Have Apple Music recognize local files instead of trying to download from cloud

I had my previous iTunes/Music app pointed to a directory under Dropbox (e.g. home/Dropbox/Music/). Underneath that Music directory, all the albums and songs are organized the way iTunes wanted it. (e.g. Dropbox/Music/Music/artist name/album name/01 song title )

After getting my laptop back for a keyboard replacement the drive is wiped and I would like Music to point to the directory again. However, I've tried selecting the directory under Preference > Files as well as launching Music and holding option and trying to "Choose Music Library". In both cases, I see my entire list of music but selecting "Get Info" on any song shows the location as "cloud". If I turn off Wifi as a test, any music in the list doesn't play indicating that it doesn't know about the local version of the file.

Question: is there way to get Music to recognize my old folder as its local music folder so that I can access this music without being online?

Posted on Oct 16, 2021 2:03 AM

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Oct 17, 2021 8:06 AM in response to iqra210

Hello iqra210,


Thanks for reaching out through the Apple Support Communities about getting your Music library set back up.


Have you already verified that your music has been downloaded to your Mac via Dropbox?


Are you an Apple Music or iTunes Match subscriber?


The following articles may also help with that process:


Import music from a computer to Music on Mac


Change where your music files are stored on Mac


Take care.

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Have Apple Music recognize local files instead of trying to download from cloud

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