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User profile for user: BigBirdLHS
BigBirdLHS Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

Why Does my iTunes library take up so much space on my hard drive?

Hi, I have a MacBook (white) and I'm having some annoying problems with iTunes. First, I had about 8,000 songs in my iTunes library. I deleted the songs I don't listen to/don't want anymore, and I deleted about 2,000 songs. I also deleted about 40 home movies that I shot, and all my podcasts. After several restarts and opening and closing iTunes, the space my iTunes folder in my music folder still takes up over 45 GB of space, even though I only have 18 GB of music in my iTunes. Any ideas as to how I can get rid of all the extra files and reclaim some of my much-needed disk space? Thanks in advance!

MacBook 13", Mac OS X (10.6.3), 2 GHz 2GB of RAM, 80 GB HD.

Posted on May 24, 2010 12:54 PM

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11 replies
User profile for user: Diane Wordsmith
Diane Wordsmith
User level: Level 5
6,072 points

May 24, 2010 1:10 PM in response to BigBirdLHS

When you delete files in iTunes, you have the option to just delete from the library or to delete from the library AND the hard drive. Do a search in Finder and see if any file you know you deleted is still on your drive. (If you did not see the dialog box asking if you wanted to delete from the hard drive, I think this may be one of those options where you can say "Don't ask again," meaning until you trash your iTunes prefs, it will cease asking the question.)

Also...make sure that you've deleted the trash after deleting the files.
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User profile for user: Jolly Giant
Jolly Giant
User level: Level 7
25,464 points

May 24, 2010 1:49 PM in response to BigBirdLHS

Diane Wordsmith wrote:
If you did not see the dialog box asking if you wanted to delete from the hard drive, I think this may be one of those options where you can say "Don't ask again," meaning until you trash your iTunes prefs, it will cease asking the question.


you can bring those dialogs back. iTunes > preferences > advanced > reset all dialog warnings

J GG

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User profile for user: Diane Wordsmith
Diane Wordsmith
User level: Level 5
6,072 points

May 24, 2010 7:15 PM in response to BigBirdLHS

It was too eerie...had to ask.

The only other thing that I can think of is if the songs were iTunes Store purchases. If you deleted those from the library then synced an iPod that contained them, you would get the option to transfer purchases and they would get added back. I think you might be asked a similar question about podcasts...not positive on that and not sure about video...)
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User profile for user: macnoo
macnoo
User level: Level 1
4 points

Mar 20, 2011 12:00 PM in response to ta

I think this is the same thing I am experiencing with current iTunes.

If the files are not in the iTunes folder, then it will not ask you if you want to delete the files from the hard drive. This according to Apple support today.

So, if your music files aren't located in the iTunes media folder location, they won't be deleted from hard drive.
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Why Does my iTunes library take up so much space on my hard drive?

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