itunes media folder keeps resetting back to default

I have a similar but different issue that will not reset: Some time ago I had tried to move my iTunes folder to my Onedrive, due to the size of my iTunes library and the speed of my connection I eventually admitted defeat but now cannot get iTunes to accept the change.Every time I start iTunes and go into preferences/advanced it shows the media folder location as D:\onedrive\Music I have hit the change button and chosen the library location (D:\music) where my music, apps, videos etc. are all located. It accepts the change then on the next restart resets to the onedrive location. I have tried relocating the media, consolidating the library. On the next start it resets to the onedrive. I have held down SHIFT, started itunes and picked the library that isn't in the onedrive. On checking in preferences it had reset to the onedrive location again. I have even gone into the d:\music folder and opened the itunes folder, iTunes started automatically but it still sets the media location to the onedrive location. Everytime I add media it sticks it into the onedrive and not where I want it. Help!

Click the icon that launches iTunes and immediately press and hold down the shift key, or alt/option on a Mac. Keep holding until presented with the choose or create library option. As noted earlier see Make a split library portable - Apple Community to put your library in a shape which uses the default media path with respect to the library file (i.e. a folder called iTunes Media in the folder with the .itl file) so that this particular bug doesn't impact your library any more.

tt2

Hi there TimAbrahamson,

​Thank you for using the Apple Support Communities. I see you're running into some issues with your iTunes media folder.

If I understand correctly, you're setting the media folder location to the F drive and it seems to work as expected, but then it changes back to a folder on your C drive the next time you start iTunes. Are you using the steps here to set your location? Change where your iTunes files are stored on PC

Is the F drive external? Is it always connected to the PC?

If you quit iTunes and re-launch while holding Shift, this should bring up a list of different iTunes libraries. Do you have more than one available? I'm wondering if you may have one library that defaults to the F drive and one to the C drive.

Also, have you made sure your library on the F drive is consolidated? This is another possible factor to check into, covered here: Back up and restore your iTunes Library

I hope this helps get you started!

Kind regards.

See Make a split library portable - Apple Community. If the library is on the F: drive as well as the media, then if you accidentally launch iTunes when the drive isn't ready it cannot be opened, and the media folder won't reset. Cancel the launch, connect the drive, relaunch, and iTunes will open normally. Keep a backup on another drive.

tt2

As noted earlier see Make a split library portable - Apple Community to put your library in a shape which uses the default media path with respect to the library file (i.e. a folder called iTunes Media in the folder with the .itl file) so that this particular bug doesn't impact your library any more.

Exactly which steps need to be taken to reach the end point depend on the starting conditions. It may be best to copy your library files to D:\iTunes, access them there, reset the media folder to D:\iTunes\iTunes Media, then consolidate, and finally clean up the originals stored elsewhere. It depends if there is temporarily enough space to duplicate the entire media folder.

tt2

You can try right-clicking the iTunes shortcut and using a Run as administrator option if you have one. This can sometimes help when iTunes isn't saving preferences properly.

Can you confirm that your active iTunes Library is D:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl? If you open and close iTunes the Date Modified timestamp will be updated.

If you're running on Windows 10 then there are two alternative versions of iTunes available, one from the Microsoft Store and the old school iTunesSetup.exe installer. You might want to switch to the other version. See Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates for general advice. Links to the latest installers are now at the bottom of the page.

tt2

As noted several times this is a bug with recent releases of iTunes for Windows where the media folder location isn't saved properly. See Make a split library portable - Apple Community and manipulate your library into a portable layout that isn't affected by the bug, and is also easier to backup and move around when required. The alternative is to revert to an older build of iTunes where this preference is respected.

tt2

As noted several times this is a bug with recent releases of iTunes for Windows where the media folder location isn't saved properly. See Make a split library portable - Apple Community and manipulate your library into a portable layout that isn't affected by the bug, and is also easier to backup and move around when required. The alternative is to revert to an older build of iTunes where this preference is respected.

tt2

Start here: iTunes installers. More recent builds are now listed at the very end of the page. Offhand I cannot recall which build this first popped up in but judging from this thread you'd have to go back to at least 12.9.3.3, which won't work if you're using iOS 13. I'd still recommend switching the library into the portable layout where there is an iTunes folder containing iTunes Media. In the long run this makes backing up and moving the library around in future much easier.

tt2

As noted several times this is a bug with recent releases of iTunes for Windows where the media folder location isn't saved properly. See Make a split library portable - Apple Community and manipulate your library into a portable layout that isn't affected by the bug, and is also easier to backup and move around when required. The alternative is to revert to an older build of iTunes where this preference is respected. iTunes behaviour with NAS can be unpredictable. I would recommend keeping the primary copy of your library on a locally connected external drive in the portable layout, with NAS used to hold a backup copy.

tt2

You can use Feedback - iTunes - Apple to flag the issue up, but given iTunes amnesia over your chosen media folder it might be easiest to go with the flow and consolidate your media to L:\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media.

tt2

You can consolidate the library created this way so that the files are actually in the correct location, but the steps as given throw out all of the original playlists, ratings, date added, play counts, and so on. The process given in Make a split library portable - Apple Community does actually work, although it isn't so easy to read since a forum update mangled the formatting. I cannot edit it without making it worse, and haven't found the time to rewrite it from scratch.

tt2

Get your iCloud Music back after creating a new library.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204926

So I had this question too and this solved it. How ever. Like 95% of my music was gone after I did this and I honestly thought it was stored in the Cloud by iTunes Music. And it is. So following this help article solved it and gave me my music back.

I was panicking at first but thought I should post this here since more people might need this solution.

Good Luck!

See my post above where I gave specific instructions to convert a non-portable library into a portable one that is then unaffected by this issue. The process needs to be adapted for your own layout but in general it is possible to move a library into a more resiliant shape.

tt2