Moving iTunes library from C: to D: drive with ratings, playlists, etc

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Moving iTunes library from C: to D: drive with ratings, playlists, etc

I bought a new computer and was able to migrate my library from old computer to new computer just fine. However, new computer has a 500GB C: drive and a 1.0TB D: drive, so I needed to migrate my 113GB music library to the D: drive. I copied the entire iTunes folder and moved it to a new folder I named Music on my D: drive. Seems to have worked fine, but I no longer see playlists, ratings, play counts, etc. Would be a nightmare to have to start over with all of that. I see the following three files did come over with the library: "iTunes Library Extras.itdb", "iTunes Library Genius.itdb" and "iTunes Library.itl".

I looked around for a simple fix but couldn't find one. Anyone know how I can fix this issue? I still have the music library on my C: drive at this time as well.

Windows, Windows 10

Posted on Feb 18, 2022 9:16 AM

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Answer 1

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turingtest2

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Feb 18, 2022 10:14 AM in response to false1one

See Make a split library portable - Apple Community. It should be a case of copying the library as is from the C: drive to D:\ as D:\iTunes, then press and hold down shift as you launch iTunes, click choose, then browse to and open D:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl.

tt2

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Answer 2

false1one Author

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Feb 20, 2022 5:37 PM in response to turingtest2

Well, I added that Music folder to change the path to D:\iTunes Music\Music\[Artist]\[Album]\[Song] and shift-started iTunes to load the library on the D: drive. The "Reorganize files..." is still greyed out.

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Answer 3

turingtest2

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Feb 20, 2022 9:43 AM in response to false1one

I would expect to see an additional Music folder below iTunes Media before the artist folder. IF you use File > Library > Organize Library is the box for Rearrange Files greyed out or clickable?

You should be able to use my script FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes. See this post for an explanation of how it works. It might need some tweaking if your media is in a non-standard layout.

tt2

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Answer 4

turingtest2

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Feb 21, 2022 2:25 AM in response to false1one

See Move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Community for the approach I recommend for moving a working library from one computer to another.

The Make a split library portable - Apple Community user tip has details on the typical layout of the library. Rearrange files is a one way option that changes from the old iTunes 8 and earlier layout that put artist folders inside the designated media folder to the iTunes 9 and later layout that has a separate subfolder for music, separating it from movies, TV shows, podcasts, audiobooks, etc. The media folder is the storage location declared under Edit > Preferences > Advanced. When the Rearrange files box is greyed out it means iTunes is using the new layout, and there isn't a way to revert to the old one. This is what you want to see.

I suspect you made a mistake somewhere, or you would still have the ratings, playlists, play counts etc. even if the library had broken links. The links can be repaired, but you need to go back and grab a copy of the .itl file that has the other information.

tt2

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Answer 5

false1one Author

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Feb 18, 2022 1:03 PM in response to turingtest2

Thank you very much for responding, and so quickly. I was able to follow the instructions (shift+launch > choose > browse > open .itl file), but that didn't solve the problem. A few things:

I have other folders (e.g. Amazon Music) that contain songs that are in my iTunes library but not in the iTunes folder specifically.

My library layout appears to be much different that the views in your linked post. For example, the path for music in my library is now D:/iTunes/[Artist Name].

Thoughts on whether one of these two variables could be causing my problem?

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Answer 6

turingtest2

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Feb 18, 2022 1:33 PM in response to false1one

Can you revert to your previous iTunes Library.itl? Given your description of events it is possible you weren't using the copy in <User's Music>\iTunes? Scan your Music folder for all files of the form *.itl. The largest recently modified version should be your active library. A common occurrence is using a file in the Previous iTunes Libraries folder following an incident where the library is empty after an upgrade. What is the path to your active .itl file?

Assuming you've found it you should clean out the iTunes folder on the D: drive, then copy the active library database, its supporting .itdb files and the Album Artwork folder into the empty D:\iTunes folder. Shift-start iTunes to connect to this copy of the library. Confirm it has your playlists and content plays. Now use Edit > Preferences > Advanced to reset the media folder to D:\iTunes\iTunes Media. Finally use File > Library > Organize Library > Consolidate Files (and Rearrange Files if available) to get iTunes to copy all the content from its current location into the new media folder. I'm assuming you're happy to pull everything into the standard layout rather than keep Amazon Music in a separate folder for example.

tt2

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Answer 7

false1one Author

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Feb 18, 2022 1:59 PM in response to turingtest2

Thank you. I'm trying not to be remedial, so sorry for all the follow up questions.

