How to transfer iTunes library from external to internal drive?

Awhile back, I'd run out of space on my internal HD and transferred all of my content to a larger external HD. I don't remember "repointing" my iTunes Library (as you can do in iPhoto) but somehow, iTunes recognized this and has since been backing up and restoring my iPhone to/from it.
This however, has created quite a few problems (too numerous to mention) and so, having recently installed a larger HD in my internal, I now want to re-point iTunes back to it.
How is this achieved?

Unless you have disabled iTunes organizing media and copying to media folder in your iTunes preferences settings all your media should be going to wherever you have designated as your media location. You can use the organize feature in that preference grouping to ensure all media entered in the iTunes library is actually copied to that designated location.
iTunes 11 for Mac: Change where your iTunes files are stored - http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12165 - Unfortunately this is misnamed. It should say "Change where your media files but not where your library files are stored" - more information at: https://discussions.apple.com/message/22026652 - and steps 5-8 in https://discussions.apple.com/message/24491967
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449

Similar Messages

How to get itunes library from external drive to new computer

i recently purchased a new computer w/the windows vista platform. there were posts regarding how to transfer the library w/playlists on this board, which i followed to the point of hitting shift while opening itunes, and choosing a library. however, when selecting such from my external drive, which has the itl and xml on it as well as the itunes music folder, it gives me an error noting it is locked or that i dont have write permission to use it. my external drive on my old computer was the G drive, now it is the F drive on new one. can anyone please advise what to do other than copy all music over and have to completely recreate all playlists?

polydorus, this was the response/post that i found and it was posted by sweepea on 9/4/2007. and all my music is now from the external drive to the itunes music folder on my laptop and it let me keep all my playlists. thank you again for your help!
I had that problem too. I tried to remove iTunes from my computer and then download it again, but that did not make any difference. Then I tried polydorus' answer ("starting iTunes with the shift key held down, when asked to choose a library, navigate to your iTunes folder and choose iTunes Library.itl"), but that did not work either and that same message about the library being locked appeared again.
Then I had a brainwave. I deleted that iTunes library.itl file. (To find it, go to My documents, then My Music, then iTunes, and there is the itunes library file). I now tried to open iTunes by clicking on the iTunes icon on my desktop, nothing happened, as if I had not clicked on it at all. I restored the file from the recycling bin to where it was before. But that also returned me to where I had been before, i.e. I got that locked-library message again. So I deleted that file again. Then I tried right-clicking on the iTunes icon. On the little menu that appeared, I clicked 'Open' and hey presto, suddenly the iTunes set-up assistant appeared and everything went smooth from then on. When I checked, there was a file called iTunes library.itl again and this one worked OK.
By the way, I did not lose any of my music downloads or podcasts when I deleted that file, so it's definitely worth a try.
custom built Windows 2000

How to Transfer iTunes Library from Windows to Mac

I'm having some trouble moving my iTunes library from my old Windows XP Dell to my new MacBook Pro. I used my iPod video on the Dell, but now that I have a Mac, I want all my songs to be moved over there. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to do this. I looked at the Apple Support pages, but none of them address this particular issue. Can someone guide me on how to do transfer my library?
Thanks!

the ipod now showing up in my computer or wherever is probably because the ipod is not set for disk use. go to the ipod settings in itunes and fink the check box where it says "enable disk use" this should make the ipod show up. now you should be able to put the songs onto the ipod as a music file to transfer them. other methods of transfer could be an external hard drive, a travel drive, a usb cable, or the most convenient but frustrating way is to open the ipod folder in my computer... and nvm i cant remember how to do it and dont have a working ipod at the moment to find out. ill post that solution later. i will say it involves opening the folder where the music is saved on the ipod, copying them onto the computer and renaming every single file. this is convienient only because it doesnt require modification or movement of any songs to the ipod because it uses the ones on there. all the files renamed with random letters and numbers when put on the ipod so youll have to reorganize all songs

How to transfer itunes library to external drive and keep playlists and ratings

I don't have much space on my laptop. I have attached an external drive. I want to access my Itunes library from
the external drive. All attempts to move the library now result in me losing my "playlists" and even more importantly
my ratings and genre information.
How can I move the library with all my associated data intact such as the playlists, ratings, genres?
I want this external drive to be the main location where I access my Itunes library.
Once that is done I will work on backing it up, as that will be the only place that the data exists.
Also, will my Apple TV be also be able to access my Itunes library with playlists. thus far I have not been able to do this.

