Itunes for mac moving your itunes media folder

How to save storage on your mac by using itunes in. In the itunes app on your mac, choose file add to library. On your mac, use the itunes backup feature to move your library to a new computer. May 03, 2018 consolidating your library keeps the originals in their original location and creates copies placed in the itunes media folder. Unless you have changed the location of your itunes musicmedia folder, you can find it in your user folder on the computer. You can that itunes media folder over to the new computer preserving its layout. How to back up your itunes music before itunes is retired. It is a professional ios data manager that allows you to simply transfer your ios data from one device to another. If this isnt what you want if you want itunes to leave your music folder completely alone look to the checkbox checked by default, beside copy files to itunes media folder when adding to library. In prior versions of macos, when youd connect your iphone or ipad to your mac, itunes would launch and you could check for updates, sync your information with your mac, manage your data, and create backups. The itunes media folders default location is within the itunes folder. If you move songs out of the itunes folder, you might have to add the songs to itunes again before you can play them. Find the itunes backup file on computer to see how much storage it takes. Check the date modified column to see which folder matches the backup.

As noted earlier see make a split library portable apple community to put your library in a shape which uses the default media path with respect to the library file i. Heres how to move your macs itunes library to another location, whether its another computer or an external hard drive. By default, the music, tv shows, movies, podcasts, and other files that appear in your itunes library are stored within your user folder in a subfolder. Storing itunes media folder on wd my book live wd community. Instead of doing all this in itunes, macos catalina instead moves this to finder. Your music, tv shows, movies, podcasts, and audiobooks will transfer automatically to the apple music, apple tv, apple podcasts, and apple books apps where youll still have access to your favorite itunes features, including purchases, rentals, and imports.

After i got the wd mybooklive 1tb i copied the itunes folder from the windows pcs music folder and put it inside. If youre serious about digital media, its likely your itunes library is bumping up against the limits of your hard drives capacity. This helps you save space on your macpcs local storage while still letting you enjoy music on itunes. Mar 16, 2020 how to transfer itunes library to new mac via external hard drive or usb drive. You can change where your itunes media files are stored.

Ok, im a little new to macs ive had a macbook for a while, but my main computer has been a pc until recently just bought a 27 i5 imac. This lets you safely move your itunes folder to a new computer or external disk without losing anything. Its this last configuration that we want to use, since it gathers all needed files under the itunes folder, allowing us to copy just the content of a. Move itunes media folder to another location or hard drive. Not only it will put all your files in one folder, but also make it easier to backup or transfer the media. On a windows pc, look in my music and then the itunes folder. One of the most common problem with the itunes is the huge storage space it will eat, especially the itunes backup files and media folder. About itunes libraries and media folders fat cat software. If you get a new computer, you can transfer your itunes library by connecting computers or by using ipod or a portable drive.

If your hard drive is nearly full after loading all your music and other media into. Be sure to name the folder something descriptive so you know thats where your. How do i get to the itunes media folder solve your tech. Change where your itunes files are stored on mac apple.

How to free up your macs internal storage by moving your itunes library to an external drive. This process makes a copy of all files in the itunes media folder, and leaves the. How to free up your macs internal storage by moving your. Although the itunes database format is the same for both the windows and mac os x versions of itunes, moving your itunes library from windows to mac os x or viceversa is complicated by one other issue. Mar 21, 2010 all you do is take your entire itunes folder contents and move it to your new laptop. Consolidating your library keeps the originals in their original location and creates copies placed in the itunes media folder. To find the location of your itunes media folder, launch itunes on your old computer then click edit pc or itunesmac on the menu bar preferences advanced here you will see the itunes media folder location in your computer.

Go to your music library or film library, right click on a song or film, then select show in windows explorer to see if the item is saved in the new itunes media folder. If youre moving from a windows pc to a mac, then youll probably want to move your itunes library with it. How to free up your mac s internal storage by moving your itunes library to an external drive. Your music library is typically stored in a folder within the itunes program. Sep 24, 2019 after itunes finishes copying your library to its new location, you can delete the original folder by going to users your account music itunes and moving the itunes media folder to the trash. If the file is in that location, as it would be after a consolidate operation, itunes will. I see youre running into some issues with your itunes media folder. Transferring itunes library from mac to windows ilounge. Change where itunes files are stored on pc apple support. If you open this folder, you will find a number of different folders that each contain the files that you have in your itunes library. Jan 02, 2014 macbook air and other mac products on sale here. You can move your itunes library to a different folder, computer, or drive. How to transfer itunes library from mac to mac often, mac users will have more than one mac in their home. If you dont want to lose your playlists, play counts, ratings, and other stuff that itunes.

