klrosso
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: I have an exclamation point next to a song and cannot retrieve, what do I do?

In my music library, I now have an exclamation mark next to many of the songs and cannot retrieve, how to I get this music back that I purchased?

Windows 7

Posted on Mar 9, 2014 9:16 AM

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klrosso

Q: I have an exclamation point next to a song and cannot retrieve, what do I do?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by ed2345,

    ed2345 ed2345 Mar 9, 2014 9:46 AM in response to klrosso
    Level 7 (24,993 points)
    Mar 9, 2014 9:46 AM in response to klrosso

    KL Rosso,

     

    Usually that happens if the song file, or one of its containing folders, was moved, deleted, or renamed.  If you remember doing something like that, put it back the way it was.

     

    If not, conduct a search on your computer for the song file(s).  Look in the Recycle bin too.

     

    Or, if you purchased from an online store that allows cloud-based re-downloads, such as the iTuines Store or Amazon MP3, go back to that store and get a new copy.

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Mar 9, 2014 5:19 PM in response to klrosso
    Level 10 (88,143 points)
    Apple TV
    Mar 9, 2014 5:19 PM in response to klrosso

    The "missing file" error happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, or that the drive it lives 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.

     

    If another application like Windows Media Player has moved/renamed the files then the chances are that subtle differences in naming strategies will make it hard to restore the media to the precise path that iTunes is expecting. In such cases, as long as the missing files can be found somewhere, you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes. See this post for an explanation of how it works.

     

    If you have to resort to trying to pull back the library from your iPod see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.

     

     

     

     

    Note also that if iTunes has an entry for a song, even if that entry is broken, then it won't offer that track for download since it "thinks" you already have it. If you can't find the original files or recover them from a device, then you may need to delete the broken entries, close iTunes and reopen before you can access the past purchases.

     

     


    tt2

  • by blackkueen,

    blackkueen blackkueen Mar 9, 2014 5:26 PM in response to klrosso
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 9, 2014 5:26 PM in response to klrosso

    it means the file cannot be located; it may have been moved or deleted. For this issue, see the following article:

     

    iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads

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

     

    Alternatively, if your media was downloaded from the iTunes Store, you may be able to download it again free of charge:

     

    Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519

     

    hope this helps