Old podcasts completely deleted from system with no ability to recover them

I have had the same problem. I am furious.

See Why did iTunes 11.1 (126) delete all (SEVERAL HUNDRED) Podcasts.

More recently a new option has been added that automatically deletes podcasts when they have been played. it is turned on by default so you may need to revisit your settings. Check the default settings and those for individual subscriptions.

tt2

Thank you for your reply. I had already figured out this solution for saving future podcasts, but there is still no answer for how to retrieve podcasts that Apple deleted from my computer. They seem to be gone forever. I am furious with Apple for doing this. The other big annoyance with this solution for future podcasts is that I have to reset the default setting for EACH individual podcast. If you subscribe to many different ones, as I do, resetting each and every one takes time. WHY DID APPLE THINK WE WOULD WANT THIS?

I was going to link directly to one of my earlier posts like this, but I've added in just a little more information...

I'm fairly sure the reason for this is a due to a mismatch between options to Keep all episodes in iTunes and Keep all unplayed or some similar option on your device when the new option (introduced in iTunes 11.1) to Sync podcast subscriptions, settings and stations has been enabled. I lost all played episodes of all podcast series that I synced to my devices. 😠

Series that weren't synced were left untouched. iTunes still recorded both my default option and series specific options to Keep all episodes. iTunes doesn't manage my media folders. The deleted episodes were not sent to the recycle bin. Some people have said they found some episodes there so check.

Here is the recovery process, assuming you have a backup of the deleted files...

1. Restore copies of all the deleted podcasts to the Podcasts folders from your backup.

2. Rename the current .itl file with the suffix (BAD), then move it into the Previous iTunes Libraries folder.

3. Restore a copy of the pre-upgrade library from your backup or the Previous iTunes Libraries folder.

4. If necessary, remove the trailing date from the library file restored in step 3.

5. Start iTunes, go to the Podcasts section.

6. Uncheck the option to Sync podcast subscriptions, settings and stations then click Continue. This should prevent a repeat of the deletions.

If the above screen doesn't show go to Edit >Preferences > Store and uncheck Sync podcast subscriptions, settings and stations.

7. On your devices you may also want to change the Episodes to keep to All in Settings > Podcasts and then again with the settings for each subscription in the app.

8. If, like me, you updated a whole bunch of apps before realizing there was a problem, you may find the restored library has multiple broken links to any apps that you updated. Use File > Add Folder to Library and select your Mobile Applications folder. Accept the offer to replace older versions with the files you are adding. iTunes may prompt that certain files cannot be updated because it can't find the file to add. Keep a note of these as it looks like this happens when both the old & new versions would be given the same file name and iTunes unhelpfully erases the file that it is supposed to add. You can delete any remaining broken entries, close iTunes, then reopen and download from iTunes Store > Purchased > Apps > Not on this computer.

If you don't have the episodes to restore then at least visit iTunes > Preferences > Store and Uncheck the option to Sync podcast subscriptions, settings and stations before attempting to redownload any older episodes.

If you've lost episodes that cannot be redownloaded, and you've not done too much with the drive since, then an undelete tool might recover most of them. FreeRecover looks promising, Select the drive, use the options to get file paths and check file integrity, then, presumably, you can restore anything that has been deleted from the podcasts folder that has a good integrity score. The free version of Recuva might also work.

tt2

tt2 covered things pretty well, but I remain frankly astonished that Apple released a software update with an option, selected as default, that would for many people (except people who keep all their podcast episodes synced across all devices – I don't know a single person who does this, but I presume they must exist) delete their data with no easy way to recover it. That is a Grade-A no-no.

I know Apple's trend is to move towards users keeping virtually nothing on their system, and downloading everything as required, but you can count me out. Things get deleted, copyright owners change, companies go bankrupt. I want my own copies, as I always have done.

Indeed, I am still staggered by that one. 😮

tt2

I kept my podcasts synced across my different devices for a very short time. I was shocked to find that the update did in fact delete my saved podcasts across all devices, so I have lost many podcasts forever on all computers. It will be a long time before I'll be able to forgive Apple for this plundering of my computer contents--if I ever will.

Apple don't monitor these boards for feedback or bug reports. You could report the problem via iTunes Feedback or sign up for a free Apple Developer Connection account and make use of Apple Bug Reporter.

tt2

I have been through a similar misfortune and I am very angry about this. Upon moving my iTunes library to a new PC I found that my library size was alarmingly smaller than what I remembered. By roughly a terabyte smaller. Upon closer inspection I found that iTunes, after any update (or at least major updates, can't be more accurate) iTunes resets my preferences (changing things like encoding from high bit-rate mp3 to AAC) WITHOUT my knowledge. Most important is that it changes podcast settings to Delete Automatically 24 hours After Listening. I actually knew about this "feature" and would always go in and change it after every update. But I must have missed at least one, or, as I suspect, the settings don't "stick" so that even after I change it iTunes changed back.

Consequently I have lost a good decades' worth of podcasts. I am through with iTunes and through with Apple. I plan to find another podcast/music manager and will try to rebuild my library, but as moongate stated, much of it is just gone forever.

TT2: I did submit to the Feedback. I feel that at a corporate level Apple does not care about podcasts and that audience because they don't make money from it. I will be curious to see if I get anything other than a canned response. Further, if anyone has submitted to the Bug Reporter I would love to hear how that went.

Erik