Music has lost all songs except downloaded ones

Question

Level 1

4 points

Music has lost all songs except downloaded ones

The Music app launches just fine, but it does not list any of the songs in my music library other than downloaded ones. The downloaded ones are listed, but the cloud icon is next to all of them, i.e. Music does not recognize that these songs are already on my hard drive.

In addition, all of my playlists are also missing.

Has some sort of master list been deleted or corrupted? I back up my iMac every night, so I could restore a missing file if I knew what to look for.

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jan 26, 2021 3:56 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

ryane77

Community Specialist

Jan 28, 2021 12:45 PM in response to c4ha2na9

Hey there c4ha2na9,

We understand only downloaded music is showing on your Mac, and that music has a cloud icon next to them. We'll be happy to help.

If you're an Apple Music or iTunes Match member, it sounds like this might be an issue with Sync Library. If you are a member, take a few moments to go through the steps here: If songs are missing from your music library after you turn on Sync Library

If you're not a member, let's try downloading your purchased content again to see what happens. Use these steps: Download previous iTunes Store purchases in Music on Mac

If you still experience issues, tell us more about what's happening. For example:

- What happens when you try to play music that is showing?

- Do you back up with Time Machine?

- Which version of macOS is installed?

- Do your other devices have your music as expected?

Cheers!

Reply

Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

274,464 points

Jan 30, 2021 3:30 AM in response to c4ha2na9

See Empty/corrupt iTunes/Music library after upgrade/crash - Apple Community.

tt2

Reply

Answer 3

c4ha2na9 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 28, 2021 1:59 PM in response to ryane77

I am not a member of either Apple Music or iTunes Match.

When I clicked on the Download button of one song, it downloaded just fine. The song in question was filed in the appropriate folder in the iTunes Music folder. I would like to note that the file that just downloaded is a duplicate; the previously existing file (as well as all other files in that album) is still in the proper folder, but Music doesn't recognize that it's there.

Other visible songs play as well, but they are clearly playing directly from the cloud. When I momentarily turned off WiFi, all songs (except for the downloaded one) were greyed out and would not play.

Yes, I back up nightly with Time Machine.

macOS 10.15.7

My other devices have the same music. I have not tried to sync my iPod touch, because I am worried that all of its music content will be deleted.

Reply