Consolidating itunes creates a massive file

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Consolidating itunes creates a massive file

My goal is to move our itunes library from the old dying laptop (PC) to the nice new one (PC). I can backup itunes (~476 GB) to the external hard drive. I discovered that when I uploaded it directly to the new laptop, many of the songs had the dreaded exclamation point and couldn't be located (lot's of them -hundreds). So then i consolidated the file on the external drive and that helped. If we are running itunes off the external hard drive, we can play all the songs that were missing before. So that's great. Phew. However the newly consolidated file on the external drive became a gigantic file (~950 GB). So it doubled in size. (We are not seeing double songs). And that is too big to load on the 1 TB hard drive of the new laptop. So. One thing we could do is install a 2TB hard drive on the new laptop. But we would prefer to shrink the size of itunes back to 476 GB. Any suggestions? Is there something I should have clicked in itunes to prevent it from becoming ginormous during the consolidation process on the external hard drive? Thanks all!

iPhone 5, iOS 10

Posted on Feb 6, 2024 8:00 PM

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Answer 1

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turingtest2

Level 10

278,895 points

Feb 7, 2024 7:34 AM in response to ksw_ut

Have you looked to see if individual album folder contain duplicate files, e.g. 01 Name.Ext & 01 Name 2.Ext, or are there redundant copies at a separate folder level that could be easily excised? See Duplicate songs in iTunes - Apple Community. You may need to import the current content of the media folder, then deduplicate the library, which could cast out the duplicate copies. Alternatively you could consolidate the media to some new media folder where there won't be any confusion over what is active and what is not, then delete all of the originals once the consolidation is complete.

When using iTunes on an external drive I recommend putting the library files at X:\iTunes, where X: is the drive letter, and the media at X:\iTunes\iTunes Media. While iTunes is supposed to support your choice of media folder too many people report issues of the media folder resetting to this default path, so it is easier to work with it if you can.

See also Move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Community.

tt2

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

278,895 points

Feb 7, 2024 11:18 AM in response to ksw_ut

Hi,

Yes, you can deduplicate the library at any time and regardless of the current designation of the media folder. You can however only deduplicate what is known to the library, so if the duplicates are scatter within the media folder but unknown to the library you can either add to the library, and then dedupe, or consolidate the known content to some other folder, using up even more space, before you can clean up manually. You still need a fairly good understanding of what is where before you start, and ideally backups. Consolidating to a brand new drive may well be the easiest approach.

tt2

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Answer 3

ksw_ut Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 7, 2024 7:50 AM in response to turingtest2

I was hoping you would answer! Thank you! I have used a different path name, so will try X:\iTunes. Also, i will try deduplicating. I assume I can deduplicate on the external hard drive? Should I do that before or after I consolidate iTunes on the external hard drive? I can't really import it to the new laptop because the file (the consolidated file) is too big to move to the new laptop internal drive. So i am stuck working with the external hard drive.

With this sentence: "Alternatively you could consolidate the media to some new media folder where there won't be any confusion over what is active and what is not, then delete all of the originals once the consolidation is complete." From where and how do i delete the originals - on the external hard drive? how will that reduce the file size? i will try to consolidate to a new media folder. thank you. It's bordering on a nightmare scenario that has lasted days :) the only comforting thing is that the original itunes on the old laptop works fine and that the ginormous consolidated file also works fine. It's just too dang big.

THANK YOU!!!!

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Answer 4

ksw_ut Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 7, 2024 7:55 AM in response to ksw_ut

oh also i followed all the instructions to a tee (except consolidating on the original computer) on the Move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Community.

thanks

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Consolidating itunes creates a massive file

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