pprof78

Q: restoring itunes library from backup

Hi, I recently had to reformat my my macbook and lost all my playlists in itunes.  I have all music backed up on hadrive.  how can i restore my playlists. many thanks in advance. Gracias

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Aug 30, 2012 2:41 PM

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Q: restoring itunes library from backup

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  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Aug 30, 2012 2:44 PM in response to pprof78
    Level 9 (53,936 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 30, 2012 2:44 PM in response to pprof78

    How did you do these backups?  If it's in relatively standard format you can do it the same way you would move your library:

     

    iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527

     

    Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings:  Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive.  Open iTunes and immediately hold down the Option (alt) key (shift on Windows), then guide it to the new location of the library.

  • by Chris CA,

    Chris CA Chris CA Aug 30, 2012 2:51 PM in response to pprof78
    Level 9 (79,533 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 30, 2012 2:51 PM in response to pprof78

    pprof78 wrote:

     

    Hi, I recently had to reformat my my macbook and lost all my playlists in itunes.  I have all music backed up on hadrive.  how can i restore my playlists.

    Do you have the entire iTunes folder backed up?

    Or only the music files?

     

    The playlists are in the iTunes music library.itl file in the iTunes folder.

  • by Bacheller,

    Bacheller Bacheller Feb 10, 2014 8:01 PM in response to pprof78
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 10, 2014 8:01 PM in response to pprof78

    Here is what I do when restoring iTunes library from backup:

     

    1.Quit iTunes.

     

    2.Copy your iTunes folder from your external hard drive to whatever location you desire on your internal hard drive.

     

    3.Open iTunes while holding down the Option key (Mac) or Shift key (Windows).

     

    4.In the resulting dialog, click the Choose Library button.

     

    5.Navigate to the new iTunes folder you just copied and locate the iTunes Library.itl file

     

    6.Click Choose (Mac OS X) or Open (Windows)

     

    7.iTunes will open and your iTunes Library will be restored.

     

    More you can know by visiting this:

    http://www.iphone-android-recovery.com/iphone/iphone-backup-extractor.html

  • by iNZ,

    iNZ iNZ May 15, 2014 2:07 PM in response to Bacheller
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 15, 2014 2:07 PM in response to Bacheller

    This would be the most helpful advice I have found on apple.com

    Thank you for saving me hours of frustration.

  • by Chris CA,

    Chris CA Chris CA May 15, 2014 2:10 PM in response to Bacheller
    Level 9 (79,533 points)
    iPhone
    May 15, 2014 2:10 PM in response to Bacheller

    Bacheller wrote:

     

    Here is what I do when restoring iTunes library from backup:

    That does not restore from a backup.

    It simply opens a new/different iTunes library.

  • by caro999,

    caro999 caro999 Aug 16, 2015 8:57 AM in response to pprof78
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 16, 2015 8:57 AM in response to pprof78

    I would appreciate it if anyone could help me restore my playlists.  Here is my tale of woe:

     

    My computer (a PC) crashed and I had to reinstall the operating system.  I have a back up on an external drive containing all my music and .itl files.  All the music files automatically restored at part of the restore process.  I then installed iTunes, but needed to restore my playlists.   I tried copying all the all the .itl files to iTunes (I have a lot of music and wanted to avoid recopying the entire iTunes directory), but when I tried to select my backed up library .itl file as my new library file, iTunes told me that file was locked and I was not authorized to use it.

     

    Next I figured since I had my playlists on an iPod and an iPhone I could just export them to iTunes.  First I disabled automatic syncing so that iTunes wouldn't kill my playlists.   Then I attached my iPhone to my computer and looked for the playlists on my iPhone so that I could export them to iTunes.   The playlists were nowhere to be seen.  I disconnected my iPhone only to find that all my music except that which I had purchased from iTunes (I have music originally from CDs) was deleted from my iPhone and my iPhone playlists were reduced to only content purchased from iTunes.

     

    Any help would be much appreciated.

  • by Chris CA,

    Chris CA Chris CA Aug 16, 2015 10:12 AM in response to caro999
    Level 9 (79,533 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 16, 2015 10:12 AM in response to caro999

    caro999 wrote:

     

    I would appreciate it if anyone could help me restore my playlists.  Here is my tale of woe:

     

    My computer (a PC) crashed and I had to reinstall the operating system.  I have a back up on an external drive containing all my music and .itl files.

    1. Quit iTunes.
    2. Copy the entire /Music/iTunes/ folder from the backup drive to the internal to /Music/
    3. Start iTunes.

    This is all you need to do.

    I tried copying all the all the .itl files to iTunes (I have a lot of music and wanted to avoid recopying the entire iTunes directory

    So you don’t really want to restore everything?

    You simply want to use the backup as your original file (thereby no longer having a backup)?

  • by caro999,

    caro999 caro999 Aug 16, 2015 12:54 PM in response to Chris CA
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 16, 2015 12:54 PM in response to Chris CA


    Chris, thanks so much for your advice but it didn't work.   I copied the entire Music directory from my backup drive to my computer.   I then started iTunes.  iTunes then prompted me to either Go the iTunes store or Scan for Media.  I then booted my computer and tried again, with the same result.    I scanned for media the last time, which left me without my playlists.   Do you have any other suggestions?  I would really appreciate it.   Thanks in advance.