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Lost my iTunes library

Big Stevie

Big Stevie

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 20, 2012
1,385
874
UK
When opening iTunes on my MacBook Ive lost all my films/music etc, although the library is still on my iPhone. So now I can't perform any synch or I'll lose everything off my phone. Is there a way of copying it back from my iPhone to iTunes on my MacBook?

I think i may have messed it up when I created a second iTunes account on my MacBook for my wifes iPad. I assumed I could run two iTunes accounts on my macbook by opening iTunes and logging into whichever account I wanted to use?
 
The music should still be there.
Log into your account and navigate to ~/Music/iTunes/Music

Do you see any music?
 
Thanks, but no, my music has gone, apart from one album. In fact my library matches exactly the second iTunes account I created for my wifes iPad. Its as if when I created the second iTunes account it changed my account also.

When Im logged into my account everything is exactly the same as when I log into my wifes account. I fear that maybe I got hold of the wrong end of the stick when I thought I could control two different accounts from my macbook. Is this not possible?
 
Have you done a complete search on your machine for the Music. Are you sure it was in the default Music Library. Personally, I never use the default library and have deleted Itunes accounts in error and never lost the music.

There is an Application that will allow you to copy music from the Iphone or Ipod back to the Labtop. Cannot remember the name of it right now but Google and you will find it.
 
Big Stevie said:
Thanks, but no, my music has gone
Click to expand...
Bummers :(

I'm assuming you don't run Time Machine to backup your system either. Not to sound over-bearing but this may be the time to bite that bullet.

As the other poster stated, do a search to see if they got moved somewhere else, I can't recall any situation of signing out of iTunes and/or Signing in as someone else that will delete your music library.
 
Sorry, I think I've misinformed you:eek:. Everything is still in my iTunes library as far as my MacBooks hard drive is concerned. Its just not there when I open up iTunes. I guess I will have to drag everything back over into iTunes?

But lets say I copy everything over again into my iTunes, is there a danger of the same thing happening again when I log into my wifes iTunes account and connect her iPad? Will I loose everything on my account again? Or should I be going about controlling her iPad in a different way?
 
You do no need to log into your wifes itunes account and sync you can simply connect the device while logged into your account and when it appears in itunes drag and drop music to her device.

If you select the little arrow to the left of her device it will provide access to the sub folders for music, movies etc and then do the drag and drop.
 
Big Stevie said:
Sorry, I think I've misinformed you:eek:. Everything is still in my iTunes library as far as my MacBooks hard drive is concerned. Its just not there when I open up iTunes. I guess I will have to drag everything back over into iTunes?

But lets say I copy everything over again into my iTunes, is there a danger of the same thing happening again when I log into my wifes iTunes account and connect her iPad? Will I loose everything on my account again? Or should I be going about controlling her iPad in a different way?
Click to expand...

It almost sounds like you created a second iTunes library on your computer and its opening that library by default? Did you name it something other than "iTunes"?

If you hold the Option key and click on iTunes to launch, do you see two libraries to select from? Or if you go to your Music folder, are there two iTunes folders? If not, you most likely created a second library with the same name, thus overwriting your library.
 
I'm away from my MacBook now but I'll do as suggested when I get home.

As for my attempts at trying to control two different iTunes accounts from my MacBook, have I done it the wrong way? I have my own account that I use between my MacBook & iPhone. I also want to control my wife's iPad for her I want to keep the two completely seperate, but using my MacBook for both. Is there an effective way if doing this?
 
lost iTunes Library

What really pisses me off is that Apple should be able to automatically know and deliver all the songs that you purchased from them from their computer servers. Why do we have to go through **** in order to retrieve our purchases. My god, they keep track of everything else.:mad:
 
Big Stevie said:
I'm away from my MacBook now but I'll do as suggested when I get home.

As for my attempts at trying to control two different iTunes accounts from my MacBook, have I done it the wrong way? I have my own account that I use between my MacBook & iPhone. I also want to control my wife's iPad for her I want to keep the two completely seperate, but using my MacBook for both. Is there an effective way if doing this?
Click to expand...

Just to clarify, what exactly did you do when you "created a second iTunes account for your wife"? Did you actually set up a second instance of iTunes (as I mentioned in my previous post) or did you simply create a new AppleID for your wife under the current instance of iTunes (e.g., logged yourself out of iTunes with your ID and created a new one in your wife's name)?

I think in theory you can have two AppleIDs using the same instance of iTunes, but do note that Apple uses a persistentID (which is specific to that instance of iTunes, regardless of your AppleID) that is usually tied to the device (this is what prompts you to unlink your iOS device and sync with another computer). I personally just copy my entire iTunes folder and transfer it to my other macs that run iTunes (this allows me to use my iPhone/iPad to sync media manually on all my computers).
 
martinm0 said:
Just to clarify, what exactly did you do when you "created a second iTunes account for your wife"? did you simply create a new AppleID for your wife under the current instance of iTunes (e.g., logged yourself out of iTunes with your ID and created a new one in your wife's name)?
Click to expand...

Yep, thats what I did, which I realise now was probably the wrong way to do it. I did post a lot of questions around Christmas time asking how to do it, but sadly without much response, so I just logged out of iTunes and created another account/username.

I popped into my local Apple store this evening and briefly discussed it with them, the lady I spoke to suggested I create a new User Account on my macbook, then open iTunes and connect my wifes iPad. That way I can keep my iTunes details for my iPhone, then log into the other macbook user account when using the wifes iPad. Does this seem to be a good idea?


martinm0 said:
If you hold the Option key and click on iTunes to launch, do you see two libraries to select from?
Click to expand...

I get the message...

ScreenShot2014-02-14at212544_zpsa99ea3a4.png



When I click on Choose Library it opens up Finder...

ScreenShot2014-02-14at212557_zpsfa1441bd.png
 
Last edited:
What you should have done is create a second user account on the Mac and let her run her own iTunes library.

However it's possible to manage multiple devices from one iTunes instance. I keep different stuff on my iPad and iPhone. You have to tell each device which items to sync.

My wife and I do things the opposite way. We maintain our own iTunes libraries on our own Macs but share one itunes account for purchases so any app or media bought can be put on all our iDevices.
 
Big Stevie said:
I want to keep the two completely seperate, but using my MacBook for both. Is there an effective way if doing this?
Click to expand...
Why? I find it easier to set up playlists for different people, but keep one database. Surely you have some crossover, why maintain those in two databases?
 
I just prefer the idea of keeping everything separate (maybe there are things on my phone that I don't want her to see?:eek::D)

So to recover from my error, is there any way of copying the content of my phone back onto my MacBook, or do I have to drag things individually from Finder into iTunes?
 
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