I can't access my Home Sharing libraries

First, in Preferences > Sharing where it indicates "On, no users connected" it is indicating that no users are connected that require a password. It will not indicate whether computers are connected if no password is required.

In iTunes, Preferences > General, under the 'Show' category is Shared Libraries checked off?

In the iTunes sidebar on the left-hand side of the screen do you see the SHARED category?

Let me explain the two different ways of sharing media libraries in iTunes and hopefully that may shed some light on how things work for you and others and lead to a solution to your problem. This will also allow me to correct something in my previous post.

I use Home Sharing exclusively and don't always remember about Library Sharing but iTunes also has another sharing feature called Library Sharing that is a little different and slightly more restrictive.

Home Sharing is enabled by selecting Home Sharing from the 'Advanced' menu (see screen shot below) and entering your Apple ID and password. Home Sharing allows unrestricted access to the shared iTunes library from computers on the network as well as from iOS devices. Home Sharing is required for access by iOS devices, they do not work with Library Sharing. Home sharing also allows you to copy media from one computer to another, something you can't do with Library Sharing. Home Sharing overrides Library Sharing if both are enabled.

Library Sharing is enable by selecting 'Share my library on my local network' in iTunes Preference (see screen shot below.) Library Sharing does not work with iOS devices. Library Sharing only allows for the playback of media from shared libraries. You cannot copy media from one computer to another using Library Sharing. The 'Status:' indicator will display a count of the number of computers that are connected to your library using Library Sharing. Home Sharing connections will not be indicated here. You can also restrict who can connect to your library using a password. This password restriction has no affect on Home Sharing connections. They are authorized and controlled by the use of Apple IDs.

How to tell if you are connecting to a library shared by Home Sharing or Library Sharing (see screen shot below.) A Home Sharing library icon looks like a house with a musical note on the side. A Library Sharing icon looks like a stack of CDs with a musical note on top. They are both labeled by the name of the shared library as configured in iTunes Preferences.

I think I've covered everything and hope this helps people understand the difference between the two types of shared libraries and how to configure each.

Dear mindlesswaiting,

I have exactly the same problem as you described. Did you find a solution? as I still cant work out how to get my itunes library on my imac to show up on my windows laptop... (although it works the other way round - my windows library does show up on my imac)!

Ive got the Home Sharing icon showing on the windows PC, but the shared libraries do not show below it.

If you found a solution Id be grateful if you could pass it on to me,

Thanks,

J.

Guy's not sure if this is a problem but when I go into home sharing on iTunes and complete user name and password etc the little home shows on the left hand side right? here is the kicker I was thinking that it was all complete and I would press "done" then the home sharing symbal would go away, effectively shutting down home share. Is this maybe what is happening? Does that make sense? i.e. don't hit the done button like I was doing!!

Well I don't hit the done button, so the home sharing icon remains in place, but there is no shared library listed below it.

Both my imacs can see eachother, one of them can also see my windows laptop, but the windows laptop cannot see either of the imacs! Weird.

Ive tried checking all of the advice on the Apple Support page and I appear to have done everything correctly.

Where do I go from here?

J.

This is a very nice and clear explanation of how to enable these functions.

How do you troubleshooth these items? I've tried both shared libraries and home sharing, and in both cases it sees the other computer, the icon is the home sharing icon, clicking on it creates some network activity, but then the computer requesting the share just stops and goes back to its local library without any message. I've gone through the trouble shooting and iTunes versions are both current, and both machines are on the same switch so there's no router in between them.

No console log messages to see as far as I can tell.

Where would OS X hide information about a quit like this?

I am having the exact same problem... Have you found any solution?

same problem, guessing there's still no solution, the annoying thing is a couple weeks ago it was working perfectly well... ideas anyone please? pulling my hair out; got half my library onto my my new laptop but now can't get the rest across.....

I have this same issue. Has anyone come up with a working solution yet?

My issue is that we have 4 computers in our house. I have turned on Home Sharing using the same Apple ID on all 4 computers. 3 of the computers can all see every library, but my new Windows 8 laptop cannot see the libraries of the other machines. I can't blame it on Windows 8, because one other computer is running it and H.S. works fine. I have updated iTunes versions, duplicated settings between machines, etc. Nothing seems to allow this laptop to see the other computers.

The "Done Button" solution doesn't quite get there. When I don't hit "Done" it shows "Home Sharing" in the side bar, but there is no library listing.

Very frustrating!!!!

Hi mananavi,

Not much help Im afraid.... I was never able to understand or fix the issue... nor it seems can anyone else. It either works for your system or it doesn't.. (contrary to Apple's mantra "It just works").!

Sorry I cant be more help.

A.

I solved this problem on my system. Hopefully it works for you.

Turns out that even though I'd enabled sharing of files throught the Network and Sharing Center, what I hadn't done yet on this new computer was join my Homegroup. I feel a little silly that it was so simple, but hopefully this helps you too. Just make sure all your machines are joined and hopefully you're good to go.

Thanks, but how do you do that? I can't find any reference to "Homegroup" even when I go to the System Preferences - Sharing folder...

Cheers.

A.

I'd try to give more step by step instructions, but I'm far from an expert on this and don't want to steer you wrong.

For Windows 7: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Join-a-homegroup

For Windows 8: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/15831-homegroup-join-windows-8-a.html

My understanding is it's a bit more complicated if you're running other operating systems. I haven't followed these steps, but here's a link that's supposed to help if you're running something else. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/sharing-files-printers-help#sharing-f iles-and-printers=windows-8&v1h=win8tab1&v2h=win7tab1&v3h=winvistatab1&v4h=winxp tab1

Hope this helps.

Make sure you are all on the same network, I had the same issue and didn't realize I was plugged into the net via a public network instead of my home network