How to Find the Original Song in iTunes

Locate the original song in iTunes that you can listen to later.

Although the iTunes program creates a copy of a song when it is imported into the iTunes library, you can disable this feature through the iTunes preferences and instead use the original location of the song in the program. While the iTunes organization feature is recommended to keep your music library in one location, it is not required to play the songs in iTunes. While this organization feature is disabled it is important to leave the song in its original location on your computer, as moving it can cause playback issues in iTunes.

Things You'll Need

• iTunes

Instructions

1. Open the iTunes program on your computer, select "iTunes" at the top of the screen and click "Preferences" on a Macintosh computer. On a Windows PC, click "Edit" at the top of the iTunes program window and select "Preferences."

2. Click the "Advanced" tab, and uncheck the box next to "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library."

3. Click the "OK" button at the bottom of the window and click the "Music" tab in the iTunes' source pane.

4. Click the Search bar in the upper-right corner of the iTunes program window, and enter the name of the song you wish to locate.

5. Right-click the song from the search result and select "Get Info" from the shortcut menu. Alternatively, click the song in the search result, select "File" at the top of the iTunes' menu, and click "Get Info" from the drop-down menu.

6. Select the "Summary" tab at the top of the "Get Info" window and right-click the path URL in the "Where" section.

7. Click "Show in Windows Explorer" on the shortcut menu on your Windows PC, or select "Show in Finder" on your Macintosh computer.

References

• Apple: iTunes 9 - Understanding iTunes Media Organization
• "How to Do Everything iPod & iTunes, Fifth Edition"; Guy Hart-Davis; 2008

Resources

• Read this Article in Portuguese