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How to reset iTunes Match

Hi everyone,


Just a new thread to share with you how I did reset iTunes Match, this can be useful in some cases, like mine was.


This allow you to sync again your entire iTunes library with iTunes Match like if it was the very first time you activate iTunes Match.


So, here it is :



1. Close iTunes

2. Rename your iTunes folder into "iTunes2" instead of "iTunes"

3. Open iTunes, it will create a brand new "iTunes" folder with a brand new iTunes library (.itl file). Your localiTunes library should be empty.

4. Activate iTunes Match, let sync. It will show you all your previously synced tracks available to download.

5. Delete all these tracks from iCloud (select all > delete > yes when asked)

6. Wait a few minutes to half an hour

7. Update / Sync iTunes Match again, it should finally show you that 0 music is synced with iTunes Match,which is what we wanted ! If still not "0 music", wait more and update iTunes Match again.

8. Close iTunes

9. Delete the new "iTunes" folder

10. Rename your old "iTunes2" folder into "iTunes"

11. Open iTunes, you should see your iTunes library intact.

12. Activate iTunes Match, let sync as long as needed (in my case I let sync all night long, it was all done the next morning. I have 8400 tracks).

13. All done !!!

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Nov 16, 2013 10:22 AM

Reply
22 replies

May 20, 2014 4:34 PM in response to Patrick Parronchi

Same having the same problem, it's like it remembers my old library. I even canceled my subscription, waited over 90 days hopeing it would automatically delete from server if left idol long enough. This is ridiculous there should be a reset button in your itunes account settings, where it deletes everything from itunes match!!

Frustrating hope there is a solution soon!

Jul 14, 2014 11:03 PM in response to Kiwi34

This works but when you delete songs, you can only delete 999 at a time, and select "Update iTunes Match" under the Store menu each time. If you try to delete more than that, it will not work.


Hope this helps, it worked for me after iTunes Match ruined my playlists.


A final step is to disable iTunes Match and request a refund until Apple fixes the service and it works as advertised. It seems that Apple has abandoned iTunes Match because none of the issues are getting fixed. Sad and frustrating.

Aug 9, 2014 8:15 PM in response to Michael Allbritton

I have a quick question about this solution. I have done this, created a new library, but when I enabled iTunes Match it gave me the same problems I have been having.


Quick historical rundown of my situation: Had match for a year but did not renew. Decided I wanted to renew about six months later. Did so, and it jacked up my library like nobodies business. More than 50% of my library was mislabeled. Click on a Beatles song, you get P!nk, click on an Adele song, you get Jesus Christ Superstar. (And don't even get me started on the album covers. This added another layer of fun. Click on a Maroon 5 song, a Marilyn Manson song plays while the cover of Bea Arthur on Broadway is displayed.) Then you would click on a song every now and again and it would disappear and another song from another spot in the library would start playing. My iTunes was dropping acid is basically what I'm getting at.


So I did some research and finally figured out I should try and nuke it. Move the library, start a new one, re download purchases, the whole tamale. This worked....until I turned on Match again. At this point my library is just purchased music. (The CD stuff is sitting elsewhere waiting to be added manually. I'm not taking any chances here.) I fire up Match, purchased songs disappear (despite me just having them there and playing them just moment before) and it's like my iTunes fell off the wagon and is getting high in the back room again. Am I missing something? I haven't tried the wait and see option. (Nuking the library, downloading purchases, then patiently waiting a half and hour or so staring at my computer questioning my life choices, THEN turning on Match.) Would that help? (Truth be told I'm doing that now, waiting, so chances are I'll have my answer to THAT particular question before you fine folks can chime in. But don't let that stop you, as I'm sure there are others who may be suffering from drug addled iTunes as well that may need the answer just as much as I do.)


Anyway, sorry for the Dickensian length. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Aug 10, 2014 8:15 AM in response to nrb727

Update on my situation....So I waited and it "helped" but I'm still a ways away from golden. So by waiting, and restarting my iMac as a precaution, things aren't as bad. Basically my purchased music is good now. No more disappearing tracks. But now some of my purchased albums have duplicates that are shown as "in the cloud." And those duplicates are not the songs they say they are. And now there is a whole bunch of music that has been added back in but again, some of it isn't what it says it is. (Again, clicking Eminem gets you Into the Woods. Album art seems to sort of fixed. Haven't checked overall though.)


Any thoughts?

Aug 11, 2014 8:15 AM in response to Eric Garcia3

I haven't found a definitive answer just yet. Getting iTunes to "Create a New Library" helped fix the purchased music issue. But I still can't turn on Match without my iTunes going into a fever dream. It's effecting my imported music as well. Arguably more so. In fact, it seems Match effected the files themselves. I think that is why I'm having problems. All my other devices have Match turned off. So I have no idea why it's pulling in music from my old library despite it being housed elsewhere on the computer. Not to mention it doesn't pull it all, just some. Very odd. I'm about to pull in a Genius....

Aug 11, 2014 9:04 AM in response to nrb727

Yep - I'm experiencing the exact same thing. I've done all the steps you and the others described and match still overwrites and completely screws up my metadata. I contacted Apple Care and got hooked up with an iTunes Senior Advisor who's been great and we've been working on this for a little over a month - however, the issue still persists. The advisor has reset/nuked my iTunes Match results 2x as of today and match still "remembers" my results and creates the havoc you've been describing. My issue has been escalated to the engineer level and to a content manager and I haven't heard back as of yet regarding what the next step is or whats been found if anything.

Dec 24, 2014 1:33 AM in response to Kiwi34

I initially got an error after following the description. iTunes was giving me an error 1040 constantly.

When I decided to repeat the proces as described and left my itunes for ~4 hours sitting in in the new library with the songs deleted and than moved forward completing the proces it worked like a charm!


Thanks!!!! Great work around!

Jan 29, 2015 1:23 AM in response to Kiwi34

My issues with iTunes match... I allowed for my subscription to expire so it would reset. I assumed everything would (as notified) disappear after 30 days. When I resubscribed... all the bad stuff came back and rearranged by iTunes library after I had already corrected the mistakes. I contact apple support which would only give me support based on my new iPhone purchase, not my purchase on match. I switch the conversation to iTunes match on all my devices. I have been in conversation within the last two weeks with a tech support. There was an attempt by an engineer to reset my iTunes match as new. Everything seem to have worked but then it did not. I made several attempts to contact apple again before they gave me a refund. This service is broken. Ask for your money back if you need to. Apple should give better support for services they sell. The support pages only cover the obvious.

How to reset iTunes Match

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