how do I copy my iTunes library to my laptop

Question

Level 1

5 points

how do I copy my iTunes library to my laptop

I have my iTunes library on my iMac. I am going on vacation and i want my music on my MacBook Air. How do I get the library to my MacBook Air?

Thanks.

iTunes-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Mar 5, 2012 11:32 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Limnos

Level 10

411,091 points

Mar 5, 2012 11:35 AM in response to mnilan

iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527

do not confuse moving your whole folder and library with moving just media files as in

iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449

Quick answer if you let iTunes manage your music: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Start iTunes with the option key held down and guide it to the new location of the library.

Reply

Answer 2

mnilan Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 5, 2012 11:43 AM in response to Limnos

Limnos:

Thanks for the quick reply. I do not see how either of the support links you refer to have anything to do with my question. To reiterate although perhaps more clearly 8^), I have all my music on my iMac and I will be on a trip (i.e., not in the same house and my iMac will be shut down so home sharing is not an option). I would like to carry my music with me on my MacBook Air. How do I get it from the iMac to the MacBook Air?

Thanks,

Mike

Reply

Answer 3

Limnos

Level 10

411,091 points

Mar 5, 2012 11:51 AM in response to mnilan

Presumably you have no music on your MBA right now?

Presumably you know how to somehow connect your MBA to your other computer for transferring files? (I'm not being rude - I have seen a MBA from a distance of 10 feet so I have no idea about interfacing them.

How much of your music was purchased from Apple? You could just download it again on the MBA if it is all from Apple.

If you want your playlists on the MBA or music you can't download from Apple, you will need to copy your iTunes library and that's what all my earlier post was about. You could just copy a ton of music files in the media folder, but when you add them to iTunes on the MBA you won't have your playlists, ratings, playcount. Maybe you don't really need those and just copying the media files will do.

The first post and my quick answer tells you how to get the complete collection on the first computer over to the second one intact. The second link is what a lot of people think they need to do but is actually the way not to do it.

Reply

Answer 4

mnilan Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 5, 2012 12:04 PM in response to Limnos

Limnos:

I do have an older copy of the music library from my iMac on the MacBook Air but it is way out of date. For example, I had my seting on iTunes set improperly so I only had 128 kps files when I first put the music from the iMac onto the MacBook Air. Now I have ALAC files for the music and I need to update the MacBook Air but I don't remember how I got them over to the MacBook Air in the first place. It would seem that your "quick" answer would be to copy the iTunes folder (probably 75 GB) over to the MacBook Air. How would I do that? The two computers are inches from each other and I do have an 802.11n wireless network but I can't see one computer from the other... and my biggest thumb drive is 4 GB...

Reply

Answer 5

Limnos

Level 10

411,091 points

Mar 5, 2012 12:08 PM in response to mnilan

That's where I am lost. That's more a MBA networking question. 🙂

Reply

Answer 6

mnilan Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 5, 2012 12:16 PM in response to Limnos

Limnos:

I've got the file sharing turned on so I can now see the iMac iTunes file on the MacBook Air. Can't fugure out how to get it from the iMac to the MacBook Air however... I assume copying the file would take place over the network (and probably take hours) but I can't figure out how to do it. When I drag the iTunes folder out of the shared iMac folder it turns into an alias that has no content...

Reply

Answer 7

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Mar 5, 2012 12:25 PM in response to mnilan

I've got the file sharing turned on so I can now see the iMac iTunes file on the MacBook Air. Can't fugure out how to get it from the iMac to the MacBook Air however

Simply drag the entire /Music/iTunes/ folder from the Finder window showing the iMac to the /Music/ folder on the MacBook.

Reply

Answer 8

mnilan Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 5, 2012 12:29 PM in response to Chris CA

Chris:

How do I do that? The Finder window on the MBA is open to the iMac shared files. how do I open another Finder window? When I click on the Finder, nothing happens... When I drag the iTunes folder to the MBA desktop, it creates an empty alias...

Mike

Reply

Answer 9

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Mar 5, 2012 12:47 PM in response to mnilan

Go to the Finder icon in the dock then Command click (or two finger tap on the trackpad) Open new Finder window.

Reply

Answer 10

mnilan Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 5, 2012 1:08 PM in response to Chris CA

Chris:

Got another Finder window open and dragged the iTunes file from the iMac to the MBA. There is now a new iTunes folder in the MBA itunes folder that is an an alias. When I click on the folder, I get an error message that says:

"The alias "iTunes" can't be opened because the original item can't be found."

My options are to "Delete Alias," "Fix Alias" or "OK". If i delete the alias, I'm back where I started. When I click "OK," nothing happens but the error message goes away. So I tried "Fix Alias." The iTunes from the iMac showed up in the finder. So I'm copying everything over to the MBA. I hope this works.

Thanks for your help.

Mike

Reply

Answer 11

mnilan Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 6, 2012 5:13 AM in response to mnilan

After hours of copying (all the files except mobile files and games, etc.), I click on a song in iTunes and get the following eror message:

"The song _____________ could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"

Options are "Cancel" and "Locate."

Locate goes back to the old version (128 kbps) file instead of the ALAC file I spent hours copying over...

Any insight or advice?
Thanks,
Mike

Reply

Answer 12

Limnos

Level 10

411,091 points

Mar 6, 2012 7:36 AM in response to mnilan

In a previous post you mentioned it copying aliases. Aliases are pointers to files, not the files themselves, and won't work in this situation. On the other hand you then say it took hours to copy over the files which doesn't sound like aliases which are tiny by comparison to ALAC files

When you open iTunes on the MBA does it look like the library from the other Mac?

It would help at this point if you read up a bit on how iTunes works with library files and media files, and specific folder structure:

What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660

More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management

iTunes 9: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847

Image of iTunes folder structure Dec. 2011 - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3547807?answerId=16923545022#16923545022