[Dupe]

Hello, I’m hoping someone can assist me. I have a large music collection stored in MobileSheets, with backups saved locally on my iPad. My earliest backup dates to 2023, with several more recent versions.

My iPad storage has now reached capacity, preventing system updates from installing. While reviewing my files to free up space, I deleted some of the older MobileSheets library backups, as each one occupied several megabytes. After doing this, I discovered that all of my saved music had disappeared from saved lists, which I didn’t expect.

I was able to recover the deleted backup files; however, many of my songs were originally imported as photo images and later renamed within MobileSheets. After the recovery, the files had reverted to their original image photo image format. As a result, I now have a very large number of photo sheet music file entries grouped under the letter “P” in my MobileSheets library, and the files appear to be in no meaningful order.

I’m concerned that sorting and restoring everything may be extremely difficult, if it’s even possible. Any guidance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Dupe

[Zubersoft]

Dupe,

MobileSheets should have been prompting you to create a library backup file every 14 days unless you changed that setting. Do you not have a recent backup you can restore? That should replace absolutely everything with what you had in the app when the backup file was created. Deleting backup files absolutely should not delete anything in your library, so I have no idea how that could have happened unless you were deleting files inside the MobileSheets folder.

Mike

[Dupe]

Dupe,

MobileSheets should have been prompting you to create a library backup file every 14 days unless you changed that setting. Do you not have a recent backup you can restore? That should replace absolutely everything with what you had in the app when the backup file was created. Deleting backup files absolutely should not delete anything in your library, so I have no idea how that could have happened unless you were deleting files inside the MobileSheets folder.

Mike

[Dupe]

Hi Mike, thanks for getting back to me. It’s a strange situation. I do back up my MobileSheets library whenever I’m prompted, but my iPad storage recently reached full capacity and I could no longer install Apple updates. While clearing out unwanted files, I deleted several older MobileSheets backup files, assuming they wouldn’t cause any issues as long as I kept the most recent one.

When I opened MobileSheets again, I discovered that all my songs and set lists had completely disappeared.

Fortunately, I still have an older iPad that contains some of my earlier files, so I’ve been able to recover part of my library. Unfortunately, I’ve lost a lot of the more recent music.

Regards,
Dupe

[Dupe]

I suspect a virus has possibly caused this issue! My old iPad has older library  data bases that I managed to transfer, but even that has now failed. My WiFi page turner is no longer working although a link is showing that it’s paired? 

This is the strangest occurance, in my “Song Lists” a songs that begin with “The” have disappeared?

[Geoff Bacon]

'Songs with "The" have disappeared' indicates that Library Settings | Sorting Options| Articles to Ignore" is checked; these songs will show in the first letter of the next word in the song title

Geoff

[Dupe]

'Songs with "The" have disappeared' indicates that Library Settings | Sorting Options| Articles to Ignore" is checked; these songs will show in the first letter of the next word in the song title

Geoff

Hi Geoff, thanks for your reply, you were spot on, checked through the settings and one of the check boxes was ticked, so many thanks.

Next question is how these problems occurred? Have never had a need to make any alterations.
While I’m still trying to sort out the other problems, some of my songs from the song list are showing an error,  see attached screen message.
   

[Zubersoft]

Check to see if that file exists in the MobileSheets folder using the Files app. That's the first step to figuring out what is happening there.

Mike

[Dupe]

Check to see if that file exists in the MobileSheets folder using the Files app. That's the first step to figuring out what is happening there.

Mike

Hi Mike, thanks for your reply. Yes the file is there (Photo-20250901-184842-File1.pdf)
Many of my files are photos of my music sheets and imported into MS from my iPad photo gallery.

[Zubersoft]

In that case, please long press a song that loads properly, go to the Files tab, long press the file and copy the path that is listed. Please provide that. I'd like to see if the two songs are pointing to different folders for some reason.

Also, you listed Photo-20250901-184842-File1.pdf, but that is not what is shown in your screenshot. It lists something that ends with 165218.jpg, which is not even close to what you listed. Are you sure the file exists? You can also go to Settings->Other Settings->Find Missing Files to see how many files are reported as missing.

Thanks,
Mike

[Dupe]

Hi Mike,  thanks again for helping me out here, the screen shot was just an example of the errors I’m having, and the two are not related to each other as you correctly pointed out. I’m will follow your suggestions and report back.

I have managed to sought out a few anomalies and re instate my set lists to some extent, so slow progress, but getting there. Thanks again for your help and guidance.
Regards Dupe

[Dupe]

High Mike, is this information is what you?

/var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/3F1A97F2-D415-43F8-8F5A-516FDD206467/Documents/Photo_20250109_143140_File1.pdf

Regards Dupe

[Zubersoft]

Dupe,

Yes, that's what I want. So I'm assuming that file loads properly. You will notice the folder listed after "Application" does not match the folder listed for the file that does not load. The question is - how did that happen? Did you use the companion app for any of this? There is a known issue that's occurring for some users where the companion app will use an invalid path for some reason. I'm still trying to get to the bottom of that, as I haven't seen it occur for me yet. If you did not, then something changed the path to the MobileSheets folder on your device, and this caused MobileSheets to have references to the previous path (which shouldn't really be possible, so I'll have to dig into the code to see if I can add error checks for this and update the path to just use the current MobileSheets folder in that case). You can also go to Settings->Other Settings->Fix Broken File Paths, set it to Automatic, and as long as it can find the files, it will update all the missing files to point to the correct location.

Mike

[Dupe]

Dupe,

Yes, that's what I want. So I'm assuming that file loads properly. You will notice the folder listed after "Application" does not match the folder listed for the file that does not load. The question is - how did that happen? Did you use the companion app for any of this? There is a known issue that's occurring for some users where the companion app will use an invalid path for some reason. I'm still trying to get to the bottom of that, as I haven't seen it occur for me yet. If you did not, then something changed the path to the MobileSheets folder on your device, and this caused MobileSheets to have references to the previous path (which shouldn't really be possible, so I'll have to dig into the code to see if I can add error checks for this and update the path to just use the current MobileSheets folder in that case). You can also go to Settings->Other Settings->Fix Broken File Paths, set it to Automatic, and as long as it can find the files, it will update all the missing files to point to the correct location.

Mike

Hi Mike, no I don’t use the companion app, never had any problems whatsoever until I decided to create more storage space on my iPad. Removing old library backup files going back ended up with clearing all my saved songs and play lists. I have retrieved some of my lists from off an old iPad which has helped me  put together something I can use, but of course the last back up library was lost. 

I’m taking on board all your suggestions and I’m most grateful for all your assistance.
Regards Dupe.

[Dupe]

Hi Mike, just a quick update. I’ve managed to get everything back more or less to normal — only a few songs missing now, which I can live with.

MobileSheets is by far the best music app I’ve ever used, and over the years it’s been an absolute godsend. The help from the forums, along with your advice, has made a tremendous difference.

Many thanks,
Dupe