drv123

Q: About to consolidate files

I have a 736 GB iTunes Media folder on an external hard drive. I want to consolidate any media files that might be outside of the folder.

 

After I consolidate files, can I delete any media that remains outside of the iTunes folder?

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), (20-inch, Early 2009) 2.66 GHz 8 GB

Posted on Oct 1, 2016 4:40 PM

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Q: About to consolidate files

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  • by Limnos,Helpful

    Limnos Limnos Oct 1, 2016 5:04 PM in response to drv123
    Level 9 (54,321 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 1, 2016 5:04 PM in response to drv123

    Consolidate will copy any files that have entries in the iTunes library to the media folder.  You can delete the files outside the media folder but if you have any tracks that do not have entries in iTunes those will not be copied and deleting them would leave you without a copy.  Do a backup first.  I know I have media files I have not added to iTunes and deleting everything outside the media folder would leave me without a copy of those.  If you want to play it safe you can drag media files outside the folder to the Automatically Add To iTunes folder. Items placed there will be moved to the correct media folder and added to iTunes.  I think if it already has an entry it will be moved but no second entry created.