Manually Transfer Itunes Library To New Mac

24-05-2021
 |  [RAND-100] - Comments

Here are some simple but effective techniques to sync an iPhone with iTunes on a new Mac (or more than one Mac) without erasing the apps, music, photos and other data on the phone.

  • Sep 24, 2019  If you're moving your library to an external drive, make sure it's plugged into your Mac and turned on. Return to the Advanced preferences in iTunes and click the Change button next to iTunes Media folder location. In the Finder   window that opens, navigate to the location where you would like to create the new iTunes Media folder.
  • Jan 28, 2014  The transfer of the iTunes library is relatively easy to do manually, and involves two mains components: the transfer, and the assignment of the library to iTunes on the new machine.

Here are some things to know

Your iTunes library, a database that's made up of all of the music and other media that you add to iTunes for Windows, is organized into two iTunes library files and an iTunes Media folder.

Before you back up your media:

  • Consolidate your iTunes library.
  • Redownload any previous purchases, like music, movies, TV shows, and more. The only way to back up your purchased media is to download your purchases to your computer.

iTunes and Store availability and features might vary by country or region. Learn what's available in your country or region.

If you have a Mac

In macOS Catalina, your previous iTunes media library is now available in the Apple Music app, Apple TV app, Apple Podcasts app, and Apple Books app. And when you back up your Mac, your media library is automatically included in that backup.

Consolidate your iTunes library

  1. Open iTunes.
  2. From the menu bar at the top of your computer screen or at the top of the iTunes window, choose File > Library > Organize Library.
  3. Select Consolidate files.
  4. Click OK.

When you consolidate, copies of any files that were outside of your iTunes Media folder are added to your iTunes Media folder. To save space on your hard drive, you might want to delete the original files after you make sure that the copies are in your iTunes Media Folder.

Find the iTunes Media folder

Transfer Itunes To New Computer

By default, your iTunes Media folder is in your iTunes folder. To find it, go to User > Music > iTunes > iTunes Media.

If you don't see your iTunes Media folder in the above location, here's how to find it:

  1. Open iTunes.
  2. From the menu bar at the top of the iTunes window, choose Edit > Preferences.
  3. Click the Advanced tab.
  4. Look in the box under 'iTunes Media folder location' for the location of your iTunes Media folder.

Back up your library and media files

After you consolidate your media files, you can back up your library and media files to an external drive.

Transfer Itunes Library Between Computers

  1. Quit iTunes.
  2. Find your iTunes folder.
  3. Right-click on your iTunes folder, then choose Copy.
  4. Go to your external hard drive, then right-click and choose Paste.

Restore your library from a backup

You can restore your iTunes library from your external drive to your computer. If you're restoring an iTunes Library from a different computer, make sure that your new computer has the latest version of iTunes.

  1. Quit iTunes.
  2. Go to 'This Computer,' then click your external drive.
  3. Select your iTunes folder, then right-click and choose Copy.
  4. Go to the location on your computer where you want your iTunes library, then right-click and choose Paste.
  5. Hold down the Shift key while opening iTunes.
  6. When you see a message that asks you to Choose iTunes Library, click Choose Library.
  7. Choose the location where you copied your iTunes folder.
  8. Click Open.
  9. Choose the iTunes Library.itl file inside.

At some point in time during the life of any Mac (or Windows PC) user, we are faced with one of these scenarios:

  • Running out of space in our hard drives.
  • Adding a second hard drive to our Macs.
  • Changing Macs altogether.
  • Wanting to backup all our important media.

For any of these, changing the location of your iTunes media can be a great solution, allowing you to have a copy of all of it for either backup purposes or simply for storing it somewhere else until you are ready to place it back on your new hard drive or Mac.

However, contrary to other apps, iTunes is a self contained application, much like others that Apple offers by default on Macs. Some examples of these are iPhoto, Numbers, Pages and more, all of which make users manage their files (music and other media in the case of iTunes) directly from within the app instead of from external folders.

This makes finding and messing around with those files and folders a far more delicate endeavor than if they were located on just on any regular folder. In fact, if you are not careful when doing so, removing or meddling with the wrong file can completely break your iTunes library and render it unusable.

Because of this, here I’ll show you two different methods to move your iTunes Media folder: The Apple method and the non-Apple method.

Let’s get going.

Manually transfer itunes library to new mac account

The Apple Method

Step 1: Open iTunes and from the menu bar go to Preferences. Once the Preferences panel is open, click on the Advanced tab.

Step 2: Make sure to check the Keep iTunes Media folder organized checkbox. Then, click on the Change button to select the new location of your iTunes Media folder.

Step 3: Once you choose a new location for your iTunes Media folder, from the menu bar look for the Library option under File. There, select Organize Library.

Step 4: On the window that pops up, check the Consolidate Files option. This option will place all your iTunes Media files inside the new iTunes Media folder leaving the original ones untouched. Even better, the new folder will have every score and play count of your original iTunes library.

Step 5: Now that your new iTunes Media folder is ready, you can delete the old one from its original location. To find it, open a Finder window, click on Music, open the iTunes folder and delete ONLY the iTunes Media as shown in the screenshot below.

The Non-Apple Method

While the method shown above is the one recommended by Apple, there is a far simpler one, although it involves moving your entire iTunes folder.

Step 1: Close iTunes and then open a Finder window. There, go to the Music folder and there you will find the iTunes folder. Drag that ENTIRE folder to its new location and you are done.

Step 2: Open iTunes while pressing the Alt key on your keyboard. A dialog box will pop up prompting you to choose the location of the new iTunes library. Locate the new iTunes folder and select the iTunes Library.itl file within.

You are done! Now you know how to backup or relocate all your iTunes media without a hassle. Enjoy!

Also See

How To Transfer Itunes Library To A New Mac

#backup #itunes

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Windows 10 is the last Windows since Microsoft is changing the approach of building and delivering OS.

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