I recently transferred data from an old PC to new one. Not all of my songs made it into my Library on the new PC, but after browsing around, I found all of the missing songs in my "iTunes Music" folder. How can I get them over into my Library? I imagine this might be a common challenge, based on other posts. Will appreciate the help...
Windows, 10
In principle iTunes only plays what has been added to the library. Use the Songs view and put it in date added order, then click the triangle so it points down so your newest additions are at the top of the list. Not sure why drag and drop isn't working for you if the tracks will play, but try Repair security permissions for iTunes for Windows - Apple Community.
tt2
The core component of the iTunes library, that records what is in it, playlists, etc. is the iTunes Library.itl file. If your transfer method didn't include that then you would start with a new empty library that would show your purchases in the cloud, but won't automatically include whatever is in the iTunes Music or iTunes Media folders. You can either revisit the transfer as suggested in Move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Community, which will preserve your playlists, play counts, ratings etc., or you can import the media into the new library. iTunes Music is the old name for the iTunes Media folder. If you're going to simply import the media I would recommend you rename the folder first to fit with the modern layout for the library. See Make a split library portable - Apple Community for more background on library layout.
tt2
If you still have access to the original computer see Move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Community and revisit the transfer of the library.
Otherwise when you say that "Not all of my songs made it into my Library" do you mean that they are not listed, or are listed but have exclamation marks and cannot be played? See Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash - Apple Community for the first issue, or iTunes Original File Could Not Be Found - Apple Community for the second.
tt2
turing… thanks for your offer to help, and your advice. I followed your "empty/corrupt..." suggestion step by step, and carefully... but no solution. The frustrating thing is that all song files made it over to the "iTunes Music" folder, but they just don't appear in the library. I did authorize the new computer, but did not de-authorize the old one. I'm following suggestions on security, but admit that its beyond my technical comprehension...and fear I will make it worse. I still have the old computer, and plan to copy the library today and compare to the new one to see the severity of the situation. I suspect its significant. I did back up my music just before the transfer, but having the files doesn't seem to be the problem. Will continue my pursuit.
(I can rebuild my playlists... no sweat... once I get all my tunes back) Will appreciate your ideas for next steps... thanks. Barnikl
The core component of the iTunes library, that records what is in it, playlists, etc. is the iTunes Library.itl file. If your transfer method didn't include that then you would start with a new empty library that would show your purchases in the cloud, but won't automatically include whatever is in the iTunes Music or iTunes Media folders. You can either revisit the transfer as suggested in Move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Community, which will preserve your playlists, play counts, ratings etc., or you can import the media into the new library. iTunes Music is the old name for the iTunes Media folder. If you're going to simply import the media I would recommend you rename the folder first to fit with the modern layout for the library. See Make a split library portable - Apple Community for more background on library layout.
tt2
I think I got it... there was an iTunesLibrary.itl folder on the new computer, but it obviously wasn't the right one. Everything behaved just as you described... I got all the songs back in my new library that were in the cloud, but not the playlists and other stuff that was in the iTunes Music folder. I'm just going to go back to the old computer, copy the entire iTunes folder, and copy it over to the new computer. I will rename the folder, as you suggest. This makes sense to me, and I'm basically starting the transfer over as I understand it... I have nothing to lose, as long as I have access to the old computer... thanks! BB
No need to copy over what is already there. Just copy the missing bits and put them altogether in the right shape. If you end up with broken links after the transfer come back to me and I'll help you fix that.
tt2
tt2... I appreciate your patience with me. I'm very frustrated right now. By count, I have 1,200 songs listed and playing in the old computer library, and only 500 songs listed and playing in the new computer library
I cannot find an iTunes folder in my old computer at the following path: > This PC > Music its either hidden, or I have deleted it by mistake.
I do find a folder on my new computer which includes the following folders (tried to screen capture, but can't paste here)
It appears that all of the music files are in this new iTunes Music folder... oddly, there are two to three copies of each song in the folders, and all in .M4A format. The properties indicate that they are set to play with Groove Music. I changed to play with iTunes, but no effect on getting them into my library. Says that iTunes cannot convert protected files...
