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How to move your iTunes library to an external drive
lifehacker.com — iTunes has a (deservedly) bad reputation for taking total control of your music and videos, including where they live on your computer. It wasn't always easy to move your library in past versions of the software, but happily iTunes 7 makes relocating an existing media library pretty painless - that is, with a little know-how. Here's how to get it d
theDevilsDue- 1803 diggs
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- thcobbs, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8hrrmm.... rar? zip? drag and drop?
- sjbdallas, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Yeah, not really sure this is rocket science.
- darkamster07, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12this needs a whole article!?
1. drag n' drop your itunes music folder onto anywhere on your external hard drive
2. in itunes go to preferences/advanced/general and change the location of your itunes music folder to wherever you put it on your external HD
...and that's it. anyone can do it. - kingfoot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1umm, you plug in a drive, go into itune preferences, change the location of the library to the drive, and make sure "keep my itunes library organized" is checked and "copy files to itunes music folder when adding to library", then consolidate library, and everything will be copied to the drive, and you are free delete the music from your hard drive. (typed this without reading article. also did this myself, and only by simple intuition figured out how to do this. not that hard if you can read.)
- SuperSnake2012, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1I'm pretty sure if you do it on a Mac, iTunes will automatically locate the file, since OS X indexes every single file.
- DPowers08, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Yeah, not really sure this is rocket science."
Hence the "UltraNewb" at the beginning of the title. - SoundScape, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I, sadly, struggled with this not 2 months ago. How embarrassing now that I look back on it.
To be honest, I was never worried about the music aspect of the transfer. I just wasn't sure (at the time) of where iTunes on a Mac keeps your iTunes videos, because it sure wasn't in your movies directory. - reichg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1just copy the whole music folder on to the external drive thats what i do and it works fine and the settings are all the same when i use it on the new computer for the 1st time.
- professorChaos, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2did this the last saturday took 1 1/2 hours for all 5500 songs 5 movies and 20 some episodes of southpark that includes converting some 1000 songs to work with itunes from mp3
- TheBeaver, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15What did you convert it to? iTunes reads mp3 just fine.
- raynar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Well yea, if you're gonna do that much.
- WickedDrag0oN, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I needed this 2 years ago, owell decent read anyways. Good luck for those about to take the jump. Smartest thing you can do if you use itunes.
- danielwsmithee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Even before iTunes 7 you could do this with a simple alias. Move your iTunes folder anywhere you want. Make an alias to it and put in in your music folder. Works like a charm. You can also share the same library between multiple users on the same machine with either technique by using an external drive or placing it in the /Users/Shared folder.
- WickedDrag0oN, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Ya I got around to figuring it out my self 6 months after I started building my library. It was easy enough. that was with my 250 gig 2 years ago. Its getting around time for me to upgrade that external hdd. I'm considering swapping my 250 gig out and putting a 750 gig in that external bay.
- nicc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4unless you care about ratings, etc, simply copy the iTunes directory from your user account to whatever drive you want, then point iTunes to it (in preferences).
it will automatically re-import your entire library fairly quickly (5 minutes for my 10000+ song collection).
this has worked since at least v4 - jmreid, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4Oh darn, digg this down.
- zmigliozzi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5ctrl+c ctrl+v works too.
- stizz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I threw my iTunes library on a SMB share on my Linux Server. On every mac in my network, I replaced the itunes music folder with an alias linking to the remote directory. Did the same thing for my iPhoto Library. I Love it.
- jmreid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1How does that work when someone adds a song, do the other see it?
I was under the impression that the xml file wasn't multi-user. - raynar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Should work. Basically you just have to have the same folder setup.
For example, I have a directory on my D: called MP3. I mapped a drive to it, called M: . In iTunes, I have it set to look at the M:, not the d:mp3. After that is done and I consolidate my library and run the itunes library cleaner to get rid of any excess crap, copy the library to a new folder, and hold shift when you start iTunes. Point it to the new library, and from now on, it is the default.
For other computers, just do the shift-start itunes, point it to the library (on the share), and it should be good to go. - danielwsmithee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It works fine but if you have multiple users that try to open the library at the same time you get a message saying the xml file is locked by the other user. So it works just not at the same time.
- jmreid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1How does that work when someone adds a song, do the other see it?
- dorxincandeland, on 10/30/2007, -5/+1@hablo
b& - mike67037, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4This is slick. Thanks for the digg on this, was just wondering how to do this in the near future!
- PeteLP, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2You diggers are far too cruel. What's so bad about sharing a little enthusiasm. really.
(At the time of this reply, mike67037 had been seriously dugg down)
Lighten up guys.
- PeteLP, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2You diggers are far too cruel. What's so bad about sharing a little enthusiasm. really.
- stizz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2jmreid, the xml wont let multiple users read/write at the same time. Multiple user accounts can all access the library this way, but only 1 at a time.
