Recovering mistakingly deleted "iTunes Library.itl" file (Bin emptied ...) ?

The examples you've given suggest that you've probably deleted your music files, then emptied the trash. You may want to look into free unerase tools that might be able to restore some of this deleted content. If it can be recovered somewhere then it should be possible to relink it to the library.

The "missing file" issue with exclamation marks happens if the file is no longer where iTunes or Music 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, the drive it lives on has had a name change, or you've moved a non-portable library to a different path (see Make a split library portable for details). It is also possible that iTunes or Music have 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, or that you've been too aggressive when deleting duplicates at some point.

Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Cmd-I to get Song Info, then click No when asked to try to locate the track. Look on the file tab for the location the library thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drives. Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, a folder renamed, or a drive label 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. If everything is where it is supposed to be try Repair security permissions for iTunes for Mac - Apple Community.

In some cases the library may be able to repair itself if you go through the same steps with Get Info, or when playing a track, but this time click Locate and browse to the lost track. It may then offer to attempt to automatically fix other broken links. Although it says something like "use the same location" I think it expects to find the tracks in the same artist & album layout they were in previously, with one systematic change to the path.

If you want me to try to provide specific advice please post back the following details:

1. The location of the media folder under iTunes|Music > Preferences > Advanced
2. The location of a sample missing track shown under Song Info > File > Location that begins file://
3. The true path to the file whose details you gave in 2

See also FixLinks - an AppleScript to repair broken links in Music - Apple Community.

tt2

Try Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash - Apple Community. Do you have a Previous iTunes Libraries folder or any hidden .tmp files in the iTunes folder? What is the actual location of 02 Dressed For Space.mp3? In fact if iTunes opens and lists content you must have some sort of active .itl file so perhaps it is the content that you've deleted rather than the .itl file. The file:/// form is used when iTunes cannot see the file at it last known or expected location. Assuming you've deleted media files do you have any of this media on a device from which it might be recovered?

tt2

As noted file:///Users/cathlavender/.Trash/Music/Trust/Trst/02 Dressed For Space.mp3 strongly suggests it was in the trash. Once you emptied the trash it would be gone. Unless you have a backup elsewhere, or the tracks are stored on a device, your only real hope is some form of file recovery software.

Try https://www.easeus.com/mac-file-recovery/completely-free-data-recovery-software-for-mac.html.

You should recover to a separate hard drive.

tt2

That's a shame. At least you got back some from a backup.

tt2

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2