Start by consolidating your library. When you consolidate, any songs in the iTunes Library that are not in the iTunes Music Folder are copied to the Music Folder and the Library is updated to point to those new files. Files already in the iTunes Music Folder have no changes made to them: Consolidating your library - Windows
Then copy the iTunes Folder to your external drive. Copying the whole folder brings with it the iTunes Music folder and also the iTunes Library (iTunes Library.itl in Windows) database file which holds all the information about your songs (Playlists, Ratings, Play Counts, Last Played, Date Added, etc). You'll get more information including the Folder/File structure in this article: What are the iTunes library files?
Disconnect your external drive and connect it to your new computer, copy the iTunes folder to the new pc. When you copy the iTunes folder make sure you put it into the default location on the new computer. On a PC this is \Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents\My Music\ (or C:\Username\Music\ in Vista). You should also use the same version of iTunes on both computers.
Once you have copied everything over hold down the Shift key in Windows when opening iTunes. In the resulting dialogue you will get the option to create a new library or navigate to an existing one. Navigate to where you placed the copy of the library file and open it up: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file
If you have any iTunes purchases in your library don't forget that you'll need to authorise your new computer to play them. Also if you are disposing of the old one remember to deauthorise it so you don't use up one of your allowances: About iTunes Music Store Authorisation and Deauthorisation

HT4796 how to transfer itunes library from a crashed pc to a new macbook pro

i bought a brand new macbook pro for school and the day after i ordered it, my old pc crahes. my entire itunes library was on that computer as well as some other things for my phone. I dont know how to switch all my music and what not from my old pc now that i cant turn it on anymore.

Without having access to that hard drive, it's not possible to migrate the iTunes library.
phone? An iPhone ??
If it's an iPhone, you can transfer iTunes purchases from the iPhone to the Mac using iTunes.
You probably have to authorize the Mac before doing so.
Instructions here > iTunes Store: Transferring purchases from your iOS device or iPod to a computer

How to transfer Itunes library from Windows XP to new Imac?

I have just purchased a new Imac and want to transfer my Itunes library from my Windows XP pc to new Imac. I have both computers on an Airport wireless home network. If this proves to be difficult, can I use a jump drive? Thanks
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.5)

I just got a shiny new Mac, and don't want to lose my music library!
No need! iTunes for Windows is almost exactly identical to iTunes for Mac, and switching over is actually very easy.
First thing you're going to have to do is figure out a data route. Although you can technically use CDs or DVDs, in order to best transfer all data, including playlists and ratings, you'll want another method.
If you have a network set up, you're good to go.
An external hard drive will work as well, just remember that Windows won't read a Mac formatted disk. The iPod is also an external hard drive, and can be used in the same way.
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Once you have the method set up, you're going to have to prepare iTunes.
Open iTunes for Windows, and hit Edit>Preferences>Advanced, and make sure that the folder listed is \My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music.
Next, hit Consolidate Music Library. This action is irreversible, and it will make sure that all of your music is put in the aforementioned 'iTunes Music' folder. Shut iTunes, and move on.
Now you're going to have to move the info to the Mac. If you have an external hard drive, drag the iTunes folder, located within My Documents\My Music onto it. If you have a network set up, copy the iTunes folder to a location that can be accessed by the Mac.
Now, on the Mac, open either the external HDD, or the network folder, and copy the folder iTunes to the Home/Music folder.
Start up iTunes on the Mac, and everything should be in place.
Cleaning up
If you have music purchased from the iTunes Music Store, you're going to have to authorize your Mac. If you're not going to be using your Windows machine for iTMS songs anymore, you may want to deauthorize it. Either way, this article has all of the information you need: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93014
If you're not going to be using the Windows machine for music, you can safely delete the music from it, as it is now on the Mac. However, unless it is actually bothering you there, there's no reason to do so. Redundancy is great for data.
About an iPod:
First, Apple has a doc about using the iPod to switch. It has some great info about moving your documents, emails, etc. However, the method of music transfer there doesn't save most of your library data.
Second, you may want to reformat your iPod for the Mac. The advantage, basically, is some transfer speed. The disadvantage is Windows' inability to read Mac disks without 3rd party software. Either way, the doc on formatting (restoring) is here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60983#One
That's it! Your music collection should be up and running in iTunes for Mac. A couple of places to check out, both showing the 'extras' of the Mac version of iTunes vs. Windows:
Doug's AppleScripts for iTunes
VersionTracker
<hr>
With a lot of help from DC

Got new computer, can someone tell me how to transfer itunes library from old computer to new computer. Please go step by step, i am new at this.

got a new computer, need help transferring itunes library from old computer to new computer. i am very new at this please give instructions step by step.

Hi 45atopp,
Thanks for visiting Apple Support Communities.
The article at the link below describes a few methods and provides some detailed instructions on how to transfer your iTunes library to your new computer:
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4527
Best,
Jeremy

How to import ITunes library from external drive

Using Mac, Leopard, Time Machine, my hard drive crashed Had a recent backup on Time Machine. New computer doesn't recognize last backup of TM on external hard drive, but I can find my ITunes Library there, with thousands of songs.
when I go in ITunes to Import Library and navigate to the old ITunes Library, it won't let me import the whole thing, only lets me import one song at a time, which would take eons.
Any suggestions on how to do it in one fell swoop?

