Apple Music Library Backup

Question

Level 1

4 points

Apple Music Library Backup

Hello,

I copied my iTunes Media folder and moved it to my external drive, to backup my library, but not all of my files made it.

I have 35.77 GBs of songs, but only 16.48 GBs of songs were copied.

Is there a reason not all of my songs made it over? I imagine that purchased music is savable, but what about the physical files I put into my iTunes? Or what about the music that's in my library via Apple Music subscription? Any help or insight I can get on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ryan

Posted on Jan 20, 2024 10:59 AM

Reply

Answer 1

ed2345

Level 9

63,632 points

Jan 21, 2024 6:09 AM in response to RyanSharer

Hi Ryan,

One possibility is that many of your files were located outside your currently-designated Media folder. This can easily happen, depending how the library has been built up over the years.

If that is the case, run Consolidate first, to get everything into the same Media folder, and then do the backup.

Consolidate is described in here: Move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Community

Reply

Answer 2

ed2345

Level 9

63,632 points

Jan 23, 2024 8:48 AM in response to RyanSharer

RyanSharer wrote:

Hey there!

Thanks for the response. I consolidated my files, but the size of my folder stayed the same, so I’m not sure it did anything. The checkbox below the consolidate checkbox is grayed out and non-selectable. Any ideas?

Ryan,

Examine your folders and see if you have music that is not in the Media folder. Given the numbers you mention, it may be gobs of stuff and might be easy to spot in Finder. Anything interesting?

Reply

Answer 3

RyanSharer Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 23, 2024 5:37 AM in response to ed2345

Hey there!

Thanks for the response. I consolidated my files, but the size of my folder stayed the same, so I’m not sure it did anything. The checkbox below the consolidate checkbox is grayed out and non-selectable. Any ideas?

Reply

Apple Music Library Backup

Similar questions