andersfromaabybro
Level 1 (4 points)

Q: iTunes 12.2.0 have deleted all of my playlists and most songs...

I just upgraded to iTunes 12.2.0. and ALL of my playlists and most of my songs are now gone! I have tried to restore my previous iTunes library by Timemachine, but that did not help. I still have all of my music and playlists on my iPhone. What to do???

Posted on Jul 5, 2015 8:18 AM

by richard grant,Solvedanswer
richard grant richard grant
Level 3 (695 points)
A:

Okay, try not to panic. There are two things to try.

 

First, you should try to turn off iTunes in the Cloud, which I think requires going into Store > Account Info and selecting "Deauthorize This Computer" or something like that. (I can't check because I've got it turned off.)

 

Now quit iTunes. Look in the folder Music > iTunes > Previous iTunes Libraries. Hopefully, there is at least one document in there with the file extension .itl and a date *prior* to when you updated to to 12.2. If you find such a thing, then do this:

 

Back in the main iTunes folder, rename the files iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Music Library.xml (just add "corrupted" to the beginning of the file name, or something like that). Now rename the previous version to iTunes Library.itl, drag it into the main iTunes folder, and restart the iTunes app. (The XML file should regenerate automatically.) If all goes well, you should be looking at a version of your iTunes with all your playlists and songs restored. If you are given the option to use iTunes in the Cloud, just say No -- this seems to be where these problems are coming from.

 

If you can't find such a file, then you can look for one in TimeMachine -- just be sure the backup was made prior to upgrading to 12.2. Again, bring this into the iTunes folder, replacing the version that's been corrupted. I really do hope this works!

 

I hope Apple has taken note of this nightmare and is working on a fix.

Posted on Jul 5, 2015 10:01 AM

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andersfromaabybro

Q: iTunes 12.2.0 have deleted all of my playlists and most songs...

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  • by JaredWignall,

    JaredWignall JaredWignall Jul 14, 2015 3:59 PM in response to richard grant
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Video
    Jul 14, 2015 3:59 PM in response to richard grant

    ****.... My time machine doesn't work. It just basically died so it looks like I'm out of luck for that. I don't know what happened, but ever since the new update, everything has gone wrong. I plugged my phone in to sync with some new stuff I got, and all of the sudden everything went wrong. I did somehow get my albums back but my playlists are gone. I don't know how long it took building my various playlists with all the songs. And I tried finding the iTunes Library.itl like you said to look for in previous iTunes Libraries, but it's empty. I only have the one I listed as corrupt as it is. Is there away to get back the old iTunes Library since I can't access my time machine or is it gone for good? Please help me.

  • by gatawoman,

    gatawoman gatawoman Jul 14, 2015 4:55 PM in response to TynecastleScot8
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 14, 2015 4:55 PM in response to TynecastleScot8

    This was so helpful! I was as frustrated as everyone else. Thanks for saving me a phone cal!

  • by davidfromhebden bridge,

    davidfromhebden bridge davidfromhebden bridge Jul 15, 2015 1:34 PM in response to richard grant
    Level 1 (10 points)
    iPad
    Jul 15, 2015 1:34 PM in response to richard grant

    Thanks Richard this worked for me.  We shouldn't have to do this stuff though.  Apple should be able to get it right first time.  Bill Gates must be turning in his grave!

  • by James Smutek,

    James Smutek James Smutek Jul 15, 2015 6:31 PM in response to davidfromhebden bridge
    Level 1 (145 points)
    Jul 15, 2015 6:31 PM in response to davidfromhebden bridge

    davidfromhebden bridge wrote:

     

    Apple should be able to get it right first time.  Bill Gates must be turning in his grave!

    Perfect world and all that, but I agree. FWIW, Bill Gates is the Microsoft guy and he's not dead.

     

    This fix worked for me as well. Thanks, Richard.

     

    My library is stored on an external drive and includes rips from albums, CD's. DVD's and so on, in addition to content purchased from Apple. When I launched iTunes this evening home sharing had been turned off and my iTunes library location had been reset to the default.

     

    The library location usually resets when I launch iTunes without the external drive plugged in (for example I'm out and about with my laptop and launch itunes to stream radio), but once I get home, plug in the external, and relaunch iTunes everything sorts itself out. That wasn't the case this evening. 

     

    Thankfully, everything seems to be back to normal now.

  • by Nossramo,

    Nossramo Nossramo Jul 15, 2015 6:36 PM in response to andersfromaabybro
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 15, 2015 6:36 PM in response to andersfromaabybro

    Sad but true....

    Apple Music.jpg

  • by davidfromhebden bridge,

    davidfromhebden bridge davidfromhebden bridge Jul 16, 2015 4:59 AM in response to James Smutek
    Level 1 (10 points)
    iPad
    Jul 16, 2015 4:59 AM in response to James Smutek

    It was very late, I'd spent several hours on the fix, I was very tired and I was very annoyed with Apple.  I know Steve Jobs is the dead guy who wouldn't stand for this poor service but I only realised what I'd written when I finally got to bed!

  • by Stabby_McKnife,

    Stabby_McKnife Stabby_McKnife Jul 16, 2015 9:51 PM in response to richard grant
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 16, 2015 9:51 PM in response to richard grant

    The problem I'm having - I think - is a little different.

     

    iTunes shows my ripped music. This music will play.