When itunes cant find a track in its specific location, it will fall back to looking for it in the location where it would normally place it by default. Moving your music out of itunes the new york times. How to move your itunes library to another location. How to transfer itunes library to new mac via anytrans for ios.

Follow the steps given in this video to find and change the location of itunes media folder on mac os x. Import media from a computer to itunes on mac apple support. You can consolidate all the files in your library in the itunes folderfor example, to make it easier to move your library to a new computer. Before you transfer or restore your itunes media library on your pc, consolidate it and create a back up. In related articles, we discussed how you can change itunes backup folder to a new location or disk on pc or backup iphone ipad to external hard drive. Next, move your itunes folder, and any associated media to a new drive location. Moving your itunes media folder ipad, iphone, ipod. Dont delete the original itunes folder or any files or folders it contains, other than the itunes media or itunes music folder. If you move just your media files, then your mac retains your itunes library file, as well as some other files. After itunes finishes copying your library to its new location, you can delete the original folder by going to users your account music itunes and moving the itunes media folder to the trash. How to move your itunes library to a new location serato support. May 04, 2017 unless you have changed the location of your itunes music media folder, you can find it in your user folder on the computer.

Change where your itunes files are stored on mac apple support. Move your itunes library to another computer apple support. This will ensure that all your files are pointing in the right direction for your library, which ultimately makes the transference of your files easier. Manually transfer your itunes library to a new mac cnet. The itunes library file is a data file that keeps track of the contents of your itunes library. Sep 22, 2012 moving your itunes media folder ipad, iphone, ipod to move the itunes media folder on a mac, see itunes for mac. How to move your itunes library to an external drive. It is better to go for any transfer software such as wondershare tunesgo. Start by making a folder to hold your itunes media library once its moved.

Download and install imyfone tunesmate on both pc and mac. The file systems between these two operating systems are completely. We recommend to have the keep itunes media folder organized setting off, as this can move your files around, and invalidate the links serato dj creates to your tracks. How to change itunes media folder location youtube.

How to transfer music files from pc to mac using tunesgo step 1 if you want to transfer your music files from pc to mac, first of all users need to sync their iphoneipod with old pc connect you iphoneipod with pc and sync it with your itunes library. By default, your itunes media folder is in your itunes folder. How to move your macs itunes library onto an external drive. How to move your itunes library you can move your itunes library to a different folder, computer, or drive. See the apple support article back up and restore your itunes library on your pc. I had my itunes media folder stored locally on a windows pcs c drive.

Heres a short tutorial on exportingmoving your itunes music library to an external drive. Click on the transfer itunes media to idevice option on the home screen. You can consolidate all the files in your library in the itunes folder to make it easier to move your library to a new computer. Follow the steps given in this video to find and change the location of itunes media folder on mac os.

By default, the music, tv shows, movies, podcasts, and other files that appear in your itunes library are stored here. While rebuilding the library doesnt affect your media files, its best to be safe. This can be enough for itunes to properly associate itself with the copied library. Back up and restore your itunes library on your pc apple. It will transfer all available music files in your device to mac. Step 2 after syncing your itunes library with your idevice, download and install tunesgo on your mac device. If you have audio or video files on your computer, you can import them into itunes so they appear in your itunes library open itunes for me.

How to move itunes music library to external drive and. On a windows machine with a standalone copy of itunes. There are two main components you deal with when organizing your music with itunes. How to copy files to itunes media folder 1 with itunes. The itunes media folder location section at the top details where the file collection is. The solution in this case is to use the consolidate files option, which copies everything into the itunes media folder. To move the itunes media folder on a mac, see itunes for mac. Go to the advanced tab and click copy files to itunes media folder when adding to library to store all your available media files directly. If i understand correctly, youre setting the media folder location to the f drive and it seems to work as expected, but then it changes back to a folder on your c drive the next time you start itunes. I had enabled the keep itunes media folder organized and copy files to itunes media folder when adding to library options on the windows pc.

