How Do I Delete the "Automatically Add to iTunes" Folder?

Automatically Add to iTunes is generated everytime you start up iTunes (10.3.1)

It cannot be disabled or deleted (I've tried and The Apple Godz On High gave me the final verdict: "No Way".)

The problem is that it creates an apparent duplicate on your iTunes console view. e.g., if you play a movie or a song from an external drive an apparent copy immediately appears. This "copy" is merely a pathway back to the source, so if you disconnect the external and then try to (re)play the item off of the listing in your iTunes the magical exclamation point ⚠ appears.

The good news is that it is not taking up yet more space on your hard drive.

The bad news is that it creates a bit of mess in terms of organization (IMO).

The Apple Supervisor told me to try a different media player... yikes, that's ignorant (again, IMO).

Hope this was helpful,

J_GA

I suspect the people originally involved in this thread have long since moved in tho other things. The last post was 18 months ago.

If you move or copy the items into the Automatically add to iTunes folder then iTunes will add them to the library and then move them to their usual locations.

If you play any item not in your library then (depending on your chosen preferences) iTunes will either create a new copy in the iTunes Media folder or create a record pointing to the file in question. If the later is the case then if the file is on removable media the entry remains after the media is removed, although it cannot be played.

The point is that these are designed behaviours. You can use them, ignore them, or work around them. You can also submit feedback if you so desire.

tt2

It seems to me that tt2 and Meg show that this issue is, in fact, mildly relevant...

In the newest iTunes version this Automatically Add To iTunes appears to function as a gateway whereby content can be monitored. Certain video files cannot be loaded, etc. This function seems to me to have no real value to the user, as tt2's answer clearly shows. It is redundant at best. I suppose I'm not surprised because iTunes is not just a player, but a distributor of content (=$). Think of iTunes as a CD player and a Record Company combined. Ugh.... Just check the history of big companies distributing music. "Welcome to the jungle, it gets worse here everyday..." When you can't, by any means available, delete a redundant function that is advertised as an improvement, heads up folks!

But, more importantly, this notion of Auto Add violates the principle that content on your personal computer is determined by YOU, not by Apple (or Warner Bros or Geffen or Disney or MCA...) Meg shows apathy about it. So be it. This thread is not for her. I'm crushed. And, btw, responding to a dead discussion to say it's dead... I don't get it.

But tt2 proves my point: this is a designed behavior... that cannot be disabled. I suppose I've already connected the dots.

"Thou dost protest too much."

all the best

One of the long standing features of Windows Media Player is that if you add or remove content from the designated media folders the library will be automatically updated. It would seem that the Automatically add to iTunes folder is iTunes partial attempt to match the feature, presumably in response to user requests. The idea is that you just chuck media in that folder that you want to import into your library, for example from your external hard drives, memory sticks or whatever, and then iTunes gathers it up, adds it to the library and organizes it the way it would other media. For some people, it saves them some time, and the need to get involved in the physical organisation of their files.

If you don't need the feature, don't use it. Your computer is full of configuration files, registry settings, folders, temporary storage locations etc. that software that you have decided to use has been programmed to create and modify. The appearance of a folder that you have no use for, as a side-effect of using an application that you want to use is hardly novel. For most people it should make absolutely no difference to their use of the program since most people spend more time listening to their media via their application of choice and almost none exploring the physical contents of their media folder.

BTW I would normally have ignored the thread as having run its course but for the fact that, having contibuted to it in the past, you adding to it brought it to my attention in my active threads view, and the fact that you seem to have misunderstood the behaviour of the feature, hence my attempt to clarify.

tt2

I'm not sure how you can draw any conclusions about how I feel about this issue. I expressed no feelings about the function at all. I was simply pointing out that a long dead thread had been resurrected and the original posters have probably long since moved on.

The rest of your post was not terribly clear. Other than some vitriol about commerce, I'm not sure what point was. But, as you believe me to be apathetic, that's probably fine.

In Windows 7, you can right-click on the "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder, select Properties, checkmark the Hidden box on the General tab, and then hit O.K. It won't delete the folder, but it will hide it from view.

The original post was over 2.5 years ago. I suspect they've learnt to live with it by now.

tt2

Here's one way to get rid of it:

Go to iTunes preferences--> Advanced --->iTunes media folder location

Then select your own iTunes folder as the location.

That pesky folder will stay in there, out of sight. You need never see it again.

And any iTunes downloads will go to that new path instead of the original media folder where, presumably, the user would still want them to go. 😉

Hiding the folder as suggested earlier is probably the best solution for this non-problem.

tt2

turingtest2 wrote:

And any iTunes downloads will go to that new path instead of the original media folder where, presumably, the user would still want them to go. 😉

- only if the user is foolish enough to download anything via iTunes. There are plenty of other, better places from which to buy music etc..

And sometimes iTunes still offers the best deal. And some people like podcasts, iTunes U or the other features iTunes has to offer. I'm just suggesting you consider the implications of your suggestion. Never mind Automatically Add to iTunes, I'm suprised you're not complaing about the enforced creation of a "Media Folder". 👿

tt2

Numeric: leaving all the chit chat aside, I hope you found my suggestion useful.

Tom in London wrote:

Numeric: leaving all the chit chat aside, I hope you found my suggestion useful.

Numeric hasn't been seen in these forums for about 2 years.

Hi Numeric,

Here is a solution that I created. Download a good Hex editor. I recommend Hex Fiend. In Finder, navigate to /Applications/iTunes/Contents/MacOS/ and select the iTunes executable. Right click the iTunes executable and choose "Open With" and choose "Other." Use the Hex Editor that you have installed to open the program. Once it's open use the find function, usuall accessed by typing "Command + F" and search for the text (without quotes) "Automatically"

Keep hitting the "next" button until you get to the instance "Automatically Add to iTunes.localized" This is the bit of code that creates the foder each time you open iTunes. What we're going to do is have it create an invisible folder that you never have to worry about or look at if you don't need this functionality. Carefully rename the string of text to (without quotes) ".Automatically Add to iTunes.localize" What I did was place a period before Automatically and I removed the letter "d" from the end of localized. So now it should read ".Automatically Add to iTunes.localize" Once you have made the edits to the executable save it to the desktop and then navigate in Finder to /Applications/iTunes/Contents/MacOS/ Drag the desktop version into this folder and replace the file that's there. Finally make sure to re-sign the iTunes executable when you're done using the following code in the Terminal app:

sudo codesign -f -s - /Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunes

My solution explained: Basically from what I understand of program code, you always need to have the same exact number of characters in a program's original code or the program will not function. So I added a period and removed a letter to keep the balance of characters the same in the program code. By adding the period before "Automatically Add to iTunes..." the folder becomes invisible (All invisible folders in OS X begin with a period). The folder will become visible again if you upgrade itunes or have to re-install itunes at which time you will have to repeat the process again.

Enjoy!