Apple Intelligence now features Image Playground, Genmoji, Writing Tools enhancements, seamless support for ChatGPT, and visual intelligence.

Apple Intelligence has also begun language expansion with localized English support for Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. Learn more >

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.

📰 Newsroom Update

Apple Music expands live global radio offering with three brand-new stations. Learn more >

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

Harry Author

Level 4

1,026 points

Pointing Library to Music for new Mac Questions

Background: I upgraded to a new Mac and decided to start 100% fresh since it's been many years since my last new computer. I'm now at the point I need to set up Music app and want to make sure I'm linking it to my external drive correctly. My music is already organized in a Music folder.

Questions:

1) To correctly relink my music library to Music do I only need to go to Music -> Preferences -> Files and then change the folder location to my Music folder on my external drive? Should "Keep Music Media folder organized be checked? I assume "Copy files to Music Media folder when adding to library" should be checked for when I add new music later. Correct? Do I need any Music/iTunes files from my old Mac or will everything link up and show my original import dates, etc?

2) To re-establish my playlists I can just import the .XML files from my previous Mac?

3) I also use my Mac to sync my iPhone and iPad. The Mobile Applications folder w/ old iApps is in my Music folder. Since Music no longer manages iPhone app syncing and backup I assume I can delete this folder. No file is newer than 2017.

Thanks!

Posted on Mar 30, 2022 4:51 AM

Top-ranking reply

turingtest2

Level 10

274,788 points

Posted on Mar 30, 2022 5:58 AM

See Move your iTunes/Music library to a new computer - Apple Community for general advice.

Changing the media folder doesn't add content to the library, it tells the application where to store new content in future. Keep... rearranges files in response to metadata edits. Copy... makes copies of additions to the library inside the media folder if the source is outside the media folder. I recommend both are enabled unless you really understand why you want them to be different, and are prepared for the future difficulty you may have moving or fixing the library.
You can import an exported XML file to rebuild playlists, provided the file paths match in the two systems. Date added information will reset to the import date. Migrating the library properly should preserve this information.
Correct, the Mobile Applications folder has been pretty much redundant since iTunes 12.7.

tt2

View in context

Pointing Library to Music for new Mac Questions

Similar questions