     

    But - after updating - the files are now missing from my hard drive. I can't find them - but the music will still play. It's so weird. My iTunes media folder only shows one album (which i ripped today). iTunes itself is showing hundreds of albums, that it can play. When I try a search iTunes it can't find it. There are no .m4a files anywhere, and of course, Get Info does not show a location.

     

    I tried the method of older libraries and it didn't solve it. Any thoughts on what is going on?

     

    Using 12.2.1.16 and the format is.m4a. I don't want to consolidate music in the case it creates duplicate files -- because we're talking m4a and at least a hundred different artists and whole discographies, so...I don't want to double the GB's (if that is what consolidating in fact does).

     

    Going to take a xanax now & hope someone can help.

  • by jdmel,

    jdmel jdmel Jul 16, 2015 11:50 PM in response to richard grant
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 16, 2015 11:50 PM in response to richard grant

    I was at first so furious, because my library of thousands was ALL mixed (wrong song titles with wrong artists on the wrong song on EVERY song) and then I did as you described, and then I was so relieved because all my music was organized again! But now I realize half of my songs are gone and all my playlists too. I hate Apple so much right now. I really do. I am so loyal, all my products are Apple, but WHY do they eff my music library like this?

  • by TarzanWannaBe,

    TarzanWannaBe TarzanWannaBe Jul 17, 2015 11:10 AM in response to richard grant
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 17, 2015 11:10 AM in response to richard grant

    Blessings to you Richard Grant.

  • by richard grant,

    richard grant richard grant Jul 17, 2015 3:16 PM in response to jdmel
    Level 3 (695 points)
    Jul 17, 2015 3:16 PM in response to jdmel

    This is such a royal mess.

     

    jdmel, do the actual music files for all those missing songs still appear on your hard drive anywhere? (The logical place would be in Music > iTunes > iTunes Media > Music ... but at this stage, who knows?) I ask because at one point, a few years ago, I started noticing that certain tracks were missing, and I ended up dragging the entire Music folder into iTunes, which recovered and re-imported, as I recall, hundreds of songs that had mysteriously been deleted from the database. Crude but effective.

  • by richard grant,

    richard grant richard grant Jul 17, 2015 3:35 PM in response to Stabby_McKnife
    Level 3 (695 points)
    Jul 17, 2015 3:35 PM in response to Stabby_McKnife

    Stabby, this sounds very worrisome. I don't know exactly what the "consolidate" feature does, so you're probably wise to be cautious about this until you've done some further research.

     

    From what you've said, I guess you've tried searching (for example with Spotlight) for some of the missing tracks by name, to see if they're still around somewhere?

     

    One thing that occurs to me is that if you can still play the songs within iTunes, you might be able to do other things as well -- for example, try selecting a song and then dragging it from the iTunes window onto the desktop or into a folder. If it works, this should have the effect of making a duplicate of the file and writing it to the new location. Then you can drag this file **back** into iTunes and it should be imported in the usual way, only now you can see it again. (And you can safely delete the invisible mystery track you started with.)

     

    I know this is the crudest process imaginable. But I think it's what I would do at this point -- I mean, apart from panic and open a wine bottle and the other customary iTunes disaster steps.

  • by richard grant,

    richard grant richard grant Jul 17, 2015 3:52 PM in response to JaredWignall
    Level 3 (695 points)
    Jul 17, 2015 3:52 PM in response to JaredWignall

    Jared, have you found any answers? This sounds like a nightmare. Unless some pro chimes in with a solution, I'd suggest setting up a call or an online chat with Apple Support.

     

    As an interim, if you haven't installed the latest iTunes update (from just a couple of days ago) you might start with that. Now you've only got the one copy of iTunes Library.itl, right -- the one you marked as corrupt? Make a copy of that, in case it can be repaired somehow, and rename one of the copies with the original file name, so the new iTunes will have a library to open. Maybe Apple has done something wonderful and this will fix the problem, but I'm guessing that's not the case, unfortunately. This is way beyond my level of knowledge.

  • by RTWRide,

    RTWRide RTWRide Jul 18, 2015 12:14 AM in response to richard grant
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 18, 2015 12:14 AM in response to richard grant

    I was thinking I was missing some songs. But I don't think I was missing any at all, just that the song titles, artist name, and album names have been jumbled up in some songs since the 12.2 upgrade.

     

    The reason why I think this is the case is this: I have some songs in other languages. I put the language in the song Comment field, as well as the sub genre of those of music. I noticed for example, that when I pull up my bachata playlist, one of Dido's songs is showing up. The title, artist, and album are all Dido. But the Comments still had the "Spanish; Bachata", which are the qualifiers for this playlist. When I play the song, it is one of my "missing" songs from Romeo Santos.

     

    I followed Richard Grant's advice and now my library looks as it was before. I'm not sure I'll be turning on Music again anytime soon, though.

  • by Raineydaygirl,

    Raineydaygirl Raineydaygirl Jul 18, 2015 7:43 AM in response to richard grant
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 18, 2015 7:43 AM in response to richard grant

    You are awesome!! Thanks so much.

  • by Timmsy,

    Timmsy Timmsy Jul 18, 2015 5:08 PM in response to richard grant
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Jul 18, 2015 5:08 PM in response to richard grant

    Worked a treat, thanks heaps.

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