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All the content from my iTunes library has disappeared

The other day I went onto iTunes and everything had disappeared from it except for the music in the Cloud. All the music is still intact in the folders on my computer and when I double click any song it reappears on iTunes but without any information like number of plays, and I obviously don't want to do this manually for every song as I have nearly two thousand. I synced my iPod with iTunes again but no message came up and the music is still on my iPod, as if it is only 'hiding' on iTunes. I'm not sure if it's something to do with the fact i got a new iPod a few days ago, but iTunes worked perfectly when I first got it so I'm confused about what's happened.

iPod touch

Posted on Apr 2, 2013 8:54 AM

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Posted on Apr 2, 2013 9:02 AM

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. Note that in iTunes 11 an "empty" library may show your past purchases with links to stream or download them.


In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these and copy 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.


User uploaded file


Alternatively, depending on exactly when and why the library went missing, there may be a more recent .tmp file in the main iTunes folder that can be copied and renamed as iTunes Library.itl to restore the library to an earlier state. Look for a recent .tmp file that is similar in size to the .itl files in the Previous iTunes Libraries folder. If it has happened repeatedly you may want the earliest such file generated since the last iTunes upgrade.


If applicable, 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!


Should you be in the unfortunate position where you are no longer able to access your original library, or a backup of it, then see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.


I've noticed more of these missing library posts of late and a common factor to most since I started asking is AVG Anti-Virus. It seems in some cases it might be at least part of the reason why the library file disappears. Try excluding the iTunes folder from any AV scanning process.


tt2

184 replies

Apr 13, 2013 9:32 AM in response to turingtest2

I've had iTunes for years. My library was wiped out when I upgraded to version 11. The only other backup .itl file I have is from December of last year. I got a new laptop and used Sharepod to transfer everything from my iPod to the laptop. That seemed to work fine until a few weeks ago when I upgraded to version 11 and my library vanished when I rebooted the next day.


All of my music appears to be on my hard drive. I'm thinking maybe I should just Import Folders and rebuild the library then manually rebuild the Playlists?

Apr 13, 2013 7:04 PM in response to turingtest2

Thanks so much for help. I did remove AVG and install mentioned antivirus. After I re-located all the missing files, deleted duplicates, etc, and rebuilt my playlists, upon opening, iTunes reverted to clean version with nothing. I hoped I could depress SHIFT + iTunes and choose previous library, but only TWO previous libraries are displayed. Neither was my most recent..Luckily, I did burn to DVD my favorite mp3s before it messed up, so thanks for the advice! I suspect something is wrong with my computer because this shouldn't be as difficult as this. THanks for your time!

Apr 15, 2013 1:02 PM in response to Sarah-1997

I am having the same problem. It happened for the first time two weeks ago. Fortunately I had a backup of everything so I ended up deleting my entire music library and recovering it from my backup. Everything was fine then.


Today, I started up iTunes and the same thing happened again. This time I just recovered the iTunes Library, Genius and Extras file. When I restarted ITunes, I watched those files get deleted and replaced with much smaller files of the same name. All my music is intact but those files get clobbered. I recovered them again and again. I read this entire post. I deleted AVG from my computer, even went to the extent of deleting every AVG entry in my registry becuase the AVG uninstall leaves a lot of stuff behind. Rebooted, no AVG, started iTunes, same thing.


I am at a lost. I am going to wait for the next iTunes upgrade I guess.

Apr 15, 2013 1:15 PM in response to steve4425

steve4425 wrote:


I hoped I could depress SHIFT + iTunes and choose previous library, but only TWO previous libraries are displayed. Neither was my most recent...


If you use the SHIFT-start-iTunes method you'll connect to the original backup file in the wrong location. Not the end of the world, but you get a redundant set of artwork folders, a library that's hard to move later, and if your library vanishes again you've lost the backup.


Please copy the most recent .itl file into the main iTunes folder and then rename the current and backup files so that the backup replaces the current. You can use File, Add folder to Library, <Media Folder> to import your recent additions.


tt2

Apr 15, 2013 1:39 PM in response to kram53

AVG has certainly been the prime culprit, and for many removing AVG has fixed things. Other possibilities are any process that co-opts the filing system, AV, anti-malware, automatic backup etc. And of course if iTunes has some kind of problem with the files you pull back it can create a new blank library without issuing an error message.


tt2

Apr 15, 2013 1:45 PM in response to Sarah-1997

Well that was hard to tell what was going on but the one process that popped up was APSDaemon.


Some other interesting notes:


In the other thread on this subject, a poster mentioned that the iTunes library files were in the Recycle Bin. They are, sort of. The Genius and Extras library files are there and are intact, i.e. same size. But the Music Library file is not there. My music library file size is 13454 kb. The one in the Recycle Bin is 32 kb. The sentinel file which was 1 kb is 4 kb in the Recycle Bin.


Don't know what this all means but there you go.

Apr 15, 2013 1:55 PM in response to Sarah-1997

Next test is to recover from my backup two weeks ago which fixed this problem last week. This should address your last concern. I let you know what happens.



OK. That worked and I think I know why. In my backup from two weeks ago there was another file named iTunes.Library.itl. It was not in my latest backup. So I think AVG identified it as a problem and deleted it. That is my guess.

All the content from my iTunes library has disappeared

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