I'm sure that solution would work, but I guess something else I did is messing things up.
the first tip I got was to Consolidate Library. It forced me to consolidate on another partition of my external hard drive. Now that I tried Add Library, it's putting all the music on that external location, which filled up fast and can't take anymore.
Any thought on how to get my full library back on my internal drive?

How to transfer itunes library from a mac to a pc

I would like to transfer my itunes library from my power mac G5 to my pc's running windows xp (the computers are on the same home network). What is the best method for transfering.
Thank you.

Follow the instructions in this article, open the folder Users/username/Music/iTunes/ on the Mac's hard disk, where username is the path to that account's home folder and the rest of the path is changed if needed, drag the iTunes Music folder to the PC, and either drag that folder into iTunes or quit iTunes and place it where the current iTunes Music folder is, renaming the existing folder. Playlists and other metadata will be preserved in the second case, but not the first.
(27088)

How to transfer itunes library from old pc to macbook pro?

I just got a 13 inch macbook pro and transferred all my pics from my old compaq pc to it. I did not, or I forgot to select my itunes library and transfer it. Can anyone help me to figure out what Im supposed to do? I miss my itunes lol....

The Apple store will do it for you.
You can call Apple support and they will help you.
You can type " move itunes library from pc to mac" into the google search bar

How to move itunes library from winXP to NAS drive

Can someone point me to a location that has intructions on how to offload
my Itunes library from my XP PC to my IOMEGA media center NAS drive? I've
searched quite a bit and haven't been able to find a comlete set of intructions
yet. Just trying to free up disk space on my desktop. It gets a bit confusing sometimes when they mention music files and library files. To me, they are one in the same, but I think they are not. Would be nice if there was a flow chart of
how Itunes works and what each file component does. You know, like the difference between an .itl file and a .xml file?

First of all I still don't know how to post a question. There is nothing in here that asks me to do so. Therefore I can only reply to one already asked. My problem is that I followed the instructions in iTunes which tell me how to move the files from the C Drive to another location (which happens to be my D Drive). After doing that it then tells me to drag the old files into the recycle bin, however, it won't comply and tells me that the procedure can't be performed because of copywrite protections. Where do I go from here? Or at the very least, how do I post a question in this forum the normal way?

Anyone know how to Restore iTunes Library from External HD

My PC won't even turn on anymore. But luckily, I have most of the iTunes Library backed up in an External HD.
Now, I've searched and can't find instructions from Apple on how to Restore the Library while keeping all the Playlists, Ratings, and all that other good stuff. Anyone know to do that, or at least WHERE that info is?
Thanks.
Message was edited by: MasterSpade

I have most of the iTunes Library backed up in an External HD
What exactly do you have backed up on the external?

How to transfer itunes library via external hard drive?

How do I transfer my entire itunes library to a new pc via an external hard drive? I want to also keep the library on my old pc. Because my library is about 30gb I thought that getting an external hard drive would be the easiest way to do this. Are there any other options?

Start by consolidating your library. When you consolidate, any songs in the iTunes Library that are not in the iTunes Music Folder are copied to the Music Folder and the Library is updated to point to those new files. Files already in the iTunes Music Folder have no changes made to them: Consolidating your library - Windows
Then copy the iTunes Folder to your external drive. Copying the whole folder brings with it the iTunes Music folder and also the iTunes Library (iTunes Library.itl in Windows) database file which holds all the information about your songs (Playlists, Ratings, Play Counts, Last Played, Date Added, etc). You'll get more information including the Folder/File structure in this article: What are the iTunes library files?
Disconnect your external drive and connect it to your new computer, copy the iTunes folder to the new pc. When you copy the iTunes folder make sure you put it into the default location on the new computer. On a PC this is \Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents\My Music\ (or C:\Username\Music\ in Vista). You should also use the same version of iTunes on both computers.
Once you have copied everything over hold down the Shift key in Windows when opening iTunes. In the resulting dialogue you will get the option to create a new library or navigate to an existing one. Navigate to where you placed the copy of the library file and open it up: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file
If you have any iTunes purchases in your library don't forget that you'll need to authorise your new computer to play them. Also if you are disposing of the old one remember to deauthorise it so you don't use up one of your allowances: About iTunes Music Store Authorisation and Deauthorisation

How to transfer iTunes library from one user to another

I have recently just got a macbook pro and i have transfered my music from my old computer to my mac but it has created another user that i do not want to use. I was just wondering how do i transfer the itunes playlist from that user to the user i wnat to use?

Just copy the iTunes Library folder from the one user to your main User account name.

How to transfer itunes library from ipad2 to mac

i had to completely erase and restore my mac but unfortunately i was unable to save my itunes library. does anyone know how i can transfer from my ipad2 to my mac???

If you follow the instructions in this thread ... Read Demo and King Penguin .... You should be able to Transfer virtually everything from the iPad to the Mac.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3305461
It will take a little time and patience so read through the steps first. Remember - Turn off auto sync in iTunes on the Mac, then transfer purchases and then backup your iPad before you sync with iTunes.

How to transfer iTunes library from external to internal drive?

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