Using iTunes with external hard drive

Question

Level 1

4 points

Using iTunes with external hard drive

I have an extensive music library, stored on an external drive, too large for my laptop and which was never downloaded to or stored within iTunes.

Can anyone explain how to access the music files on my external drive WITHOUT having the entire collection (or any part of it) download to my laptop?

To simplify matters, if necessary, I can delete the current iTunes app and start from scratch (for the second time.)

Any clues would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

MacBook Pro (Mid 2012)

OS X Version 10.11.4

iTunes 12.3.3

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on Apr 29, 2016 3:54 PM

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Answer 1

Niel

Level 10

726,749 points

Apr 29, 2016 4:05 PM in response to DD Banter

Launch iTunes with the Option key held down, create a library on that drive, and import the songs into it.

(141932)

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Answer 2

jjtrindc

Level 1

23 points

Apr 30, 2016 5:04 AM in response to DD Banter

Niel's answer is basically correct. I was in a similar situation as I did a fresh setup on a new computer and moved my entire library off the main drive to an external drive. I copied the entire iTunes folder (and sub-folders containing the media, cache, etc) to my external. Hold down the Option key and restart iTunes. It will ask you to find your library. Navigate to it and select it. Good to go. For what it's worth, your library file can exist separately from your media library as I learned when setting up multiple account for family using the same music.

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