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iTunes Movie Downloads

I have a bunch of movies downloaded in my iTunes library that is stored on my NAS. I needed to restore my computer and reload windows, so I opted for a clean install. Upon redownloading iTunes and pointing the library to the correct location, it shows everything I have purchased. However, it now shows that all of my movies have not been downloaded, which they have. See attached screenshot. The little blue cloud download button is next to every movie, but I know they have all been downloaded. I ran across this same issue years ago but cannot remember how to tell iTunes they have already been downloaded. Any help would be appreciated so on my next purchases, I know which ones still need to be downloaded.


Re downloading every movie is not really an option at this point considering there is over 10TB of downloads. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Windows, Windows 10

Posted on Sep 19, 2021 11:41 AM

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Posted on Sep 23, 2021 2:50 PM

In case anyone else is wondering, I finally remembered how to do this. These exact steps will only work if your entire iTunes Library and Media folders are already stored on your NAS or external hard drive. Make sure iTunes is closed. Open your windows explorer and navigate to This PC > Music and then delete iTunes ***WARNING*** - If you have not already moved your files do not delete this yet or you will delete all of your files.


Once iTunes is removed from its standard location. Hold the shift key down while launching iTunes. It will prompt you to show it where the location of the iTunes Library is. Choose the library that is stored on your NAS or External and give it a few seconds to populate everything.


Your files should now be as you left them originally and everything should be right in the world again.

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4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 23, 2021 2:50 PM in response to TheNgbaka

In case anyone else is wondering, I finally remembered how to do this. These exact steps will only work if your entire iTunes Library and Media folders are already stored on your NAS or external hard drive. Make sure iTunes is closed. Open your windows explorer and navigate to This PC > Music and then delete iTunes ***WARNING*** - If you have not already moved your files do not delete this yet or you will delete all of your files.


Once iTunes is removed from its standard location. Hold the shift key down while launching iTunes. It will prompt you to show it where the location of the iTunes Library is. Choose the library that is stored on your NAS or External and give it a few seconds to populate everything.


Your files should now be as you left them originally and everything should be right in the world again.

Sep 20, 2021 8:45 AM in response to TheNgbaka

Hello TheNgbaka,


Thank you for posting in the Apple Support Communities. We can understand how time consuming it could be to redownload over 10TB of downloads, and we'd like to share some information with you.


As it turns out, after doing a clean install, it may be expected to redownload previous iTunes purchases. Check out the iTunes User Guide below to redownload your movies. It also provides steps to have iTunes automatically check for available downloads.


Download previous iTunes purchases on PC


We hope this information is useful. Kind regards.

Sep 20, 2021 4:37 PM in response to Erin_B11

I don’t need to redownload them as they are already downloaded. My iTunes library is and has always been stored on a network location. When I point back to the location it would be too simple for iTunes to recognize the downloads are already there. I know it’s possible as I have done it before, I just cannot remember how.

iTunes Movie Downloads

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