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Level 1

59 points

moving iTunes library to external drive

hi,

if I change the location of my iTunes library to an external drive, will that actual move the files or just copy them?

cheers

iMac G5, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Posted on Sep 3, 2009 6:19 AM

Best reply

varjak paw

Level 10

170,206 points

Posted on Sep 3, 2009 6:58 AM

Copy. You'll need to remove the tracks from the original location yourself; after confirming that they're working correctly from the new location, of course. Make sure you use the correct procedure for moving; if you do it wrong, you'll break iTunes' links to the tracks.

Regards.

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24 replies

Sep 4, 2009 10:52 AM in response to NeddySeagoon

Thanks for a good discussion and a helpful tip. I was in the process of the exact same thing and thought there had to be some easier way than having to re-import it all again.

However, I have done as recommended in the thread and it worked for most of the songs. But(!) for some reason the path to some of them about 10% is still the old one. How do I get those changed. I've checked the new path on the external hard drive and it should be correct.

Any ideas or suggestions?

NeddySeagoon Author

Level 1

59 points

Sep 4, 2009 11:00 AM in response to NeddySeagoon

I can't help with that, I'm afraid. all my iTunes stuff seems to okay.

but I've mark the topic as unanswered so maybe someone can help you out.

Message was edited by: NeddySeagoon

varjak paw

Level 10

170,206 points

Sep 4, 2009 11:24 AM in response to CBOcougar

CBO, I'd suggest you start a new topic with your issue (use the "Post a new topic" link at the top of each main topic page). It's generally better to ask a question as a new topic rather than as a reply in someone else's thread. It's more courteous to the original poster, and is more likely to get your question the attention it deserves that it will buried in this thread.

Regards.

Sep 4, 2009 11:39 AM in response to varjak paw

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Mattapus

Level 1

0 points

Sep 21, 2009 9:14 PM in response to NeddySeagoon

Question, after the music is moved to the external, if I use iTunes to charge my iPhone what happens?

Sep 22, 2009 8:23 AM in response to varjak paw

Dave,

Thanks for the helpful hints. Will the technique you describe here also work if I move the iTunes folder to a network share (rather than a directly connected external drive)? I plan to attach a hard drive to our Airport Extreme to use as a network share and I'd like to put my iTunes folder there.

DBAG65

Level 1

5 points

Sep 26, 2009 8:47 PM in response to Merged Content 1

I tried a setup with my library on an external plugged into my Airport Extreme. It was months ago and several iTunes updates back. It only worked intermittently. The drive would occasionally drop off the network I assume, the result was iTunes building itself a new music folder in the default location. I got tired of verifying the location of my "current" iTunes music folder, so I just keep it plugged directly to my Mac.

That drive is going out for warranty service. I cloned it to a drive with a different name as my temporary location. When I went to direct iTunes 9 to that location it had already found it. iTunes 9 must have a feature to search for the library, at least if its hard wired. Could work wireless as well, worth a try.

Apr 18, 2012 5:00 PM in response to NeddySeagoon

Thank you for this! Your post helped me redirect my iTunes libary to launch from my external Lacie drive. I didn't know about the option key tip.

Alan_20

Level 1

4 points

Nov 24, 2012 11:45 AM in response to NeddySeagoon

I have performed the method quoted below and can see all tunes and movies in iTunes on the new location (opening with option key and directing). However each tune/movie needs to be individually located in order to play.

When selecting a tune in the "new" itunes I get an error message

"The ---- could not be used because the original file could not be located. Would you like to locate it?"

Clicking locate and navigating to the "new" location plays the file normally.

However I am having to do this for every tune or movie.

What have I missed or messed up?

Thanks in advance

Alan_20

The easiest way, though is to just drag the entire iTunes folder (the entire folder, not just the iTunes Music folder) to your desired location. Then hold down the Option key while launching iTunes. You'll be given a dialog box where you can select the iTunes library you want to use. Navigate to and select the iTunes folder in it's new location. Everything - playlists, ratings, etc. - should remain intact and all future purchases and imports should go to the new location on the external drive. Plus you can use that same iTunes library, with all of it's playlists, etc., on any computer you wish by similarly launching iTunes and holding down the Option key (Shift on a Windows system). Just a heads-up: if you launch iTunes without the external drive being mounted, iTunes will default back to using the internal drive. If that occurs, just quit iTunes, connect the external drive, and launch iTunes with the Option key.

moving iTunes library to external drive