This helps you save space on your mac pcs local storage while still letting you enjoy music on itunes. When you launch itunes on your new machine, hold in altoption depending on if a mac or pc when you get prompted for new itunes folder location, find the itunes library. If youre on a mac, itll be in the music folder in your home folder thats the one with the house icon and your user name. Initially the change seems to take, but then a day. How to transfer itunes library to new mac in 2 ways imobie. Manually transfer your itunes library to a new mac. With an organized itunes media folder, your job in transferring itunes from one system to the other becomes far less complicated. Oct 07, 2019 in prior versions of macos, when youd connect your iphone or ipad to your mac, itunes would launch and you could check for updates, sync your information with your mac, manage your data, and create backups.

Besides manually moving your itunes library to a new mac, there is an easier and quicker way for you to achieve it anytrans for ios. Do you want to move your itunes media files to another hard drive. Heres how to move your itunes content to another drive. Locate the music folder music and use either an external hard drive or a wired or wireless network to. If you dont see your itunes media folder in the above location, heres how to find it. If you have spare storage on your nas that is at least as large as your itunes library, create another new folder for a new itunes media folder and start from scratch. If you use apples itunes for your media library on your mac, then you might at some point need to transfer the library to a new or. How to move itunes music library to external drive and save. If you add a folder, all the files it contains are added to your. Here are some things to know your itunes library, a database thats made up of all of the music and other media that you add to itunes for windows, is organized into two itunes library files and an itunes media folder. In other words, if you have your itunes media folder set to d. Transfer itunes music from pc to mac manually users can transfer music from windows to mac using itunes but it is a hard task to do it using itunes.

Heres how to do it, even in macos catalina, which ditches itunes for the music app. Jan 28, 2014 manually transfer your itunes library to a new mac. From the menu bar at the top of the itunes window, choose edit preferences. If your itunes library has gotten a bit too big for your regular hard drive, it may be time to move it. Connect an external drive to your mac and wait until it pops up on the desktop. And when you back up your mac, your media library is automatically included in that. Move your itunes library to another hard drive in three. Here are some things to know your itunes library, a database thats made up of all of the music and other media that you add to itunes for windows, is organized into two itunes library files and an. It is the nature of the beast, as they may be so pleased with their exclusive mac environment that there may suddenly be a macbook or an imac in the house where there may have been only one mac computer previously. Plug in your ios device such as an iphone or an ipad and launch the application at your mac. Oct 07, 2012 the itunes media folder is the folder location on your windows pc where your itunes media files are stored. Sep 02, 2011 you can that itunes media folder over to the new computer preserving its layout. Drag the itunes folder in this location onto the desktop. Essentially, itunes can be set up to use media files scattered anywhere around your mac, or it can be set up to gather all the media and place them into a folder structure that itunes manages.

By default, itunes makes a copy of any music you drag to its library, so all your music is kept in the same place. If youre unsure where your itunes folder is, launch itunes, access preferences and on the advanced tab look for the current itunes folder location under the itunes media folder location section. If your itunes library was originally created using itunes 8 or earlier, the itunes media folder may be called itunes music instead. Open itunes, then click the edit menu or the itunes menu on a mac and select preferences. I have tried to change the itunes media folder location to point to a folder on my time capsule. How to move your itunes library to an external hard drive imore. Move itunes media folder to another location or hard drive on.

Back up and restore your itunes library on your pc apple support. How to move your mac s itunes library onto an external drive. Before we delve into the steps of actually moving your media content, its important to explain in some detail exactly how itunes handles the management of your media files under the hood, what your options are for relocating these files, and the various pitfalls that you might encounter in this process. Before you transfer or restore your itunes media library on your pc. On a windows pc, hold down the shift key as itunes starts up to get the box for choosing an existing media library or creating a new one. Aug 17, 2018 heres a short tutorial on exporting moving your itunes music library to an external drive.