iTunes Can't Find Files That Somehow Had the Track Number Removed from the File Name

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Level 1

6 points

iTunes Can't Find Files That Somehow Had the Track Number Removed from the File Name

I have recently moved my library to a new computer. The computer is a new 27-inch retina iMac with high specs. I manually copied my library files to the new computer and told the computer where to find the library after opening iTunes for the first time. It seemed to go okay, but I have realized over three-thousand songs are registered as missing (out of a total of 11,351 items in the library).

I tried telling iTunes were to find the files by playing a song and locating the file manually. iTunes asks "Would you like iTunes to use the location of "song file x" to find other missing files in your library?" I tell iTunes yes, and click "Find Files." iTunes seems to make an attempt but quickly returns the message "iTunes was not able to locate any of 3,xxx missing files."

Upon some investigation, it appears that all the songs that are missing have one thing in common. If I go to "Get Info" on a missing song, tell iTunes not to find the missing file, and look at the old unaltered info under the "File" tab, the location path reveals a file name with a two-digit track number heading for the file; but looking at all the files in Finder, the track numbers are not present in any of the file names. For example, iTunes is looking for a file called "03 Time" in the correct location, but the actual file is just called "Time."

I am not sure how this happened. I did notice that in the Preferences I had "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" checked. I have since unchecked this setting for now.

I can manually correct this issue for one song, but iTunes seems unable to correct this for other files on its own. I'm not sure what I can do. I would like a solution that does not erase my library's ratings, playlists, and play counts. (And obviously, I'd rather not spend ages manually finding one-at-a-time each of the 3,000+ files.)

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2), Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015

Posted on Jan 16, 2016 2:09 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 16, 2016 3:23 PM in response to DJMcG

Do you have access to your old computer, with its iTunes library intact? Also, when you transferred your iTunes data, did you copy your entire iTunes folder (in one piece) from your old computer to the new iMac?

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Answer 2

DJMcG Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 16, 2016 4:54 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Yes, I still have access to my old computer and library and media files.

And yes, I did move the iTunes data in one piece. However, I used to store my library files (.itl file, .xml file, Album Artwork, etc.) on the old computer, and the media files (actual music and video files) on an external hard drive. I now have all files together in one folder on the new computer.

Also, the old computer was an older Intel Core Duo iMac running OS 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) and iTunes 11.4. The old computer would frequently stall or crash iTunes if it was connected to the internet and tried to use some the internet functions of iTunes, such as auto-downloads or syncing the library through iTunes match. After I first subscribed to iTunes Match a couple months ago, iTunes on the old iMac became almost unusable. I've just used my iPhone for music since then.

When I moved the old library files, I moved everything to the external hard drive, then copied the files to Macintosh HD > Users > Dylan > Music > iTunes on the new iMac. I opened iTunes for the first time holding the option key, then selected the library file and the new "iTunes Music" folder. iTunes then ran for maybe an hour synchronizing the library.

The new computer is totally up-to-date.

Now that you've asked, I decided to boot up the old computer. I haven't done that in a while. I kind of just want to be done with the machine but know better than to get rid of it before everything on the new machine is in order. It appears the library on the old computer has the same issue. It might not be related, but I wonder if when the computer started trying to match my library through iTunes Match, at some point something went wrong and my file names went out of sync. Each song that has the wrong file name also failed to match through iTunes Match.

I have also noticed I do have a folder "Previous iTunes Libraries" which has many older .itl files of my library. Most look years old, but three are of 2016. I don't know if that will help or not.

By the way, I subscribe to and use both iTunes Match and Apple Music.

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Answer 3

DJMcG Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 16, 2016 5:23 PM in response to DJMcG

Also, I don't know if this is useful information or not, but this is what my iTunes folder(s) looks like.

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Answer 4

Jan 16, 2016 7:26 PM in response to DJMcG

This is somewhat difficult to figure out, without being able to check some other things... From the screenshots, it looks like you have both an iTunes Media folder and an iTunes Music folder. And it looks like your iTunes Music folder has most of your content. iTunes Media is the folder currently used by default in iTunes. iTunes Music was the folder used many years ago. When it changed, iTunes asked if you want to keep using iTunes Music or have iTunes reorganize your media files into the iTunes Media folder. The fact that you have both, AND that you also stored files on an external drive, may have caused this issue.

