All my Music is gone in itunes!

You could try the following all-purpose steps for dealing with erratic device or sync behaviour. They assume that all of the content you want on the device is in your library ready for restoring. If it isn't see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device first. I would also recommend you copy everything out of the camera roll if you haven't already.

1. Backup device.
2. Restore as a new device.
3. Restore the backup you made earlier.

Use an encrypted backup if you want to preserve passwords, Wi-Fi settings, web history and health data where appropriate. I also suggest syncing with a selection of playlists (unless you're using iCloud Music Library) rather than manually adding content as, if nothing else, the process above is easier to do if you ever have to go through it again. The downside with backup encryption is that if you forget the password when you need it again, which could be years later, you may need to invoke a workaround to turn off encryption as shown in Re: disable encrypted backups, which can only help if your device is in a state that can backup to iCloud.

tt2

I am having the same problem with my iphone 6s ,which is suddenly I find like 50 songs are gone without deleting it or something, they are just gone, then I sync it with my PC and they are there for a while, and again they go missing ... ???!!!

😕

try going to the music album and checking if they have a pad lock on them is so you need to unlock them by right clicking going down to properties and changing the settings in the security

For general library squiffiness following an upgrade or crash the easiest thing is to restore your last backup, but I guess if it were that simple you wouldn't be here.

Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash

Hopefully it's not been too long since you last upgraded iTunes, in fact if you get an empty/incomplete library immediately after upgrading then with the following steps you shouldn't lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping. In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these andcopy it into the iTunes folder. Rename iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl and then rename the restored file as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. Should all be good, bar any recent additions to or deletions from your library.

See iTunes Folder Watch for a tool to catch up with any changes since the backup file was created.

When you get it all working make a backup! For example grab SyncToy 2.1, a free tool from MS. This can be used to copy your entire iTunes library (& other important data folders) onto another hard drive or network share. You can then use SyncToy periodically to synchronise or echo your library to the backup. A preview will show which files need to be updated giving you a chance to spot unexpected changes and during the run only the new or updated files will be copied saving lots of time. And if your media is all organised below the main iTunes folder then you should also be able to open the backup library on any system running the same version of iTunes regardless of drive letter or path.

tt2

I had the same problem, and this instruction worked for me.

Thank you turingtest12!

😀

tt2

where is the "previous iTunes Libray" folder?????? I really need help! I have the same problem and I'm really freaking out right now!!!!!! Please help!

In the normal course of events your the folder will be at ...<User's Music>\iTunes\Previous iTunes Libraries. If you had created your iTunes library elsewhere then it would be inside the libaray folder.

tt2

I had some CD's on my itunes before it all disapeared, they have not come back? Is there anyway I can retrieve them too?

-Thanks

iv done this but it still hasnt worked!!!

Is the media still present in the media folder?

If the .itl file extension isn't visible for you don't add it when renaming the file.

If all else fails have you got a device with media and have you looked at the process for recovering it from the device?

tt2

Hi, @turingtest2

I am having the same problem and I followed your advice to go to previous itunes libraries to find the recent one, however, the recent file was 2014 and I have long updated my songs, is that possible to get the most recent one like for this year? Thank you in advance.

Oh, this is quite an old thread on the topic. See Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash for more recent advice.

You can only choose from what is already there. It seems the last time one one of these automatic backups was made would have been the update to iTunes 12.x from anything earlier. You can look for .tmp files of a suitable size and see if one of those allows you to recover a more recent version of the library. If you have have to restort to the older backup then iTunes Folder Watch is a useful tool for updating the library with changes in the media folder.

tt2

Thank you so much!!! this worked perfectly for me

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2