Deleting songs from iTunes but keeping on iPod

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Level 1

11 points

Deleting songs from iTunes but keeping on iPod

I am running out of space on my Macbook (OS 10.4.11). It is mainly because most of my memory is being taken up by my iTunes library (I have over 24,000 songs) They are already on my iPod, so I would like to delete most of the songs from my computer (have them backed up on an external drive also). But I don't want to lose them on my ipod. What do I need to do to be able to delete certain songs from my computer but keep them on my ipod.

Thanks!

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.11), ipod classic 160 GB

Posted on Sep 4, 2012 6:12 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 9, 2017 5:08 PM in response to ibwusvnw

So stupid. I have a "voice memo" that i created and it now automatically plays in iTunes... I don't want to delete the voice memo, but I don't want it to play in iTunes. I have to choose between it permanently being on my computer or deleting it in it's entirety? Could there not just be an option to "delete from iTunes only"??? Why MUST the two be linked?

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

278,263 points

Nov 9, 2017 6:40 PM in response to Fyremunky

Uncheck the file in question. This will cause it to be skipped during shuffle or track to track playback.

tt2

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Answer 3

Sep 4, 2012 11:03 PM in response to ibwusvnw

Hi,

You will lose songs next time you sync your iPod as the songs need to be in your library on your computer.

Jim

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

278,263 points

Sep 5, 2012 1:10 AM in response to ibwusvnw

Four options:

Move the entire iTunes library to your external drive. Keeping the library together as a unit makes subsequent backing up and migration to a new system much easier.
Relocate part of your library to a secondary drive using the script Re-locate Selected. This is ideal if you have a laptop and want, for example, to be able to leave your movies behind on an external drive while still having some or all of your music with when you leave the external behind.
Switch to manual management of your iPod and delete stuff from your library. This means you lose the benefit of being able to manage the device while it isn't connected to iTunes by managing the playlists that sync to it, syncing of ratings & play counts, and makes it much harder to restore the device should the need arise.
You could delete the physical files in the iTunes Media folder but keep the entries in the iTunes database and sync as normal. iTunes will give a warning (which you can disable) that it could not sync the missing files, but it will leave the existing copies on the device. While this works it again makes the process of restoring the device if & when the need arises that much more complicated.

I'd go with option 1 and get another external drive to serve as a backup.

tt2

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Answer 5

ibwusvnw Author

Level 1

11 points

Sep 8, 2012 1:54 PM in response to turingtest2

Great! Thanks for the suggestions. I think I am going to try #2 since I would like to keep a couple 100 songs on the computer just for when I do want to play something. I just bought a Toshiba 320 GB external hard drive. Before I give it a try, one more question - does doing this mean I will lose all my playlists on my ipod?

I haven't had much time to look at the website you provided in #2, anything else I should know before doing this?

Thanks so much for the help,

James

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Answer 6

turingtest2

Level 10

278,263 points

Sep 8, 2012 3:10 PM in response to ibwusvnw

griffin.jamesp@gmail.com wrote:

Before I give it a try, one more question - does doing this mean I will lose all my playlists on my ipod?

No. Your playlists should be OK.

tt2

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Answer 7

ibwusvnw Author

Level 1

11 points

Sep 17, 2012 5:57 PM in response to turingtest2

Unfortunately I can not use the link you provided because it requires iTunes 10, and for some reason my computer says my software is all up to date and therefore I can't get 10, I have iTunes 9.

So I found this article (http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive/) and have tried to follow it to transfer the songs over, including consolidating the files, etc. but nothing seems to work. I would appreciate any help someone could give me.

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