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Level 1

1 points

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

Hi guys,

I've followed several tutorials on how to get this done, as it seems so simple but it's not working on my end. I've moved the iTunes folder from the /music/ to an external hard drive. I'm opening iTunes, going to Preferences, Advanced, and replacing the iTunes Media folder location to the correct one /Volumes/Volume E/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media

I'm checking Keep iTunes Media folder organized & Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library, clicking on the "OK" button, and nothing happens.

Funny enough, Spotify finds it in seconds and I can play my music from that player instead.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Apr 27, 2012 8:43 AM

Best reply

Limnos

Level 10

411,247 points

Posted on Apr 27, 2012 9:11 AM

It sounds like you're not reading the right tutorials. You don't need to do anything to preference settings if you are moving your whole iTunes collection (library files and all folders).🙂

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.

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36 replies

Apr 24, 2013 4:09 AM in response to Ho_agapetos

I moved my iTunes library from my laptop hard drive to an external hard drive. I have a Mac system, so I'm not sure of the key sequence on Windows, but here's what I did.

1. Locate your iTunes library on your machine. In the Apple world, I think it's in your documents folder, but I'm not sure. Once you find it, go up one level from the directory where the iTunes library is (think it's the music directory), copy the whole directory structure to the external hard drive - you can always prune out what you don't want later.

2. When you go to open iTunes on a Mac, if you press the Open Apple (command) key when you click on the iTunes icon, it will prompt you to tell where the iTunes library is that you want to connect to. Pick the location on your external hard drive and then it will always be pointed there.

This worked for me when I moved it off the iMac I had to the hard drive and then when i bought a new computer and connected iTunes to that computer.

Apr 24, 2013 7:48 AM in response to turingtest2

Slight problem, folks, I'm using a PC running vista... Sorry, should have mentioned that...😢 would that change any advice?

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Apr 24, 2013 8:16 AM in response to Ho_agapetos

Ho_agapetos wrote:

Slight problem, folks, I'm using a PC running vista... Sorry, should have mentioned that...😢 would that change any advice?

No.

turingtest2

Level 10

272,821 points

Apr 24, 2013 8:43 AM in response to Ho_agapetos

What Chris said. 🙂

tt2

york026

Level 1

0 points

Apr 23, 2015 8:30 AM in response to Limnos

"Start iTunes with the option key held down and guide it to the new location of the library."

Thanks! This helped me to finally get my full library visible (inclusive all metadata) in iTuneson my freshly installed SSD, while keeping the actual files stored on my old HDD. Exactly what i needed 🙂

Jan 11, 2016 1:33 PM in response to Limnos

Pico Mitchel - you are a genius - it took me 5 seconds to update my new Mac with the old library which was on an external Hard Drive!!! - Well Done

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