You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: longtimemacuser666
longtimemacuser666 Author
User level: Level 1
61 points

Transfer from (very) old iTunes to new(er)

I'm moving from a very old Mac to a somewhat newer (not really brand new) Mac. I want to move all my music from the old mac to the newer Mac, without losing album art, playlists, etc.


I have about 18,000 songs, about 200 GB total, all ripped from CDs, nothing synced via cloud services (don't want/need to), the two computers side-by-side with a shared network folder (and external drives I could use to move from one machine to another if that's easier/faster).


The old computer (where all the songs are) is an old cheese-grater Mac Pro, running 10.6.8 Snow Leopard. iTunes 11.4 (18). All music files are located in: Boot Drive > Users > [UserName] > Music > iTunes > iTunes Music...


The newer computer (where I want the songs moved to) is an iMac Retina 5K, 27”, Late 2015) running Mojave 10.14.3, iTunes 12.9.2.5. All music files (there are just a few, and I don't care about them, they can be blown away if needed) are located in: Boot Drive > Users > [UserName] > Music > iTunes 1 > iTunes Media > Music...


What's the right way to do this so the playlists, organizational details/metadata I have added, etc. (including album art I've attached to things) makes the trip and all is preserved? Any gotcha's I need to watch out for and avoid?


Thanks in advance for the guidance.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Aug 24, 2020 10:46 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: ryane77
ryane77
User level: Community Specialist

Posted on Aug 26, 2020 6:58 AM

Hello again, longtimemacuser666!


It looks like that guide is no longer available, but we can provide the steps for you.

This is dependent on you having access to an external drive that is large enough to hold your iTunes Library.


First you'll want to consolidate your iTunes library.

  1. Open iTunes
  2. Click File in the Menu Bar
  3. Hover the mouse over Library, then click on Organize Library
  4. Check the box next to Consolidate files
  5. Click OK


Now, connect your external drive to your older Mac. Once it's connected and recognized, complete the following steps.

  1. Open Finder
  2. Select your Mac's hard drive in the sidebar (Macintosh HD is the usual name)
  3. Click on Music in the sidebar
  4. Select the iTunes folder and drag it to the external hard drive icon in the sidebar.
  5. If prompted, click Authenticate and enter your admin password.
  6. Click OK


*If your Mac does not see the external drive, and it's not listed in the side bar, do this: macOS User Guide: See connected disks, devices, and servers on Mac


The process of copying the folder should begin. Please note that this may take quite a bit of time due to the amount of data you have saved in your iTunes folder. So make sure your Macs are connected to a reliable power source.


Once the process has completed, you can eject the external drive from your older Mac, and connect it to the newer one. Then you can start the process of copying the folder from the external drive to the newer Mac. Or you can continue to use the external drive as your dedicated iTunes library in order to free up additional space on the new Mac.

Here's the steps to change the iTunes library so that it reads from the external drive.

  1. Quit iTunes
  2. Hold down the Option key and click iTunes to launch it
  3. A pop-up window should appear asking you to "Choose iTunes Library"
  4. Click on "Choose Library"
  5. Select the location on your external drive where you stored your copy of your iTunes folder
  6. Click OK
  7. iTunes will load the library and set it as the default location


Cheers!

View in context

Similar questions

6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: ryane77
ryane77
User level: Community Specialist

Aug 26, 2020 6:58 AM in response to longtimemacuser666

Hello again, longtimemacuser666!


It looks like that guide is no longer available, but we can provide the steps for you.

This is dependent on you having access to an external drive that is large enough to hold your iTunes Library.


First you'll want to consolidate your iTunes library.

  1. Open iTunes
  2. Click File in the Menu Bar
  3. Hover the mouse over Library, then click on Organize Library
  4. Check the box next to Consolidate files
  5. Click OK


Now, connect your external drive to your older Mac. Once it's connected and recognized, complete the following steps.

