Moving iTunes Library to External Hard Drive & Finding iTunes Media Location

Evil Pants, you say "Unfortunately, that's not checked"... but if that option is not checked, that's the problem. That option needs to be checked if you want iTunes to copy files when you add them to iTunes. So, just check it.

Ok! That worked! Wow! I've done this a dozen times, and for some reason I was remembering it wrong. That doesn't created a duplicate of the file on my computer does it? I don't have the space for that.

Regardless, thank you so much. Really appreciate the help.

It does create a duplicate. The file is COPIED to the iTunes media location, so after the files have been successfully copied and imported into iTunes, you need to trash the original files from your desktop or wherever. That is how the setting has always behaved.

@Mike Johnson12, yea we shouldn't continue this line of discussion, it may help others who encounter the same issue which is somewhat related to the original post, but it's now answered and this thread should stay on more of the original topic.

carlosian wrote:

I currently have all my media (music, tv show, movies, books) in a 1TB external hard drive. iTunes reads all the files perfectly from this HDD. I'm running out of space and would like to transfer all my music files to a seperate HDD. Will the method listed above work?

You can either direct iTunes to use a new media folder on the new hard drive and then consolidate the library (in which case iTunes copies all the files to the new location and you manually tidy up the originals in Finder when it has finished) or see the post make a split library portable to put your library in a shape where you can then move the entire iTunes folder from one path to another without breaking it. This shape has the advantage that a clone of the entire iTunes folder is a fully working library making it, in my opinion, the ideal form of backup.

tt2

Evil Pants wrote:

Ok! That worked! Wow! I've done this a dozen times, and for some reason I was remembering it wrong. That doesn't created a duplicate of the file on my computer does it? I don't have the space for that.

Regardless, thank you so much. Really appreciate the help.

While I agree it is less confusing for others if you start your own thread when you have a different problem from the the one that started the thread we're here now....

If you don't want iTunes to make copies of things that you add to the library then place them in the media folder first. Either by putting them in the Automatically add to iTunes folder, or exactly where you want them if you have issues with the way iTunes organizes things. Ideally all content connected to iTunes should be inside the iTunes Media folder, which in turn shoud be inside the main iTunes library folder, as this makes backing up or relocating the library to a larger drive easier. That said, with the Copy... option turned off you can choose to keep large files at a secondary location, if that is what you want, but you have to remember to keep them there and backup them up separately.

tt2

THIS little trick of holding down the Option key when starting iTunes and then directing the system to the right location saved me a TON of time!!! Thanks - I have my iTunes library on an external drive and have moved the drive to a new computer - this did the trick, thanks!

Dominic

Hello i have just bought an 2T external drive and I did as Limos said:

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.

and it worked while i had my computer on, as soon as i re started and open itunes a message appear :that the itunes library is not found

Do i have to Start iTunes with the option key held down and guide it to the new location of the library

every time i start my computer?

Did i do something wrong?

thank you!

CESJA wrote:

... Do i have to Start iTunes with the option key held down and guide it to the new location of the library every time i start my computer?

No.

Did i do something wrong?

Your external drive must be ready and accessible from Finder before you attempt to start iTunes.

tt2

Thank you turingtes2, it worked, now i Know i have to open the exernal drive with finder first. THX!!!!

There is probably some magic sauce that you can throw at the Mac to make sure the drive is accessible automatically at start-up and doesn't go to sleep. Sadly I don't as yet own a Mac so it's not something I've personal experience with. Offhand I don't know where to look it up either.

tt2

Hi, I keep reading these posts and I have to say that I think I may be going a abit mad here...I keep trying to open iTunes whilst holding down the option key, but iTunes just keeps opening normally. I have tried everything I can to get around it but cannot get to the dialogue where you specify the library you want to use.

I have followed all previous steps, backed up my old library, copied via my home network into the Music folder...now I just need to import it.

Help!

Click the icon to start iTunes and immediately press and hold down the option key (shift for Windows). Keep holding until prompted to choose or create a library. if iTunes opens without that prompt close and try again.

tt2

yayy finally found something that may help me out. My iTunes library is sucking my memory up and I was worried I wouldn't be able to move it.

I have two external drives, one is 1TB for the purposes of moving my iTunes library and the other is 500gb and I'm using that for back up, both usb G drives. I will take all your wonderful advice and try and figure this all out.

Dear Carlosian,

I am a starter in the iTunes world and I want to get to where you were when you posted that message.

I have run out of space on my laptop and I want iTunes media files to be stored on an external drive. I don't mind having the library itself on my laptop, as it takes up next to no space.

You'd think that would be simple but I've been advised to do it via preferences or by holding shift when opening itunes in order to relocate the library. Neither work. Via preferences I end up with two locations for the media: laptop and hard drive! Via 'shift and open', the library and its playlists end up on the hard drive but the media remains firmly located on the laptop. Which is pointless, because by the time I'd have transfered a quarter of my mp3 collection to iTunes my laptop would be full.

Can you remember how you set it up so as to get the actual songs themselves on an external?

I'd be so grateful!

Easy method 1:

Move or Copy entire working library from current location to the root of your external drive. Press & hold down shift as you click the icon to start iTunes. Click Choose when prompted, then browse to ..\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl on the external. If you copied the library across then test your new library works properly after renaming the original folder, before deleting the original folder to recover space.

Easy method 2:

If you haven't really started to build your library. Press & hold down shift as you click the icon to start iTunes. Click Create. Browse to the root of the external drive. Drag your media into ..\iTunes\iTunes Media\Automatically Add to iTunes.

Complex method:

Required if you've already tried other things and now have media & library scattered around. See the post make a split library portable.

tt2