Open iTunes preferences Advanced pane, and look at the location setting for the iTunes Media folder. What does it say there currently, for the path?

However, I used to store my library files (.itl file, .xml file, Album Artwork, etc.) on the old computer, and the media files (actual music and video files) on an external hard drive. I now have all files together in one folder on the new computer.

How did you move the media files from the external drive so that they are "together in one folder" (which I assume is your iTunes folder)? And was that done on the old Mac before you transferred the iTunes folder to the new Mac, or on the new Mac after you transferred the iTunes folder?

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Answer 5

DJMcG Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 16, 2016 8:24 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Here is the "Advanced" pane in the iTunes Preferences.

It says the iTunes Media folder location is /Users/Dylan/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media.

When I moved the data to the new computer, the "iTunes" folder (with the library files) was separate from the "iTunes Music" folder (with the actual music files). First I copied the "iTunes" folder to the external hard drive. (The "iTunes Music" folder was already on the external hard drive.) Then I copied the "iTunes" folder to the new computer in my "Music" folder. Next I copied the "iTunes Music" folder into the "iTunes" folder (that I just copied) on the new computer. Finally, I launched iTunes (while holding the option key) and located the files in their new location on the new computer.

The computer spent around an hour processing the library. Then I signed in with my Apple ID and it synchronized with my iTunes Store, iTunes Match, and Apple Music info. That is basically where I'm at now. I did this about a week ago. I only noticed the missing files today (Jan. 16, 2016).

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Answer 6

Jan 16, 2016 11:44 PM in response to DJMcG

That's a good understandable summary. I think the problem was using Finder to copy the iTunes Music folder into the iTunes folder (on the new Mac). When you used the Option key start of iTunes on the new Mac, and selected the iTunes library (that you copied from the old Mac), that iTunes library was expecting to find all (or at least some) of its media files on the external drive (because that's where those media files were stored the last time the iTunes library was used on the old Mac). That's why there are 3000+ songs that cannot be found by iTunes. And it may also explain why those song files do not have the track number before the song file name. When using the old iTunes Music folder structure, iTunes may not have used the track number as part of song file name.

Do you still have the external drive you used, with the iTunes Music folder still present? If you do, I can make a suggestion on a way to fix this problem. First, with iTunes NOT running, connect the external drive to the new Mac. It needs to be named exactly like it was when connected to your old Mac, with the iTunes Music folder located at the same place. Launch iTunes. Check to see if the iTunes library is now able to locate the 3000+ missing song files. If that works, you can continue. If the songs are still shown as missing, you'll have to try something else; please post back.

In the screenshot, it shows the iTunes Media located at the default location. That's good, don't change it. You should checkmark BOTH Keep iTunes Media folder organized AND Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library. On your new Mac, I'm hoping you have plenty of internal drive free space. Your iTunes Music folder's content (some or all) will temporarily be duplicated on the internal drive.

The next step is to tell iTunes to Consolidate its media files into the designated iTunes Media folder, from wherever they are currently located. (This is how you should have copied the files stored in the external drive iTunes Music folder onto the new Mac's drive.) From the iTunes menu bar, File -> Library -> Organize Library -> Consolidate files (checkmark box). It's possible that you will also have a second checkbox Reorganize files in the folder "iTunes Media" available (because you had the keep organized option unchecked in preferences). If that option is not greyed out, also checkmark it. And click OK.

iTunes copies all media files into the designated iTunes Media folder, organized into subfolders by media type, then by Artist, then by Album. Song names have track numbers. By letting iTunes do it (instead of using Finder), iTunes knows where all of the media files are now located. After confirming iTunes is able to access all media files from the iTunes Media folder, you can delete the iTunes Music folder to free up that space. You can move that iTunes Music (using Finder) to another location (like the Desktop) first, to make sure iTunes no longer needs it. Then delete it later. (Remember to empty the Trash.)

You can post back if cannot do (or have questions above) the above procedure.

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