For both my iPhoto and iTunes library, any user with write access (meaning no other instance is running on the network) can import media and edit metadata. - Starship, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1whenever you add music, it will place a COPY of the song into the organized iTunes Library ... if you have your library on an external drive ... and you rip a CD when your computer is NOT connected to the drive, it will place the new songs in your music folder .... then when you get back, .. consolidate, and delete the stuff from your laptop (it will stay on the external hard drive ...) this also works when you drag and drop songs into iTunes from a thumb drive, or someone else's little USB Mp3 player ... rather handy ....
if you rename a song, change the artist's name, album name or whatever ... (and have the box checked for "keep my music organized") iTunes will MOVE the file to the proper new location based on it's artist, album and song name. i have 7000 songs, 100 movies and around 300 tv shows all viewed and organized through iTunes .. it's awesome. :)
if you import a song 2 times, .. or double click a song to open it ... iTunes will import it again (if you have it set to do so - but it's best to do it this way) so you can also check for duplicate songs ...
if you delete a duplicate from a playlist, it will not remove it from your library, just from the playlist.- raynar, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1"...100 movies and around 300 tv shows..."
Do people actually watch movies and tv shows on their computer? I mean, for a laptop and travel, yea, but as for daily use?
- raynar, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1"...100 movies and around 300 tv shows..."
- astrosmash, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5This tutorial isn't very accurate. You do not need to enable the "Keep music folder organized" option.
To move your collection to another drive or location, just moves the files to the new location, then go to the advanced preferences and change the "iTunes Music Folder Location". It will then scan the new location and re-fix all of the links in your library. That's it.
If your external drive is not available, iTunes will temporarily revert to the default location, so, for example, you can keep a subset of your library on your laptop for on the go. iTunes will still work (with the music that's available) and will still sync to your iPod as normal.
Also, iTunes has never had to "take control" of your library. If you want to keep your music folder manually organized uncheck the "Copy Files into iTunes Music Folder" check box. Just make sure your library doesn't end up with tracks scattered all over your hard drive. - ehelbush, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Un-check the manage my music and copy into itunes options and it becomes a referencing app again. No crisis, just move the folders and change the volume location, if you struggle with this you might want to stick to the radio.
- skwead, on 10/12/2007, -1/+21. Choose new location from Preferences
2. do Consolidate Library
How hard is that? - KyleMistry, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3This whole process requires an entire article dedicated to it? Move library folder, change location in iTunes, done. This isn't very difficult.
- smhill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Didn't you know? Digg has become a place for those who are new to the internet and computers.
Look for future articles on the front page:
• How to change icons
• How to install a mouse in 5 easy steps
• Monitors, are they right for you?
• Tutorial: Function Keys
• Introduction to the right mouse button.
- smhill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Didn't you know? Digg has become a place for those who are new to the internet and computers.
- caworden, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2435 diggs of this???
this site makes me lmao at times. - boxc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1ok.. was hoping for more from above link. this article however shows you how to merge libraries.. say the half you have on your laptop back with the main one on your disc:
http://playlistmag.com/features/2005/08/shiftitunes/index.php
How to shift iTunes libraries:Steps for coalescing your music collection on a roomier hard drive - 1KrazyKorean, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Good find for many people that didnt know how to do this :)
- bradleyland, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3"iTunes has a (deservedly) bad reputation for taking total control of your music and videos, including where they live on your computer."
Why is automating the organization of your files such a bad thing. I've heard quite a few geeks complain about this feature, but I don't understand why. Haven't you got better things to do with your time than sort and organize your music collection? Let the software do it. Go buid something useful.- dasluvaluva, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Exactly! A geek would've atleast had the proper meta data stored in the ID3 tag (after all, that's what makes for accurate searches, right?), making consolidation a cinch.
Too many geeks had to rely on sorting music themselves and never bothered with ID3 tags, so now they're screwed in the age when file names are becoming less & less important. - smhill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Agreed. If you have a lot of music, it is a huge pain in the ass to try to manage it your self. Well, not a pain, but time consuming. Screw that. There is no advantage to manually doing it. Computers are for automating simple tasks. Handling thousands of files is a perfect thing to automate.
- sam8988378, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0If the software overrules your choices, why wouldn't you be irked? Software is supposed to be helpful (as in offering choices/alternatives), not "this is the way it should be & if you want it different it will suck up your time to change it." I've gone through the iTunes library at leat 4 times unchecking at least 1/3 of 966 songs (music files only, without the ones in Cd storage). I've got better things to do but @!#$@#$ if I'm going to have iTunes (determined to store in "my music"), diminish my laptop sized computer drive to the point where system restore starts giving warnings.
Come to think of it, this whole policy of having to have the music on your ipod on your hard drive came about as a method of combating piracy. But it's pretty lame. What about people who own CD's and don't want to suck up their space to duplicate? Not a question of piracy there. Instead it becomes a question of economics. Can you afford to support the demands of the ipod?
