How to migrate iTunes Library from an external hard drive to a new Mac Book Pro?

How to migrate iTunes and iPhoto librarys from an external hard drive to a MacBook Pro?

With iTunes:
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
do not confuse moving your whole folder and library with moving just media files as in
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
Quick answer if you let iTunes manage your music:  Copy the whole iTunes folder and all its subfolders and files intact to Home > Music on your computer. It will replace the one that may already be there and anything you have in it will be lost -- you could give the folder a different name just in case, and delete it yourself later.  Unplug the external and start iTunes.

Similar Messages

  • HT1751 How do I move my entire iTunes library from my iomega hard drive to my new Mac Book Pro?  I no longer want to keep my music on the external drive.

    Because of a lack of enough memory on my old Mac Book, I put all my music on an external hard drive.  Now that I have a new Mac Book Pro with lots of memory, I want to move the music onto this new computer but I haven't been able to yet.  I tried the migration assistant but that didn't work.  Any suggestions?

    I may sound like a real rookie here, but on my new MacBook Air there isn't a "Pictures" folder under "Users/kendallwilson" like there used to be on my old MacBook Pro (Early 2011). I'm still working out the new software on my MB Air, so where exactly should I open this new window to start following the steps you just provided me.
    Thanks again!

  • How do I move my iTunes library from an external hard drive to my new Mac Mini?

    My MacBook Pro couldn't handle my iTunes library so it was moved to an external hard drive.  I want to move the content without losing the settings and playlists. Can anyone help?

    Hi, see if these help...
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527

  • How do I move my old iPhoto library from my external hard drive to my new Mac?

    Hi guys!
    I recently bought a new MacBook Air as my MacBook Pro was on its last legs... I have my backup for my old MacBook Pro on an external hard drive and I'm trying to put a selection of albums from my old iPhoto onto my new MacBook Air iPhoto. I can't simply click and drag it over as I get an error message "The iPhoto library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library...". I've tried to reopen iPhoto while holding option and selecting my old iPhoto library from my external hard drive to open... AND I get the same message.
    If anyone could help me out that would be amazing!
    FYI: The hard drive I am using is a G|Drive mobile with Thunderbolt 1 TB.
    Thank you very much in advance!
    Cheers,
    Kendall

    I may sound like a real rookie here, but on my new MacBook Air there isn't a "Pictures" folder under "Users/kendallwilson" like there used to be on my old MacBook Pro (Early 2011). I'm still working out the new software on my MB Air, so where exactly should I open this new window to start following the steps you just provided me.
    Thanks again!

  • Importing old Itunes Library from a external hard drive to a new computer

    About 3 months ago I backed up the entire contents of my hard drive on an old laptop to an external hard drive. My goal was to eventually be able to recover all my purchased music from Itunes.
    How do I do that. I am assuming there should be a folder in Itunes on the external hard drive I can drag and drop into the new itunes.
    As a second question, is it possible or advisable to run itunes out of the external hard drive in the future?
    IBM t60   Windows XP   Extreme Rookie
    IBM t60   Windows XP   Rookie needs help

    You could plug the WD drive straight into the TC but it will be much faster to do it with the WD drive plugged into the computer.. and just mount the TC hard disk in Finder.
    To move itunes library you must follow the Apple instructions.. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
    You may need to reconnect itunes to the library before you try to move it.. !!

  • I transferred data from my external hard drive to my restored Mac Book Pro via migration assistant and now my external hard drive in time capsule has red minus signs. How do I get rid of that without getting rid of any of my data?

    I used Migration Assistant to transfer my data from my external hard drive via Time Capsule to my restored Mac Book Pro. When I now go into Time Capsule I there are red minus signs in the corner of all the folders that are contained in my back up. How do I get rid of this and access my previous back-ups?

    Select the drive and Finder > Get info and at the bottom "ignore permissions on this volume"
    You can copy the files, but the ownership on the files still belongs to the other user account, once your done copying, then perform a #6 Reset Users Permissions and that will set all the ownership to that account.
    ..Step by Step to fix your Mac
    Another method is to copy the entire folder, then change it's permissions.

  • How do i transfer file from my external hard drive to my new mac

    How do I transfer my files from my external hard drive (all files coming from a PC) to my new macbook pro?

    What sort of files? Are you looking to transfer an entire user account or some data files?

  • How do I move my iTunes library from an external hard drive to my new Time Capsule?

    I stored my 77GB of iTunes library on my six year old 1TB Time Capsule. I just bought a 2TB Time Capsule and moved the iTunes associated folders onto a WD My Passport HD. Now, I can't figure out how to get them onto my new Time Capsule. Can someone please help me?
    I have a MBP that doesn't have enough hard drive space to move them from the WD hard drive onto the MBP and then onto the Time Capsule.
    Isn't there a way to move the files directly from the external HD to the Time Capsule?
    Thanks.

    You could plug the WD drive straight into the TC but it will be much faster to do it with the WD drive plugged into the computer.. and just mount the TC hard disk in Finder.
    To move itunes library you must follow the Apple instructions.. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
    You may need to reconnect itunes to the library before you try to move it.. !!

