Apple Music / iTunes Storage Differs from Finder

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ringo1992 Author

Level 1

4 points

Apple Music / iTunes Storage Differs from Finder

Hi Everyone-

When I open Apple Music (aka iTunes) and click on the album view at the bottom of the screen it says I'm using 155GB of storage.

However, when go to my Music folder and "Get info" (command i on my Mac) it says I'm using 359GB of storage, over twice as much. There are a number of sub folders in the Music folder, but the largest one is "iTunes" and it's 356GB. (The Amazon MP3 folder comes in second with 2GB.) Inside the "iTunes" folder there are a few other folders but the biggest one is "iTunes Music" at 342GB. Inside that are all the albums and music files.

I checked duplicate songs (file -> library -> show duplicate items from the song tab) and there is nothing out of the ordinary there.

Any ideas on why there is such a big difference between the 155GB Apple Music is reporting and the 350+ GB finder is reporting? It would be great to cut out 200GB of waste.

Thanks for your help!

iMac 27″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Apr 3, 2022 8:09 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

ed2345

Level 9

62,846 points

Apr 4, 2022 6:44 AM in response to ringo1992

Ringo,

You have a lot of files in Finder that iTunes/Music does not know about.

They might be duplicates of ones you have in library, or they may be songs you wish you had in your library.

Poke around and see what you have. To see which file Music is referencing, right-click the track and choose Show in Finder. That is the copy Music cares about. If there is another copy of the same song elsewhere, Music does not need it. In the latter case, you may find entire folders full of stuff you don't need and you can delete them.

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Answer 2

ringo1992 Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 6, 2022 8:54 PM in response to ed2345

Thank you! I sorted all my album folders in the music folder by size and the two largest ones were "movies" and "tv shows". All were bought on iTunes and stored in the music folder. when I moved those out the storage in Music and Finder match. Appreciate your help!

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Answer 3

ed2345

Level 9

62,846 points

Apr 7, 2022 7:58 AM in response to ringo1992

ringo1992 wrote:

Thank you! I sorted all my album folders in the music folder by size and the two largest ones were "movies" and "tv shows". All were bought on iTunes and stored in the music folder. when I moved those out the storage in Music and Finder match. Appreciate your help!

Ringo - You are welcome. Enjoy the music!

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