I want to put iTunes library A on HD partition A and iTunes library B on HD partition B - how do I do this please?
MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)
Drag the library to the desired location, launch iTunes with the Option key held down, and choose that library.
(111717)
Thank you Niel,
Sorry for the delay in responding, but I have been trying your suggestion - I have done this, and the library is saved on the external drive, but now I am having a different problem.
iTunes puts all files, no matter what I name them, into a library folder or Previous iTunes libraries folder and each one is named 'iTunes Library.itl' + 'iTunes Library.xml' + 'iTunes Library Genius.itdb' + 'iTunes Library Extras.itdb'
No matter what version of these iTunes library I click on, only the one I closed opens up. I alt click on opening, but since all the libraries are called iTunes Library.itl, I don't know what ones will open or which to delete!
It seems even when I use my external drive, iTunes makes a version on my home drive. I have the iTunes application in the Applications folder on my 'home' drive, but am trying to keep one library on an external drive and one on a partition on my HD. I do not want iTunes to open on my 'home' partition on my HD.
Please can you help me with this?
I can't find anything to help me in the iTunes site.
Anne
Those files all have different functions. Your "library" is really everything in the iTunes folder.
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
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
As for the startup issue you do not change libraries by starting iTunes by clicking on an iTunes file. You must start iTunes from the application icon while holding down the option/alt (not command) key and selecting a library folder or the .itl file..
Thank you - I have read the links, but they do not answer my problem. I think I have a mental blank spot about understanding how to sort this!!
(My experience with Mac started with the SE30 and OS 7 when the machine came with floppy disc installation discs and a book with chapters and an index!!! - I have problems with the language used in search engines)
I have too many recordings for my 'home' partition on my MacBook HD, so I want to put some on an external HD and some on my second partition on my MacBook HD.
I realise I need to alt click to open a library folder, but they are all called iTunes Library.itl !!
Is there a way to name them distinctly so I know which is which?
Will there still be a Library on my start-up / system disc?
(I now have so many libraries and iTunes Media files, I am having trouble checking which are duplicates and which are just 'aliases')
Thanks for your patience
Anne
1. Create folders with descriptive names and put the iTunes libraries into them.
2. Only if one's left there or iTunes can't locate the last library used.
3. Select an item in the Finder and look for a curly arrow in the bottom left corner or choose Get Info from the File menu. Any aliases will be marked as such.
(112128)
I have multiple libraries. Each library folder has a different name which I gave it when I created it. When I switch libraries I choose the library folder and my version of iTunes at least (7.5) knows to look inside that one for the library file which has to be called "iTunes Library.itl".
What a quick reply!!!
So, I had saved a library named iTunes Library 2013-12-15.itl on that date, then saved iTunes Library 2014-08-28, but the 2013 one has my recent additions in it, clicking on the iTunes logo must have opened up the older one rather than the newer one and the one I saved yesterday into a newly named folder is iTunes Library.itl !! and when I open it with alt click, it is a library from 2013! I cannot find the library with the work I did last night.
If I delete these old library files, do my Media files go with them?
The more I try to sort it out, the more confused I am.
I have loads of Music folders in Media folders and inside other music folders - I am tearing my hair out!
The music isn't in the database files; normally, it's located in the iTunes Media or iTunes Music folder in the same folder as them. It can be dragged into the currently active library from within the iTunes application.
(112129)
Thanks. Is there a way, outside of opening all the library files to know which music file is in which Library?
So, all the library files are just databases, not files?
If I delete all the library files, would that let me open a blank iTunes library and I can drop all the music files onto that.
Then I open a second Library to put all the talks onto?
1. Open and go through the iTunes Media or iTunes Music folder, or use Spotlight to search for a specific file.
2. They're both databases and files; they store the library's metadata and the index of its contents.
3. You can create blank libraries by using the Option-key shortcut described above.
(112133)
Neil and Limnos :-) Thank you both.
I'm going to trawl through all the Music and Media folders and start again with blank Libraries and delete duplicates. I'll get back to you in a few days if I'm still in trouble!!
Anne
Sorry - one more thing - can I put my Music folder on the external disc and not have it on my start-up disc?
Do I have to have the iTunes app on the external drive?
1. Yes, you can. If you do this, put the associated library on the external drive.
2. No. The iTunes application should be left on the Mac OS X boot volume.
(112135)
I want to put different iTunes libraries on separate HD partitions
