Making iTunes library find missing tracks in multiple, not one by one

Thanks a million siamless!

did this actually work for you though?

iTunes asks me if I wanted to locate similar files in that folder (if i uncheck "keep itunes media organized")

..but then takes no action in that direction at all.

this feature lack, of not finding multiple missing files, is such a monumental pain in the butt.

Oh MY god. Why is this function always a failure! I mean… allow me to vent here. I can literally see an entire album of missing tracks. Show iTunes where one is and then it asks if I want to find other missing tracks — AND THE REST OF THE MISSING TRACKS ARE RIGHT THERE IN THE SAME @#$%^& FOLDER and it says it cannot find any more of the 1,800 missing tracks. Does this actually EVER succeed in finding missing files?

Yeah… I got nothing. The find other files thing is a ruse. It NEVER finds a single other file for me. I tried all the above.

Happens to me a lot because I use a network drive to store content. Occasionally after upgrades, iTunes "helps" me by automatically refreshing the content and if the drive hasn't been mapped yet (say after a restart) it shows all my files as not found. In my case, they ARE exactly where the "Get Info" says they are, but because the last time it referenced them they were offline, it shows my libraries (on AppleTV, say) to be empty. I've just gotten in the habit of deleting all of them from iTunes, (leaving files in place) and adding them back. Happy to hear if someone else has any luck getting this method to work. I never get the prompt to find other files..

zmrw03 wrote:

Happens to me a lot because I use a network drive to store content.

If the whole library (not just media) is on an external drive, start iTunes with the option key held down and guide it to library file on the external. If your library file is on the internal then you may want to consider keeping it on the external to facilitate this procedure.

Note, your question is not identical to the original poster's and would best be addressed in a separate topic (quite apart from the fact that this is an old, old thread).

MacBook Air-Late 2010, OS v10.7.2, 2.13 GHz Intel Core Duo, memory 4GB, iTunes 10.5.3, storing ALL iTunes content locally. Using 1TB external hard drive for Time Machine backup ONLY.

I have never messed around with any settings in iTunes, I have always let it do its organizing the way the default settings dictate.

iTunes has been losing the location of my files randomly in just the last few weeks, as far as I can tell. I have over 20,000 files and I have been noticing it every day lately.

The way Apple has been not addressing this issue is atrocious. Clearly this has been happening to many users. We need a simple, one-click solution to this problem that fixes the problem and we need it soon. Seems like I can get back everything by entering Time Machine but it is a heinous process when iTunes has lost HUNDREDS of file locations. Please give us an efficient solution.

The solution by siamlessworked perfectly for me. I had moved to my new MacBook from a crashed XP laptop by copying the files from the hard drive. All the files were originally in a path starting with "c:\" and now are on an external hard drive to the Mac. First went to preferences, then advanced, then I unchecked "keep iTunes Media folder organized" & ok. Then I chose a song that was "missing" with the "!" next to it and tried to play it. It prompted me "would you like to locate it?", I chose "locate", then I navigated to the location of the file & "open". Then when prompted "would you like to use the location of "song" to find other missing files in your library?", I chose "find files". After some patience, it indicated "iTunes was able to find 4860 of 4860 missing files." and I chose ok. I could play my missing music. Then I went back to preferences, then advanced, then I checked "keep iTunes Media folder organized" & ok. A few minutes later, the files were properly organized in the iTunes Media directory. Problem solved.

Thanks a million siamless!

I did that and…

“iTunes was not able to locate any of 1821 missing files.”

The file I used to ask is in a folder of at least 1500 of those files that are currently marked as missing. They couldn’t be more local.

This has been kicking my butt for hours now.... however, I did go back to the old PC days and closed and restarted itunes after I had unchecked "keep itunes media folder organized" and it found 20% on its own... lets see how many times i have to restart

I followed theToaster's instructions and it found 1686 of 1689 of files, which was good enough.

What I did:

- Edit > Preferences > Advanced, and uncheck "Keep iTunes Media Folder organized" and uncheck "Copy files to iTunes Media Folder"

- Exit iTunes

- Restart iTunes

- Click to play a file that is in its new location

- Locate it, click OK

- It should eventually if not right away go look for other files when you confirm to find other files

- Recheck the boxes unchecked above.

Someone told me to do that already. tried it and it didn’t change anything. maybe I should try again with the new system install?

Are the files in the same file structure (same file names, album names, etc.)? I don't think the algorithm is smart enough to map whole new file directory structures, but if it's the same structure in a new (root) location, you might have luck...

Well, they have the right names, etc… and are in the same folder on the machine even. However, the script sounds like it can try and find missing files from all over. BUT for sure it should be able to find missing tracks in the same **** folder as the one you just found.