Adam J. Bezark

Q: How to merge two iTunes libraries from two different OS X accounts?

I'm helping my daughter set up her new MacBook Pro, migrating data from her old white MacBook. We used Migration Assistant to import her apps and documents from the old laptop. Now she has two user accounts: the one she initially set up on the new MacBook Pro, and the old account we brought over from the old machine. And there are iTunes libraries in each of these user accounts -- I believe they're both set up under the same iTunes account.

 

In addition to the two OS X libraries, there's her iPhone, which was synced with the old white MacBook account.

 

So... what's the best way to merge them all into one (duplicate-free) iTunes library on the new MacBook Pro, and switch the iPhone to sync with the new machine?

 

Thanks!

Posted on Aug 24, 2014 8:06 PM

Close

Q: How to merge two iTunes libraries from two different OS X accounts?

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Aug 24, 2014 8:35 PM in response to Adam J. Bezark
    Level 9 (54,277 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 24, 2014 8:35 PM in response to Adam J. Bezark

    Unless she syncs with the original library it will want to erase her phone.  This may not matter if the new library is an extended version of there old one but it is a nuisance.

     

    You can search the web for tools which purport to facilitate merging libraries.  I'm not sure any of them really work.  It is too hard in some cases to determine what is really a duplicate.  In the end you may just want to copy media from the new library to the old one so you can then use the old one to continue syncing with the phone.  So, the original iTunes folder will become the primary library and once that is successfully running in the right account she will want to add any extra media from the library she is abandoning to that library.

     

    You can supposedly get items from one user account on a computer to another by placing files and folders in the Shared user directory, but I have found this to only work so-so.

     

    What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660

     

    More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management

     

    What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html

     

    Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391