alexanderharke
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Moving iTunes library from old macbook to new one

hello communitiy,

 

i bought a new macbook air and now i want to move my old iTunes library to the new macbook via external hard drive including everything like covers, amount of plays, etc.

 

technical stats:

macbook

OS X 10.6.8

iTunes 11.4

 

to

 

macbook air

OS X 10.11.2

iTunes 12.3.1.23

 

problem: i tried every help from the apple support page, tried to do it step by step but i doesnt work. please help me

 

greetings Alex

 

p.s.: my english is not the best please explain it in an easy way

MacBook Air, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)

Posted on Mar 1, 2016 1:55 PM

Close
alexanderharke

Q: Moving iTunes library from old macbook to new one

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Niel,Helpful

    Niel Niel Mar 1, 2016 2:44 PM in response to alexanderharke
    Level 10 (312,761 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 1, 2016 2:44 PM in response to alexanderharke

    Choose Home from the Finder's Go menu, open the Music folder, drag the entire iTunes item to the external drive, and put it in the corresponding location on the new computer. If it contains rented movies, they won't play on the second Mac.

     

    (140176)

  • by alexanderharke,

    alexanderharke alexanderharke Mar 1, 2016 2:08 PM in response to Niel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 1, 2016 2:08 PM in response to Niel

    i did this several times..

    the problem is that the new itunes doesnt want to open the files "mediathek.xml" (=library) or "library.itl". it imports all the tracks but without their previous informations

     

    edit:

    the file which contains everything is a folder but in a .xml format so this isnt accepted by the new itunes either

  • by Kenichi Watanabe,

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe Mar 1, 2016 3:19 PM in response to alexanderharke
    Level 8 (38,823 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 1, 2016 3:19 PM in response to alexanderharke

    I think you are trying to import data from your old iTunes library into a new iTunes library, instead of moving the complete iTunes folder to the new Mac and using the same iTunes library.  There is no need to deal with .xml files.

     

    This is Apple's document that describes the process.

     

    Manage and back up your iTunes media library - Apple Support

     

    To summarize, you first Consolidate your iTunes library (on the old Mac) to ensure all of your iTunes data is located in the iTunes folder.  If you are using the default settings for iTunes, all of your iTunes data may be in the iTunes folder already.  The next step to back up that iTunes folder, by copying it to an external drive.  The last step is to restore that iTunes folder (from the backup) to the new Mac; do this with iTunes not running.  The new Mac has an existing iTunes folder (at the same location in your user account Music folder).  Move it to a different location (or rename it).  Put the iTunes folder from the old Mac in its place.  When you run iTunes, it uses the iTunes folder from the old Mac, and it looks like the iTunes library on the old Mac (because it IS the same library).

     

    NOTE:  If you know how to set up file sharing between old Mac and new Mac, you can transfer the iTunes folder directly, without using an external drive.  However, depending on the size of your iTunes library (and network connection speed), using an external drive may be much faster.

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Mar 1, 2016 3:29 PM in response to alexanderharke
    Level 9 (53,971 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 1, 2016 3:29 PM in response to alexanderharke

    Moving a library: Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its sub-folders and files) intact to the other drive, hold down the option/alt key (shift on Windows) while starting iTunes, and when requested to select a library select the iTunes Library.itl file in the copied folder.