moving iTunes library from Windows 10 PC to Music on Mac

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moving iTunes library from Windows 10 PC to Music on Mac

I copied the portable iTunes library (looks to be iTunes v12.11.4.15) onto the Mac SSD. However, when I try opening the iTunes Library.itl file either via Option-start of Music or Open With Music in Finder (also tried opening the XML backup via Finder), it basically creates a new "empty" library (Apple purchased music shows up but physical-only songs don't, ratings are gone, and no playlists).

I know I could just import all of the physical-only songs but that won't help with the star ratings or playlists (I have a lot of both).

I did notice that, at least in the iTunes Library XML backup, the track links appear to be still set to Windows paths (eg file://localhost/C:/Users/<user>/Music/iTunes/iTunes%20Media/Music/...). I don't know if that is causing an issue or not but I've run out of things I can think to try.

Any help?

MacBook Pro (M2 Pro, 2023)

Posted on Dec 23, 2023 12:01 PM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

278,263 points

Dec 23, 2023 12:28 PM in response to wilcoxon

See Move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Community. If you are moving to Monterey it may fail to convert the .itl file correctly. I can do this in Catalina via an exchange of emails if required. Check my profile here for the address.

To import the XML you would first need to edit the file so that the file paths agree with the new location (volume name instead of drive letter) and then use File > Library > Import Playlist. The downside with this method is that all Date Added details are reset.

tt2

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

278,263 points

Dec 23, 2023 12:50 PM in response to wilcoxon

Any ideas on:

How to see which songs were not imported (because the files couldn't be found)?

Not offhand.

How to bring in the rest of the star ratings?

Fix the XML such that every file location points to the correct file, then import the XML into an empty library. Or revisit the migration of the library. Are you certain that you copied the active .itl file? Sometimes this isn't on the external drive with the media and needs to be transferred separately.

Assuming you have the right .itl it is odd that Sonoma doesn't convert the library correctly. You might try sending it to me to see if Catalina fares any better. The files don't need to be present for the conversion to happen. I have advice in another post here for correcting the library if it cannot locate the media after the fact.

tt2

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Answer 3

wilcoxon Author

Level 1

15 points

Dec 23, 2023 5:52 PM in response to turingtest2

I ended up writing a little perl script to go through and check the XML locations for if files existed. There were only 3 songs missing (and 75 podcasts and 3 tv shows which I had deleted a while back - not sure why they were still referenced in the library).

I checked and the star ratings did come over okay - I had just misremembered how many songs didn't have ratings in the library.

Thanks for all your help.

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Answer 4

wilcoxon Author

Level 1

15 points

Dec 23, 2023 12:40 PM in response to turingtest2

Moving to Sonoma (forgot to mention that).

I don't really care about the date added. I tried fixing up the paths in the XML and importing and it kind of worked. It brought in the non-cloud songs, playlists, and SOME of the star ratings (seemingly random which). It also gave me a warning about "could not import all songs because they could not be located" but it did not give details on which songs were not imported.

Any ideas on:

How to see which songs were not imported (because the files couldn't be found)?
How to bring in the rest of the star ratings?

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Answer 5

turingtest2

Level 10

278,263 points

Dec 23, 2023 7:09 PM in response to wilcoxon

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2

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moving iTunes library from Windows 10 PC to Music on Mac

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