- dasluvaluva, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Exactly! A geek would've atleast had the proper meta data stored in the ID3 tag (after all, that's what makes for accurate searches, right?), making consolidation a cinch.
- Mimizan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0All I need is a script that periodically scans for Van Morrison and forceably removes it, somehow (suspect wife as culprit) It keep re-appearing. I'd rather walk over glass with Meatloaf swinging from my stump than listen to Van Morrison... technology, don't fail me now.
- sam8988378, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0hahaha lmao
- danarel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1why is there a post about this? its such an easy thing to do, its not like you have to do anything fancy.
- robdazomba, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Wow, lifehacker is out of their gourd on this one. Those features have been around for the last couple versions of iTunes but it's phrased as if it's something new. I've long had iTunes storing my music in ways other than the default.
In fact, for the last few years, I've told iTunes to store my music in ~/Sites/ and then turn on Apache. Everyone in my company network can visit my machine and download stuff from within their web browser. - fusioned, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Trust me - YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR ITUNES LIBRARY ON AN EXTERNAL DRIVE!
If you listen to music a lot like I do, after about 6-8 months your external will start "clunking" like crazy. After 12 months, you need a new one. Keep your music on the computer and your porn/movies/pirated photoshop on the external.- klamathvx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1An external is physically no different from an internal. Whether it's music being accessed or your OS writing stuff to swap, it's the same thing. It sounds like you just had a typical drive failure.
- smhill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yea it sounds like you just got a bum drive. Any drive should be able to handle regular usage like that.
- Twango, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"taking total control of your music and videos, including where they live on your computer"
Maybe on Windows. On the Mac I keep my library where I want (shut off the management preferences), and rip where I want. But, then, I don't use the "Store", just the program. - alansky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The method described is unnecessarily complicated. On a Mac, one need only (1) quit iTunes, (2) physically copy the entire iTunes folder to its new location and (3) Launch iTunes while pressing the Option key and navigate to the new location. Assuming that iTunes opens and displays your music library correctly, you may now delete the original iTunes folder from your Home directory.
Note that keeping your primary iTunes folder on an external hard drive leaves you without a backup copy. - rbridenb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I put my itunes Library on a 1TB NAS (Infrant ReadyNAS), so I can play music on on the miniMac for the home theater, and on my office Windows PC, no problems
- GeoNine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Enough people already said this, but I uhhhh drag and drop. This is why I just dint think that Apple lives up to all the hype. They do seem really nice compared to Windows but well that's not saying much.
- sam8988378, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0drag & drop is the way (apologies to Jack Mangin's "Deapan" podcast for stealing his theme). The only problem is auto alpha-numeric sequencing.
- superpixel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1tuaw did a better job as well:
http://www.tuaw.com/2006/09/19/how-to-keep-your-itunes-library-on-an-external-hard-drive/ - skillzville, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0yeah no ***** ive been doing this for the last couple months
- kirakun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Isn't it just easier to use rsync?
- bigboylive2008, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It works. I got my ipod fixed. lol. I didn't know about this. I am happy. Thank you.
- Moviespo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1But what if I have all my music on my i~pod and just use the ipod rip software to transfer it..
You get a free full free working demo....
http://www.thelittleappfactory.com/application.php?app=iPodRip - sam8988378, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" is checked,"
For my own perverse reasons (no other mp3 player was ever such a bully, no machine is gonna be the boss of me, etc.), I prefer to keep my music folder and not cede dominion of my music/video files without a reason stronger than "my ipod only wants to play with its buddy iTunes, and iTunes won't play unless it can make all the rules". That should be a bloody nose on any playground. Itunes has welcome access to my music files, but I resent it having to keep them in it's own folder.
"as well as "Keep iTunes Music folder organized."
Am I the only one who doesn't give an expletive deleted about reviewing the history of the music I'm trying to reach? If I want to hear music, I don't care if my Minor Threat Music came from Out of Step, In My Eyes, or some compilation. I want to see a long list of Minor Threat without having to add the etra clicks of opening folder after folder. Hey, its my computer, and has been functioning well with the "everything out" system of viewing what's there at a glance (Yes, I do have another mp3 player which is happy to comply with "drag and drop").
Sure it was irksome to move iTunes to the external drive (as well as time-consuming: the endless "determining the playback gap", then adding a separate folder for my podcasts aquired from Juice and having to wait through same. The "you have connected to a different computer. ..can only be synced to one computer. Itunes can erase the ipod and resync to this computer" message is especially maddening. But after all this was accomplished, I discovered that iTunes was still storing the iTunes aquired podcasts (all 758,000+ MB), on my main (laptop-sized) hard drive.
I hear older women speak about "managing" their irascible, entitled husbands. "Just give them food when they expect, let them read the newspaper in peace, pick up their dirty clothes, and they are just fine" they say. Pffft! The iTunes/Ipod combo apparently needs just as much managing/humoring. Eeesh, software with the demands of an elderly spouse? I've been checking out Yamipod and Sharepod for alternatives.
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