Hi;
I am turning over a laptop to someone else at work. I have been using my personal account for my iTunes music library and it is connected to iCloud. How do I erase my songs on this computer without affecting my other devices?
Chris
MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)
Transfer your library to another computer. When you sync it will be looking for that library.
Moving a library: Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its sub-folders and files) intact to the other drive, hold down the option/alt key while starting iTunes, and when requested to select a library select the iTunes Library.itl file in the copied folder.
When this is to a new computer put the copied iTunes folder in the default location of Macintosh HD > Users > *User Name* > Music (or Home > Music) then you don't even need to start with the option key held down, iTunes will automatically look for it there. (Make sure there isn't anything already in the iTunes folder there that you want to keep since you will be replacing it with the one you are moving.) Remember to authorize the computer in iTunes to your Apple ID if you use this to sync to Apple mobile devices or play DRM protected media (e.g., movies).
Ideally you should then restore the computer to like-new condition.
Linc Davis Feb. 2016 post on restoring computer to new condition - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7447000?answerId=29726244022#29726244022
Transfer your library to another computer. When you sync it will be looking for that library.
Moving a library: Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its sub-folders and files) intact to the other drive, hold down the option/alt key while starting iTunes, and when requested to select a library select the iTunes Library.itl file in the copied folder.
When this is to a new computer put the copied iTunes folder in the default location of Macintosh HD > Users > *User Name* > Music (or Home > Music) then you don't even need to start with the option key held down, iTunes will automatically look for it there. (Make sure there isn't anything already in the iTunes folder there that you want to keep since you will be replacing it with the one you are moving.) Remember to authorize the computer in iTunes to your Apple ID if you use this to sync to Apple mobile devices or play DRM protected media (e.g., movies).
Ideally you should then restore the computer to like-new condition.
Linc Davis Feb. 2016 post on restoring computer to new condition - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7447000?answerId=29726244022#29726244022
Hi Limnos;
What I need to do is delete the songs on this computer without affecting my other devices. I do not need to transfer.
Thanks;
Chris
You should deauthorize the computer in iTunes. Your library is in Music > iTunes so if you delete that folder it should be gone. It depends upon how tightly media location was controlled. People with questions here asking about manipulating large libraries often report a small % of items somehow make it onto other parts of their computer.
iTunes Store: Authorize or deauthorize your Mac or PC - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1420 - and another helpful post: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3798085?answerId=17828050022#17828050022
Thanks Limnos for heading me in the right direction. I had to trash the folders twice; don't know why it didn't work the first time. Even after trashing and restarting, the songs were still listed in My Music; I selected them all and deleted them. That seems to have done the trick.
Once again, thank you.
Deleting iTunes on one computer without affecting other devices
