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iTunes for PC - trying to find old playlists that I burned on to CD years ago

Hello! I'm on a PC. I am looking for playlists that I burned on to CDs years ago. I have found "previous iTunes libraries" in my music library folder - but when I click on these files (they are labeled like: iTunes Library 2012-01-01.itl) they don't seem to do anything or make any changes to my current iTunes. Is there a different program I can use to open these, or a different way I need to access them within iTunes? When I try to import them through iTunes, windows give me the following error: The file xx.itl cannot be imported because it does not appear to be a valid exported file.


These appear to be files that iTunes created at the time that these playlists were created (the timestamps would back this up when I right click on the files & look at the created date). Windows tells me these are "iTunes Database File"s also when I right click on the properties. I've pretty much reached the limit of my windows knowledge at this point.


Thanks for your help.

Windows

Posted on Jan 30, 2023 7:34 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 31, 2023 12:52 PM

Hi,


See Use multiple iTunes libraries on PC - Apple Support. To switch libraries hold down shift as you launch iTunes. Double-clicking an ITL file will cause iTunes to open, but it opens the last library that was successfully opened using the shift-start-iTunes method, rather than the selected file. Once you've opened an old library you can export selected playlists, revert to your primary library, then import the exported lists. This method will only work properly if the files are still on the same paths.


tt2

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1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 31, 2023 12:52 PM in response to smilingchicken

Hi,


See Use multiple iTunes libraries on PC - Apple Support. To switch libraries hold down shift as you launch iTunes. Double-clicking an ITL file will cause iTunes to open, but it opens the last library that was successfully opened using the shift-start-iTunes method, rather than the selected file. Once you've opened an old library you can export selected playlists, revert to your primary library, then import the exported lists. This method will only work properly if the files are still on the same paths.


tt2

iTunes for PC - trying to find old playlists that I burned on to CD years ago

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