Q: Move library & music files to new location.
If I move my library to another drive does it just move the catalog or does it move the music files as well or do I have a choice of having both mover? The reason that I ask is because my music files are a mess in Windows 10.
If I go to 'My Music' the total number of GB & number of tracks is about 3 times the real number which is displayed at bottom of iTunes library, all tracks view. I'm trying to get just my library & its associated music all in one location so that I can recover the wrong volume displayed in MY Music which is absurd.
I feel that I will be better of just ignoring Windows 'My Music'.
If there is a better way of achieving this I would like to hear what it is?
Windows 7, 64 bit
Posted on Jul 5, 2016 11:38 PM
OK, so as I understand it you have as an example 5,000 tracks in iTunes, but the "My Music" folder in Windows contains say 15,000 tracks.
Hopefully this should be easy to resolve.
iTunes has the inbuilt ability to move everything in your library to a new location and it will only move what's actually in the iTunes library.
Go to Preferences > Advanced then change the iTunes Media folder to be something else.
I would recommend you select a folder outside of "My Music" for now until you have it cleared up, i.e. not a subfolder of My Music. Maybe set the folder to be C:\Users\{yourname}\documents\iTunes. You can move it back once you clean everything up.
Make sure the "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" options are selected. This ensures that any music in the library is kept in one place. You need to remember to delete the original files though as iTunes will create a copy in it's own folder.
As an example, if you have some music in your downloads folder and you add it to iTunes. With both options above selected, iTunes will copy the files into the iTunes directory in a subfolder named Music and a further subfolder named by Artist. The copy of the files in the Downloads folder will remain and should be deleted to avoid doubling up on storage space.
Guide from Apple's support doc:
https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT204668
Find and change the iTunes Media folder location
On the Advanced tab:
- Look in the box under "iTunes Media folder location" for the location of your iTunes Media folder.
- To change the location, click the Change button and enter a new location.

After you change the location of the folder, existing files won't be moved unless you consolidate your files. To consolidate your files:
- Mac: From the menu bar at the top of your computer screen, choose File > Library > Organize Library and select "Consolidate files." Then click OK.
- Windows: Hold down the Control and B keys to open the iTunes menu bar. Choose File > Library > Organize Library, and select "Consolidate files." Then click OK. Learn more about menus in iTunes for Windows.
OK, once you do all this your iTunes content should be in the new location and everything in the My Music folder will be everything else.
You then have to decide what to do with the contents of My Music. You could add it to iTunes as well if it's not in there already or potentially delete it if they are duplicates.
Once you have decided what to do and have the content cleaned up, you can select to move the iTunes library back to My Music if preferred.
Posted on Jul 7, 2016 7:28 PM