doodlebug2005
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: I can't play the vast majority of my music from Itunes.  It gives me an (!) and says, The song ??? could not be used because the original file could not be located.  PLEASE help!!!!

I can't play the vast majority of my music from Itunes.  It gives me an and says, The song ??? could not be used because the original file could not be located.  PLEASE help!!!!  It worked fine yesterday PM and now not so much.

Itunes, Windows 7

Posted on Sep 10, 2013 7:00 AM

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doodlebug2005

Q: I can't play the vast majority of my music from Itunes.  It gives me an (!) and says, The song ??? could not be used because ... more

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  • by jeremy_v,

    jeremy_v jeremy_v Sep 12, 2013 1:40 PM in response to doodlebug2005
    Community Specialists
    Sep 12, 2013 1:40 PM in response to doodlebug2005

    Hi doodlebug2005,

     

    Thanks for visiting Apple Support Communities.

     

    See this article for help with locating lost media:

     

    iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408

     

    Best Regards,

     

    Jeremy

  • by BrandonGrew,

    BrandonGrew BrandonGrew Sep 12, 2013 1:47 PM in response to doodlebug2005
    Level 1 (110 points)
    Sep 12, 2013 1:47 PM in response to doodlebug2005

    Delete them all using ctrl + a //right click delete.

     

    Re-add them from the file location.

     

    Best Regards, Brandon.

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Sep 12, 2013 1:56 PM in response to doodlebug2005
    Level 10 (88,293 points)
    Apple TV
    Sep 12, 2013 1:56 PM in response to doodlebug2005

    This happens if the files are no longer where iTunes expects to find them. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the files, or that the drive they live on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout, or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.

     

    Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to get info, then cancel when asked to try to locate the track. Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions.

     

    Alternatively, as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes.

     

    If the files are nowhere to be found on your computer, but exist on a device, see  Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.

     

    While deleting & reimporting works when the media can be found the process will delete user playlists, ratings, play counts, date added information and any other metadata not stored in tags.

     

    tt2