How do I get iTunes to recognize my backup podcast files?

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jcyr2016 Author

Level 1

4 points

How do I get iTunes to recognize my backup podcast files?

Greetings,

I keep my music on an external HD. It recently died, but I have backups of most things on a second external HD.

Long story short: I can't get iTunes to handle the backup files correctly. If I do an "import folder" for a given Podcast (say, Hardcore History), iTunes will import all the files from my backup folder, but it will put them in a separate podcast it labels "unknown album." Meanwhile for newly downloaded episodes, iTunes creates a whole separate podcast, which is properly labeled "Hardcore History." I tried manually moving all the files from the backup folder into the newly created "Hardcore History" folder in the new iTunes media > podcasts subfolder, but iTunes still won't "see" those files. It still thinks all the old episodes need to be downloaded again.

Anyone have any insights? I listen to a lot of podcasts, including some paid content, so I would much prefer not to have to re-download everything.

Thank you for your time.

-J

Windows, Windows 10

Posted on Dec 27, 2023 4:01 PM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

279,445 points

Dec 29, 2023 5:55 AM in response to jcyr2016

I've been able to do this in the past by restoring a backup copy of the .itl file that knew about the existence of said podcast files. See Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash - Apple Community for example. Importing older items into a fresh library may not always work, particularly if the URL the podcast is served from has changed over time. Certain fields used in the management of podcasts may not always be written into the file tags.

tt2

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