So the current .itl file came over from my old PC to new PC just fine (validated after data migration) sat in C:\Users\[user name]\Music\iTunes. I see that it is showing a Date Modified of today's date, and a Size of 5.45 MB.

The .itl file that appears to have come over when I copied the library to the new drive on the same computer is D:\Music\iTunes. This .itl file shows a date modified of yesterday and a size of 216 KB.

Since I was testing and playing songs in iTunes today, and the old .itl shows a date modified of today and the new one doesn't, perhaps iTunes is still updating that file on the C: drive? Can I just copy/paste that file and overwrite the one on the D: drive? And how do I ensure that iTunes is using the proper .itl file?

Again, a thousand thanks for your clearly expert help.

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Answer 8

turingtest2

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273,241 points

Feb 18, 2022 4:49 PM in response to false1one

I was suggesting you ignore what you've done so far in D:\Music and start with a fresh attempt in D:\iTunes. If you've copied the iTunes folder from the C: drive to the D: drive (or copied the library files across) then the size of the two .itl files should be the same. You can manually copy the .itl and .itdb files over now if required. If you have an Album Artwork folder on the D: drive delete it, then copy over the Album Artwork folder from the C: drive in to the iTunes folder on the D: drive. Now shift-start-iTunes and keep holding until you see the prompt to choose or create a library. When you select the copy of the .itl file on the D: drive you should find that all of your songs and playlists are contained in it. You can now reset the media folder, then consolidate the content to the new media folder location.

tt2

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Answer 9

false1one Author

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Feb 19, 2022 9:22 AM in response to turingtest2

I copied the large .itl file from C: and overwrote the file on D: so the files are now identical in size. I shift-started iTunes, selected the new .itl on D: but unfortuantely I did not get a new result. :( Any other suggestions?

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Answer 10

false1one Author

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Feb 20, 2022 8:53 AM in response to turingtest2

Well, starting over fresh ended up with the same result.

I tried to shift-start and point iTunes back to the library on my C: drive and now when I click on individual songs I get a "The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"

When I click on that song's info it shows file://localhost/C:/Users/[user]/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/[artist]/[album]/[song]

So it appears to be pointed to the original location. I can't really imagine what I'm doing wrong.

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Answer 11

turingtest2

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Feb 20, 2022 12:20 PM in response to false1one

If Rearrange files is greyed out that means that iTunes is expecting to find content in the form <Media Folder>\Music\<Artist>\<Album>\## <Name>.<Ext>. You can create that folder if it doesn't exist, and move all your artist folders down into it (leaving other media kinds such as Movies, Podcasts, TV Shows etc. where they are) or open the hidden .iTunes Preferences.plist file in the media folder and change the integer value from 1 to 0, save and then launch iTunes.

tt2

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Answer 12

turingtest2

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273,241 points

Feb 20, 2022 6:45 PM in response to false1one

It is meant to be. Is iTunes able to play your music now? If not, and you try to locate one track when prompted, is iTunes able to find others?

Looking at the path you give - D:\iTunes Music\Music\[Artist]\[Album]\[Song] - something is still off from the standard layout. I would expect the path to be D:\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music\[Artist]\[Album]\[Song] where the media folder is set to D:\iTunes\iTunes Media and the .itl file is D:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl.

tt2

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Answer 13

false1one Author

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Feb 20, 2022 9:26 PM in response to turingtest2

iTunes was not able to play my music after the prior change.

I just added/manipulated folders so I now have the exact path you laid out above. iTunes still would not play music after shift-starting and pointing to the .itl file in the udpated path. I was able to use the "locate" feature and iTunes was able to find other songs independently thereafter.

Even after finding songs, that "Reorganize files" box is greyed out and I still don't have ratings, playlists, artwork, etc.

What is the "media file" you mention above?

I'm wondering if I should just wipe everything out and start over by copying from the backup on the old computer. If you think that might be the best approach, do you have a procedure you recommend? I'm a little surprised I can't just copy/paste to the new computer, and then to the new drive. Unless I somehow messed that up.

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