Remove missing files

Just select the items you want to remove and press Delete on your keyboard.

In the future, don't delete things from the iTunes Media folder; delete them from iTunes itself. Otherwise iTunes will expect all the files you deleted to still be there, and instead will tell you that a bunch of files are missing. Delete items in iTunes and it will also delete the files form the iTunes Media folder accordingly and automatically.

That's not practical.

I sync my music folder with my PC, so not all my music is going to be managed in iTunes on my Macbook. If iTunes is incapable of handling external changes made to the music folder, then it really is useless to me.

iTunes does not operate in that any changes made to the "iTunes" folder will be reflected in your iTunes library. Your iTunes library will only be modified if you go through iTunes first, via "Add to Library".

This is what iCloud is for. Assuming most or all of your content is purchased from iTunes, this solution will work well. If you have a good deal of ripped or otherwise nonpurchased content, then you should use iTunes Match or Home Sharing, neither of which I have experimented with much. You'll have to ask someone else for help with those.

Also, how would I even identify the missing entries in the first place? iTunes doesn't exactly make it easy to group all those files together for easy removal.

True. No quick way to delete all the problem files to my knowledge. I remember I encountered that problem once and I had to go through my entire library by hand and delete the "file missing" items. That was a while ago, and there may be a better solution now, but again, none fo my knowlege.

Does no one use more than 1 computer these days?

Of course we do. But the concept of keeping two iTunes libraries in sync by means of the iTunes directory is something that Apple either hasn't paid much attention to, or believes is an inferior solution to iCloud or Home Sharing for one reason or another. To be honest, linking two iTunes libraries up to the same iTunes directory in order to keep them in sync seems like something Apple would never encourage.

To answer your question:

Go to:

http://jmetx.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/removing-dead-links-from-itunes/

It's and old solution but it still works great!

I use this on both my PCs and Macs.

It will be great if all programs will remove orphan files on command or at opening or closing, for photos and documents too.

Let me know how it works out for you.

🙂

Doing the playlist things works a charm, Thanks Very much saved me loads of time and effort

Find your iTunes folder. Locate and delete "iTunes Library.itl" and "iTunes Music Library.xml." Reboot. Open iTunes and it will create a new Library for you with only the files it can find.:-)

You may also need to "Add to Library" then select to the "iTunes Media" folder to rescan your library. Have seen it work both ways.

Found this post and it worked for me wonderfully.

http://paulmayne.org/blog/2007/11/how-to-remove-broken-or-dead-tracks-from-itune s/

@CarlosPCMac, you are brilliant! Or at least the original creator of this solution is, to give credit where credit is due. Right?! Still, thanks a million for sharing a relatively simple solution to an old and infinitely annoying problem with iTunes. Worked like a charm! And for once, I didn't have to download iffy third party applications and bloat my MBP with addtl apps I don't use on a regular basis. Better yet, I didn't have to mess with scripts and codes, which I hate with a passion.

http://jmetx.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/removing-dead-links-from-itunes/

To everyone out there, TRY THIS OUT! It WORKS!

Here is the Itunes script! Is the best option!!

https://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/scriptcount.php?sortBy=Name&%2520op=y

Regards!