  • How to restore iTunes library from TimeMachine external hard drive backup after clean install

    I was not able to solve this problem, hence I decided to open this discussion.
    1. Recently, I clean installed Yosemite so my new Mac is completely empty.
    2. I have my time machine backup on my eternal hard drive and would like to restore only specific things - such as iTunes library.
    3. I did not manually copy iTunes library to my drive, I did the TM backup only, but I also do have all the files in my own "music" folder I manually backed-up.
    However, I cannot locate the library there, where is it?
    How do I move the library to my new Mac and then establish a new source folder that would be on my drive?
    PS: Previously, iTunes used my own music folder as a source = it contained all the music files. I had it on an external drive, later moved it to my Mac.
    This leads me to the conclusion that my backup copy of iTunes library did not contain the files anyway.
    Any advice?
    Thank you in advance.

    I am confused as to what you had or have where and when.  The bottom line is, your library (for the standard user) is everything in the iTunes folder.  As far as iTunes' organization and display is concerned, your library is a file called "iTunes Library.itl" which points to all the other host of files and folders normally in the iTunes folder which all work together.
    What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
    More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
    What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
    Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
    iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847 - plus supplemental information about organizing to new structure https://discussions.apple.com/message/26404702#26404702
    Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7392 and making an iTunes library portable.
    If you kept everything together in one place then you need to put the whole iTunes folder on the drive where you want it, start iTunes while holding down the option key and guide it to that .itl file.  If things were split up and you had media on the external and the rest of the library on the internal you need to get them back to exactly where they were before.  If you can't find that iTunes folder holding the critical .itl file anywhere then you have a bunch of media tracks and no organization and will need to rebuild the organization from ground level.

  • How to transfer Itunes Library (PC) to external hard drive for backup purposes?

    I need to save my Itunes library from my current PC to an external hard drive just in case my computer were to crash/die.  Two questions:
    Question #1:  How do I do this?
    Question #2: Should my computer crash and I need to get a new PC, how would I transfer my Itunes library from the external hard drive to the new PC?

    iTunes- Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive

  • I transferred my iTunes library from one external hard drive to another and added more music on the same day. How do I get rid of my duplicate files without going through them one by one which would take forever?

    Please help. I have transferred my iTunes library from one external hard drive to another plus added additional music now I have duplicates of the same music in many albums. How do I delete the duplicates without going through them one by one which would take forever? I understand how to get the "show exact duplicate" feature up on iTunes but, because they were added to the library on the exact day I can't seperate them I'm that manner. So each duplicate is right next to eachother in the exact duplicate screen.

    My DeDuper script is designed to help clean up. See this thread for background.
    tt2

  • How do I move my iTunes library from my external hard drive back to my computer?

    Just wondering how do I move my entire iTunes library from my external hard drive back to my computer? It was moved to an external hard drive a few years ago, and now I'm wondering how to move it back to my iMac to increase performance.
    Where does it belong in the computer?
    Any suggestions?

    The library itself is the /Home/Music/iTunes/ folder in its entirety. Did you also change where preference files were stored? Normally, they would be in the /Home/Library/Preferences/ folder.

  • How do I transfer/copy my itunes library from 1 external hard drive to another one?

    How can i transfer/copy my itunes library from 1 external hard drive  to another one?

    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449

  • HT1386 I have a new computer. I have copied Itunes library from an external hard drive. Itunes now tells me I cannot sync with my Ipod as it thinks the 20gb on the computer are different to the 20gb on my Ipod touch! What have I done wrong? How can I fix

    I have a new computer. I have copied Itunes library from an external hard drive. Itunes now tells me I cannot sync with my Ipod as it thinks the 20gb on the computer are different to the 20gb on my Ipod touch! What have I done wrong? How can I fix it?  Alan

    See:
    Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive: Apple Support Communities
    Sync Your iOS Device with a New Computer Without Losing Data - How-To Geek

  • Any suggestions for running an iTunes library from an external hard drive on two computers?

    I have two Mac computers: an iMac and a MacBook Air.  My iMac has 1TB of storage space (plenty enough for my 200+gigs of music) but my MacBook Air only has 250gigs of storage space.  I know I can access all of the music from my iMac on my MBA with HomeSharing.  But that doesn't work when I take my MBA out of the house for work.  I was going to switch over my iTunes library to an external HD but I don't know if I can access the library on the hard drive from my MBA, when the main library is on my iMac.
    Any suggestions as to how to get two different computers to access an iTunes library from an external hard drive?
    Thanks.

    I am confused as to what you had or have where and when.  The bottom line is, your library (for the standard user) is everything in the iTunes folder.  As far as iTunes' organization and display is concerned, your library is a file called "iTunes Library.itl" which points to all the other host of files and folders normally in the iTunes folder which all work together.
    What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
    More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
    What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
    Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
    iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847 - plus supplemental information about organizing to new structure https://discussions.apple.com/message/26404702#26404702
    Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7392 and making an iTunes library portable.
    If you kept everything together in one place then you need to put the whole iTunes folder on the drive where you want it, start iTunes while holding down the option key and guide it to that .itl file.  If things were split up and you had media on the external and the rest of the library on the internal you need to get them back to exactly where they were before.  If you can't find that iTunes folder holding the critical .itl file anywhere then you have a bunch of media tracks and no organization and will need to rebuild the organization from ground level.

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