  1. Open Finder
  2. Select your Mac's hard drive in the sidebar (Macintosh HD is the usual name)
  3. Click on Music in the sidebar
  4. Select the iTunes folder and drag it to the external hard drive icon in the sidebar.
  5. If prompted, click Authenticate and enter your admin password.
  6. Click OK


*If your Mac does not see the external drive, and it's not listed in the side bar, do this: macOS User Guide: See connected disks, devices, and servers on Mac


The process of copying the folder should begin. Please note that this may take quite a bit of time due to the amount of data you have saved in your iTunes folder. So make sure your Macs are connected to a reliable power source.


Once the process has completed, you can eject the external drive from your older Mac, and connect it to the newer one. Then you can start the process of copying the folder from the external drive to the newer Mac. Or you can continue to use the external drive as your dedicated iTunes library in order to free up additional space on the new Mac.

Here's the steps to change the iTunes library so that it reads from the external drive.

  1. Quit iTunes
  2. Hold down the Option key and click iTunes to launch it
  3. A pop-up window should appear asking you to "Choose iTunes Library"
  4. Click on "Choose Library"
  5. Select the location on your external drive where you stored your copy of your iTunes folder
  6. Click OK
  7. iTunes will load the library and set it as the default location


Cheers!

Reply
User profile for user: sterling r
sterling r
User level: Community Specialist

Aug 25, 2020 6:03 PM in response to longtimemacuser666

Hello, longtimemacuser666.


It looks like you're trying to transfer all content and data related to your iTunes Library from your old Mac to your newer one. We'd be glad to provide you some guidance.


To start, these methods are designed to copy over your iTunes Library and its contents. It is possible that some data, like edited metadata, may not transfer over. Here are the guides you'll want to follow.


First, you should make sure you have everything ready to migrate.


Then you can start the migration process.


These articles will give you information on how to change your iTunes files location.

For macOS Catalina: Apple Music User Guide: Change where your music files are stored on Mac

For OS X Mojave: iTunes User Guide: Change where your iTunes files are stored on Mac


You also have the option to transfer all data and content from the older Mac to the newer one. That should ensure all the edited information will be moved over.


Cheers!

Reply
User profile for user: turingtest2
turingtest2
User level: Level 10
274,264 points

Aug 26, 2020 7:12 AM in response to longtimemacuser666

See also Move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Community. Assuming you're moving to Catalina see What happened to iTunes? - Apple Support for the changes that have taken place. Unfortunately Music doesn't migrate the iTunes artwork cache so, if possible, it might be best to ensure all artwork is embedded in your tracks before the transfer.


tt2

Reply
User profile for user: longtimemacuser666
longtimemacuser666 Author
User level: Level 1
61 points

Aug 27, 2020 9:48 PM in response to ryane77

OK, got it working.


Copied the old iTunes folder over to the new Mac. Before doing anything irreversible I stashed the existing iTunes and iTunes 1 folders (not sure how/why I had two) into a new "older iTunes folder" I created. Relaunch iTunes and it was still pointed to one of the older libraries (it only showed about a dozen songs). I Quit, held down the Option key and relaunched iTunes, it prompted me for the location of the library, I pointed it to the proper one (that I had copied over), it took a long deep breath and updated to my full collection. I'm now enjoying music. Pretty much all good.


Two minor items: when I first tried launching iTunes after moving, I got a dialog that said "Would you like iTunes to move and rename the files in your new iTunes Media folder to match the "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" preference? ("No"/Yes"). I had answered No, and it continued to point to the old (just a dozen songs) library. Not a big deal, I tried it the other way and all went well.


Album Art, Playlists, etc. and other metadata seem to be preserved (at least as far as I've seen, have not searched exhaustively). Only casualty I've noticed: it seems that every Christmas song in one playlist now has Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run displayed as the song's cover art. Hmmm. Well, I can live with that, it's an odd one and almost poetic.


So, success and moving on here. Many thanks for the help.

Reply

Transfer from (very) old iTunes to new(er)

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up