Why did Time Machine not Back up my iTunes library?

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Level 1

33 points

Why did Time Machine not Back up my iTunes library?

Hello all,

My last iMac died a couple of weeks ago. I took it to a shop but the logic board was seemingly dead. I got a new iMac and took it to the shop for them to clone my new Mac from my old one. Apart from some tweaks here and there, everything's pretty well as it should be, with one fairly major exception: Music.

I've been using Time Machine for incremental backups for a few years. However, the only iTunes music library that's in my most recent backup is from 2019. A lot has changed in my library in those nearly five years. It'll be a real pain to have to redo all the changes (deletions, additions, playlists etc.).

Is there any particular reason why Time Machine wouldn't have backed up the iTunes library file in that time, or am I missing something more fundamental here? I'd really like to choose a much more recent library file, but I just can't find one.

The last iMac was running either Sierra or High Sierra. The new one is running Sonoma.

Any help will be gratefully received.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iMac (2017 – 2020)

Posted on Aug 25, 2024 6:50 AM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

274,588 points

Aug 26, 2024 5:34 AM in response to Matt Stalker

See Managing your Mac media libraries - Apple Community for thoughts on the newer library layout.

See Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device - Apple Community for advice on reclaiming media/playlist from a device. The easiest method may be a temporary subscription to the Apple Music service, merging the music on the device into an iCloud Music Library. This can/should merge with any local content, bringing in playlists, play counts, and ratings, without generating duplicates.

tt2

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

274,588 points

Aug 25, 2024 7:02 AM in response to Matt Stalker

Was the iTunes folder being captured by Time Machine? Normally you'd be looking for a file called iTunes Library.itl from your old ~/Music/iTunes folder. In some case the .itl extension might not be there, but that would be the file you want, and you can rename the file to include it.

tt2

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Answer 3

Matt Stalker Author

Level 1

33 points

Aug 25, 2024 7:31 AM in response to turingtest2

Thanks very much.

I think it was... That's where I've found the .itl file that I'm at least temporarily using.

Please see the screenshot, which is the directory path into Time Machine. It shows the last backup before my iMac went bang.

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Answer 4

Matt Stalker Author

Level 1

33 points

Aug 25, 2024 12:37 PM in response to turingtest2

Thanks again.

I checked the contents of the Previous iTunes Libraries - all the .itl files in there are older than the one I'm using.

I had the same idea to check if there was a library file on the external drive, but it's just music: all folders.

Frustratingly, I can't search for .itl files on the backup external drive. Even searching in the folder where a known .itl file exists returns a null result (correct/same pathway followed as the screenshot in my first post):

I've got precious little idea why Time Machine hasn't kept my library file updated - the concern remains that this could repeat.

In the meantime, I've emailed the repair shop (open on Tuesday coming) in the hope that they can address my old HDD and with luck find an up to date native library file to grab and save for me, or at least the last one that was in use. Other than that it looks like I'm knackered...

Any ideas why I can't search my backup for .itl files...? I'm sure I would've set both externals up as Extended/Journaled. I've checked - I did/they are.

Or any other ideas at all? Appreciate your helpful pointers so far.

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Answer 5

turingtest2

Level 10

274,588 points

Aug 26, 2024 12:32 AM in response to Matt Stalker

I notice you're browsing the raw file system rather than using the Time Machine interface to review your old files. That might potentially make a difference to what you see, though I don't really know enough about how TM works under the hood to be sure. What you should be able to do is check that it is keeping your library backed up in future. Here's a view that shows a recent capture on my machine.

tt2

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Answer 6

turingtest2

Level 10

274,588 points

Aug 26, 2024 4:46 AM in response to Matt Stalker

Is your library synced to any iOS device? If so it ought to be possible to reclaim the playlists and stats from there, typically with a temporary subscription to Apple Music.

tt2

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Answer 7

turingtest2

Level 10

274,588 points

Aug 25, 2024 10:07 AM in response to Matt Stalker

Check the contents of the Previous iTunes Libraries folder. Sometimes people get connected to a library in that folder following some sort of issue. Alternatively you might also find that your active .itl file is actually on your external drive. The modification date is updated every time you open the library, so you'll know if you've found a better candidate.

tt2

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Answer 8

Matt Stalker Author

Level 1

33 points

Aug 26, 2024 4:35 AM in response to turingtest2

Thanks again.

Trying to follow instructions from Safari posts, blogs etc meant I had to keep escaping from the Time Machine interface, so going in at Finder level was just more pragmatic.

Searching for .itl in Time Machine also reveals no files, even though they're there. Short of drilling into each of the 218 backup folders separately (all of which go further back in time, of course), I'm stumped.

I've always valued backing up my data (the most valuable thing on any computer system); I was using Dantz Retrospect on my Macs as long ago as 2001. This glitch is gut-wrenchingly disappointing.

Thanks for staying engaged. I really have appreciated your guidance.

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Answer 9

Matt Stalker Author

Level 1

33 points

Aug 26, 2024 5:20 AM in response to turingtest2

That's another good shout.

I used to sync it all to a 256GB iPod, but dispensed with that a few years ago and relied upon the external HDD. The music folder contains about 300GB of data now, so I've not ever had an iPhone big enough to contain it all - I've only synced playlists (pretty well all of them).

I haven't dared plug my iPhone in yet in case that extra step muddies the waters further, and of course I'm moving from iTunes sync to Finder connection (on a now potentially clunky 7 Plus). And that's before getting into Podcasts and voice memos...

I may come back to you to revisit the playlist reclaim from Apple Music as (of course, because it's so ruddy involved to have to keep saving playlists separately) the playlist .xml files will be relatively out of date themselves in comparison to the library.

I just want to get the structure of my library as recent as possible before I start rebuilding.

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