I am at a loss... a feel like I'm over my head. I used a reputable transfer software, and everything else seems to have transferred without a hitch. I did print out a copy of my old library, and will rebuild one song at a time if I have to. I can't imagine the missing songs are all from CD's, but I may be wrong.
If you have any ideas, I'm all ears...thanks! BB
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On the old computer if you hold down shift when starting iTunes it will ask you to choose or create a new library. Clicking choose should show a browser window that starts in the folder holding the active library. You can either select it or cancel and then relaunch.
The message about converting protected files seems somewhat out of context. Do you see this when using File > Add Folder to Library? Could you have some old protected .wma files in there? Repeatedly importing a folder containing .wma files could lead to duplicates of any unprotected .wma originals.
If ratings, play counts, and playlists don't matter to you then, with iTunes closed, you could rename iTunes Music as iTunes Media, then launch iTunes and use File > Add Folder to Library to import the contents of iTunes Media to the library. If you've already tried this, but don't seem to have imported enough tracks, then perhaps your old library includes files that are stored outside of the iTunes/iTunes Music folders. You may need to consolidate the media on the old computer and copy over once more if so.
See duplicate songs - Apple Community for a post on cleaning duplicates.
iTunes 12.7 dropped support for managing apps in iTunes. You can probably discard the Mobile Applications folder, along with the two .tmp files.
You can insert screenshots here using the tool to the left of the YouTube icon.
tt2
tt2... thanks for hanging in with me. Feel like I'm making progress. Not sure how, but I'm now able to go to the iTunes Music folder, and open a file and play it with iTunes. It still does not appear in the Library, however. Tried to drag and drop, to no avail. Isn't there a simple way to bring it over? Import? Add to Library?, etc. I've printed copies of the playlists from the old computer, and don't need to rebuild most anyway... so that's not a concern. Getting my missing music into the library is... thoughts? BB
In principle iTunes only plays what has been added to the library. Use the Songs view and put it in date added order, then click the triangle so it points down so your newest additions are at the top of the list. Not sure why drag and drop isn't working for you if the tracks will play, but try Repair security permissions for iTunes for Windows - Apple Community.
tt2
tt2... Well, I'm not 100% sure why, but as I open the music files in the iTunes Music folder, and they start playing, they immediately pop up in my new Library list. I think it had something to do with the "default player" setting, as once I changed that from Groove Music back to iTunes, things started going my way. As I related earlier, I also look at the properties of several files, and changed the player there. In any event, I think I'm home free... its going to take me awhile to reload the library, but at least I haven't lost the music I've collected over 10+ years. Thanks for helping me see this through... BB
P.S. Losing the playlists isn't that big a deal to me... I didn't need to keep them all anyway, and I copied the song lists from the old computer so I can recreate new playlists, if desired.
its going to take me awhile to reload the library
File > Add Folder to Library > Select media folder.
tt2
tt2... coming back at you for a last piece of advice... well, confirmation actually.
I have discovered I have music files of the same songs at all levels of file structure... 2, 3, maybe even 4 files in some cases. I'm pretty sure this had a great deal to do with my incomplete library after I transferred over to a new computer. Happy to say that, with a little work, I have all 1,200 files back and functioning. That said, I'm trying to clean up these duplicates, triplicates so I won't worry about this anymore... please confirm that this is the correct file structure (path) to the correct storage location:
This PC> Music> iTunes> iTunes Music (which you suggested I change to iTunes Media)> Music
I believe that this is the correct folder, as I just purchased a new song and that's where it ended up. If I can get my other music files there, I will be happy... please confirm, thanks! BB
Yes, the default location for music is <Media Folder>\Music\<Artist>\<Album>. See Make a split library portable - Apple Community for details. You should only move files by hand in very specific circumstances. See duplicate songs - Apple Community for a post on cleaning duplicates. This assumes that all the files in the media folder have been added to iTunes so that the duplicates are visible in iTunes, not just the file system.
tt2
My "iTunes Music" Folder & Library After PC Transfer
