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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

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Question marked as Best reply

Apr 2, 2013 9:02 AM in response to Sarah-1997

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

Apr 6, 2013 2:46 PM in response to turingtest2

Thank you Sarah-1997 for posting this question and turingtest2 for answering this question. I was about to use the previous backup .itl file when I decided to look for the .tmp file. I found the most recent .tmp file (iT 3.tmp) and change that to iTunes Library.itl and it worked like a charm. Don't know why it was doing this and I'm glad I found this thread because it gave me a solution to my problem and a reason why (AVG). Thank you guys again! 🙂

Apr 6, 2013 4:57 PM in response to turingtest2

Thanks, TT2! This worked for me. My AVG is updated, so hopefully this should not be a problem. I don't even know if I ran AVG recently (it's not my real-time AV package, I use MS Security Essentials for that role). Still, I restored this after making a mistake in the file I chose. I renamed the iTunes Music library.xml file by mistake, but even after that mistake the solution above seems to have fixed everything. iTunes is incredibly unfriendly. So many sync options are NOT intuitive, counter to the Fan Boy propaganda.

Apr 6, 2013 5:45 PM in response to Carol Liu

Carol Liu wrote:


Hi tt2, I now have a new problem that has been popping up since switching to the tmp file and the error message says "The iTunes Library file cannot be saved. You do not have enough access privileges for this operation." But I am the admin so I don't know why this is popping up. Any suggestions?


Right-click on your main iTunes folder and click Properties, then go to the Security tab and click Advanced. If necessary grant your account and SYSTEM full control of this folder, subfolders and files, then tick the option to replace permissions on child objects which will repair permissions throughout the library. This is the XP dialog but Windows 7 shouldn't be too different.


If it won't let you change the permissions use the Owner tab to take ownership from an account with administrator privileges.


User uploaded file


tt2

Apr 8, 2013 1:54 PM in response to turingtest2

Thanks, that helped me too! Third time it's happened in a week or so...it's getting reeeeally old. The .tmp file saved me though; otherwise I was going to use one of the previous itunes libraries, and the most recent one (apparently they don't update regularly...) was from September. Which would have sucked. Luckily, I had a .tmp file from this morning (when everything was fine). Thanks!

All the content from my iTunes library has disappeared

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