Where Is Itunes Library Music Store On Mac
After decades of digital music, it's not unlikely if you've amassed quite the collection of music on your computer's hard drive. If your iTunes library is taking up too much space, you can move it off of your local drive and onto an external hard drive without breaking your music collection.
You can also transfer your entire iTunes library from one computer to another if you are migrating to a new Mac.
- Jan 04, 2020 By default, that location is C:usersusername MusiciTunes. That folder stores the iTunes library file, which is a database of all your iTunes content, along with other files. Your content.
- Jan 20, 2020 If you are curious and you would like to find out the iTunes library location on Windows or Mac, we have you covered. The following guide shows you the locations of the folders where iTunes stores your music and other media files on your computer’s storage.
- Apr 16, 2017 Launch iTunes with the Shift key held down and create or choose a library on the card. It needs to have enough room to store the library, and if it's transported between computers, any rented movies in the library will only play on the computer they were downloaded to.
- Oct 14, 2019 Don't mourn for iTunes. Here's how to now listen to music on MacOS. Once you upgrade to MacOS Catalina, iTunes gets the heave-ho. Luckily, your music stays.
Before you start: Back up your Mac
Where Is Itunes Library Music Store On Mac Free
Before making major changes to your computer, it's always a good idea to back up your data: The best way to back up your Mac is with a Time Machine routine in place, but you can choose an alternate backup option that's right for you.
Find My Itunes Library
In the Music app on your Mac, choose Music Preferences, then click Files. Deselect the checkbox next to “Copy files to Music Media folder when adding to library.” From now on, when you drag a file to your library, the item appears in Music, but the actual file isn’t copied or moved.
What you will need
You will, of course, need the computer your iTunes library is currently on. You will also need the following:
- An external hard drive (and power source, if applicable)
- A USB cable to connect the hard drive to your original Mac
- A power source for your original Mac
- If you're moving to a new computer, your new Mac (and its power cable)
Step 1: Consolidate your library
Over time, it's easy for your music, movies, apps, and other iTunes content to end up stored in various places throughout your computer's hard drive. To ensure that you copy everything from iTunes over to an external hard drive, you should first consolidate your library. Even if you think your library has all your information consolidated already, it can't hurt to do a manual check before moving any data.
- Launch iTunes on your Mac.
Click File in the upper left corner of your Mac's screen.
- Hover your cursor over Library in the dropdown menu.
Select Organize Library from the secondary menu.
- Tick the box for Consolidate Files in the window that appears.
Click OK.
This process makes a copy of all files in the iTunes media folder, and leaves the original files in their current location.
Step 2: Move your iTunes Library to an external hard drive
- Quit iTunes.
- Connect your external hard drive to your computer using a USB cable.
- Click on Finder to open a Finder window.
Select your Mac's hard drive.
- Click on the Music folder.
Select iTunes and drag it to the external hard drive.
- Click Authenticate when prompted to give permission to move the iTunes folder.
- Enter your administrator password.
Click OK.
This process could take upwards of an hour or two, depending on how much data stored in your iTunes library.
Step 3: Redirect iTunes to the new location
Once you've transferred a copy of your iTunes library onto an external hard drive, you will need to set a new path for the iTunes app by redirecting it to search the external hard drive for content, rather than your local drive.
- Launch iTunes and hold down the Option Keyat the same time.
Click on Choose Library when the window appears.
- Select your external hard drive under Devices in the Finder sidebar.
- Click on iTunes.
Click Open.
Note: Until you delete the iTunes file on your local hard drive, you can switch which libraries iTunes uses by launching the app and holding down the Option key at the same time.
Step 4: Make sure it worked
If you performed the first three steps correctly, when you open iTunes, it should look the same as it did before. You can double-check to make sure the migration worked by checking the info of any content.
- Launch iTunes.
Select a song, podcast, movie, app, or other content.
- Right-click or Control-click on the song.
- Select Get info from the drop down menu.
Click on the File tab in the info window.
Look under Location to ensure that the content is now being stored under /Volumes/external hard drive name/.. instead of Users/local hard drive name/..
Step 5: Delete the old iTunes library
Once you have transferred a copy of your iTunes library onto an external hard drive and redirected iTunes to the new location, you can delete the iTunes folder on your local hard drive, freeing up space on your Mac.
Note: If you are making a copy to transfer to a new computer, you don't need to perform step 5 unless you want to remove your iTunes library from the old computer.
- Quit iTunes.
- Click on Finder to open a Finder window.
Select your Mac's hard drive.
- Click on the Music folder.
Select iTunes and drag it to the trash.
Make sure your external hard drive is connected to your Mac when you launch iTunes from now on. Otherwise, iTunes won't be able to find the files. If that happens, quit iTunes, connect your external hard drive to your computer, and reopen iTunes.
Step 6 [optional]: Move your iTunes library to a new Mac
Once you have your iTunes library on an external hard drive, you can relocate it to a new Mac.
- Quit iTunes on your new Mac.
- Connect your external hard drive to your new Mac using a USB cable.
- Open the external hard drive once it appears on your new Mac's screen.
- Click on Finder on your new Mac to open a Finder window.
Select your new Mac's hard drive.
- Click on the Music folder.
Drag the iTunes folderHow to send photos library mac. from your external hard drive into the Music folder on your new Mac.
- Launch iTunes and hold down the Option Keyat the same time.
- Click on Choose Library when the window appears.
Select your local hard drive under Devices in the Finder sidebar.
- Click on the Music folder.
- Click on iTunes.
Click Open.
Any questions?
Do you have any questions or issues with moving your iTunes library onto an external hard drive or onto a new Mac? Let us know in the comments and we'll help you out.
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For avoiding the big downside—one system crash or failed hard drive, you may lose everything you've spent hours ripping from CDs or, even worse, purchasing from the iTunes Music Store, you may have backed up your iTunes library to prevent the loss of your precious files. But what if you want to reinstall iTunes library on your Mac (OS X Mavericks and Mountain Lion included) after some accident or something? Don't worry, here you will find the answer about the iTunes restore:
Condition 1:
If you back up iTunes library to CD/DVD disc, then for restoring iTunes library, you then could follow this:
- Open iTunes and insert your backup disc.
- Then iTunes will ask whether you want to restore iTunes from this disc. Click Restore.
The next two conditions show you how to restore iTunes playlists:
Condition 2:
If you have an iPod touch/iPhone/iPad and want to transfer media files to your Mac or iTunes, then you can use iTransfer for Mac to sync these files back to your iTunes library in only a single click. This Mac app won't require you to open your iTunes to restore iTunes from backup. It allows you to transfer music and playlists with rating and play counts without any duplicate contents. Here take iPhone for example:
Step 1: Install iTransfer for Mac on the computer and launch it, then connect your iPhone to Mac. By doing this, iTransfer will detect your iPhone automatically. The smart Mac app supports the newest iOS 10 and other versions, and it can work on MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and iMac.
Step 2: From the main window, click “Rebuild iTunes Library”. In the pop-up window, please confirm the operation by clicking “Start”, letting the software scan media files on your device. Choose Music tab on the new windows and click on Start to let the software transfer music to your itunes Library.
While if you just want to transfer some songs, videos or photos from iPhone to Mac/iTunes, you can go to 'Music', 'Videos' and 'Photos' tab to select the files you want, and then click the 'Export' to Mac or iTunes library.
Condition 3:
Free Library Music
If you back-upped iTunes to external hard drive or other places, you can import your playlists like this to restore iTunes backup:
- Connect the external hard drive to Mac and open iTunes.
- Head to 'File'> 'Library'> 'Import playlists…' .