 21, 2015 7:29 AM in response to lleesseell

    lleesseell wrote:

     

    I have tried loading a previous version of iTunes but only 2,500 songs came up out of 12,000 (the date on that version was from a month ago there should be only slightly fewer songs not 10,000 fewer),

     

    I take it you mean a previous version of the iTunes database? Downgrading iTunes has its own problems. Are you certain you know which is the active library folder? Is it only the media that is on your external drive or should the library files be there too?

     

    The more frequently you update iTunes the more snapshots you have of the .itl file and less the damage will be if you have to revert to one. Did you check for hidden .tmp files? What is the date of the file you tried to restore? Did you copy and paste the database file from the Previous iTunes Libraries folder as advised in Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash? If so you can try again. If iTunes can manage to fail to update the library properly once, there is no reason it can't do it again. Shut down and restart your computer first.

     

    See also Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy.

     

    tt2

  • by lleesseell,

    lleesseell lleesseell Oct 21, 2015 3:13 PM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 21, 2015 3:13 PM in response to turingtest2

    I think I've fixed it! Thank you SO much. your instructions were super helpful. I've lost the last 6 months or so because the last version of iTunes is from April, but I've still got 10 years worth so honestly, I'm good.

     

    Thank you thank you thank you.

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Oct 21, 2015 3:57 PM in response to lleesseell
    Level 10 (86,362 points)
    Apple TV
    Oct 21, 2015 3:57 PM in response to lleesseell

    You're welcome.

     

    You can make your own manual backup of the itl file from time to time but you should really backup the entire library on a regular basis.

     

    tt2

  • by siang,

    siang siang Nov 28, 2015 8:14 AM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2015 8:14 AM in response to turingtest2

    turingtest2: I had this problem on my iMac, and the process you described (replacing iTunes library.itl file with older version) worked for me.  Thank you!

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Nov 28, 2015 8:25 AM in response to siang
    Level 10 (86,362 points)
    Apple TV
    Nov 28, 2015 8:25 AM in response to siang

    You're welcome.

     

    tt2

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