How to transfer ITunes library to an External Hard Drive?

I would like to transfer my ITunes library to an EHD.
Could some one tell me how to do this?
Does evrything else in ITunes transfers too? like videos,movies,rentals, etc
Thanks

What Niel said is pretty much the easiest and quickest way. It will copy it there so after following Niel's suggestion, make sure everything looks ok before discarding the original iTunes folder. It may take some time to do depending upon the size of the library.
I recently did the same with my library of nearly 200GB. Glad I did it then ( even though perhaps too late ) as it's now nearly 350GB. Movies do take up quite a bit of room but now everything is on a 2TB drive with a back up copy on another 2TB drive and freed up all the space on my 500GB iMac.
Everything works as normal inc. Apple TV streaming so you should be good to go.
Check in Preferences in iTunes where iTunes is looking for the library so next time you don't need the option key.

Similar Messages

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

My Mac is telling me that my disk is full. I have bought an external hard drive and have just listened to a youtube tutorial on how to move iTunes library to the external hard drive. If I do this can I still load new media on my Mac without the external?

my Mac is telling me that my disk is full. I have bought an external hard drive and watched a youtube tutorial on moving iTunes library to external hard drive. Will I still be able to use iTunes on my Mac for new media or will this now only work through my external hard drive?

To do this you need to learn the details of how iTunes works. For example, you just said, "leave my iTunes on my computer". iTunes is the application itself so of course it has to be on your computer. That said, I therefore don't know what you mean when you say leave iTunes on your computer. The phrasing of your question suggests to me, if I may be frank, you don't understand how iTunes works fully and we can't just give you a "do this" answer and have it work out. It would be too easy to make a mess of things.
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
Yes, you can download media and delete it again (but if it is from the iTunes Store there is the possibility you can't always download it again). Of course if you want to keep a copy you can archive it. I have done that with some files for which I have no room on my computer. I transfer them to an external hard drive and delete the reference to the file (but not the file itself) from my library. If I want a quick listen I go to the file on the drive and use Quicktime player or something else non-iTunes so I don't have to have it added to iTunes and delete again. I don't know if that is the solution you are looking for. I could leave the reference in iTunes but if the file can't be located by iTunes it will tell me there is a broken link = ! I guess I could live with that except I periodically scan my library for broken links and don't want it getting confused with ones I have done deliberately and ones suggesting I am really missing a file somewhere.
Another possibility is to make a second iTunes library for material you are archiving and only use that library when the computer is using the external drive. There are tricky aspects to dong that but it is a possibility too.
The simple solution for most people with computers with tiny drives (as most seem to be these days) is to put their whole iTunes library on an external drive and use it from there.

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.

How to transfer iTunes library & folder to another Hard Drive

My iTunes library and all data (music, video, apps, podcasts) are stored on an external 250 GB hard disk that is now getting almost full.
I wish to transfer everything on a 500 GB external HD and be able to launch my library from this new HD without losing anything or getting all my files with the dreaded "!".
Can someone advise me where to look for instructions on how to proceed?
Many thanks.
Frederic

If your library files are on the current external drive, with the media folder inside the main library folder, then simply copy this folder to the new drive and use the hold option/shift when starting iTunes method to open the library in its new location.
If your media folder is on the external but the library files are on the internal drive then start by copying the contents of your iTunes folder, *iTunes Library, iTunes Library Extras.itdb, iTunes Library Genius.itdb, sentinel, Album Artwork* folder etc. to the parent folder of the media folder on the external. (You can leave the .xml file behind, it will have a slightly different name in the new location and will be recreated automatically.) Use the option-launch-iTunes method above to open the library on the external drive. Make sure it all works properly then close it and proceed as outlined in the first paragraph.
iTunes uses the folder name for the folder holding the *iTunes Library* file as the window title, so you may get odd results if your library files are now in the root of the drive. As long as the media folder is stored as a sub- folder of the library folder you can move everything to a new folder or path and use the option-launch-iTunes method. E.g. if your media was at *\iTunes Media* then move the libray files to the root folder \ - open, test and close iTunes - create a folder called iTunes - move the libray files, Album Artwork and iTunes Media folder into the new iTunes folder then open the library in the new location.
tt2

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.

HT1751 Followed instructions on how to consolidate iTunes library, move to external hard drive and restore library back up but my iTunes is still empty.

Recently bought a new macbook pro and obviously the first thing I want to do is move over my itunes library from my PC and keep my playcount.
The instructions I followed are here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
As I got down to Step 7 in 'Restoring your iTunes Library backup', I chose my iTunes library file and waited for everything to be restored but then nothing came up on my iTunes. My iTunes is still empty.
Is there perhaps another way for me to transfer my iTunes library and my playcount will still be retained? Help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Recently bought a new macbook pro and obviously the first thing I want to do is move over my itunes library from my PC and keep my playcount.
The instructions I followed are here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
As I got down to Step 7 in 'Restoring your iTunes Library backup', I chose my iTunes library file and waited for everything to be restored but then nothing came up on my iTunes. My iTunes is still empty.
Is there perhaps another way for me to transfer my iTunes library and my playcount will still be retained? Help on this would be greatly appreciated.

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

HT1329 How do I transfer my iTunes Library to an external hard drive?

How do I transfer my iTunes Library to an external hard drive?

See this support article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305451

How can I transfer and operate my 2tb itunes library to an external hard drive?

How can I transfer and operate my 1.8tb itunes library to an external hard drive?

Drag the entire library there, launch iTunes with the Option key held down, and choose it.
(114893)

How to transfer iTunes library to an external drive (thats easy!) but keeping the playlists musics on the computer?

How to transfer iTunes library to an external drive (thats easy!) but keeping the playlists musics on the computer?
Many thanks!

Select a single song with a broken link, press CTRL+I to Get Info, cancel when asked to locate the track and take a look at the Summary tab. Post back where iTunes is looking for the file. It begins file://localhost
Where is it really?
Please post back both paths so that I can make suggestions. Full paths please, exact spellings, you can replace your user name with <User> if needed.
tt2

How do you transfer your itunes library from an external hard drive?

I've just bought a new internal hard drive for my macbook because I've run out of space. I'm planning on putting my itunes library on an external hard drive then putting it on the new internal hard drive... but i have no idea what the best way to do that is, since it isn't just the files that are important, my playlists and all the changes to song names need to stay intact. and also i'm gonna put snow leopard on the new hard drive if that makes any difference?
Hope some one can help me find the best way!
peacexx

I have much the same problem. I have my iTunes files on an 80GB external drive along with my iPhoto files. Currently, my MacBook Air sees and operates from the iTunes setup on the 80GB drive. To provide more space to handle these files I got a 500GB portable external drive. Now I want to bring the iTunes files back into my MBA and, when complete,put them out on the 500GB drive from which I'll operate my iTunes. This might be simpler if the MBA had two USB2 ports instead of one. I've tried the method noted in "Transferring Your iTunes Library" (http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive/), but couldn't seem to get the 80GB files back to the MBA such that iTunes would see them there. (I copied the files over, but the link's broken.) Ideas?
Thanks in advance

How do I move iTunes library to an external hard drive to use less space?

How do I move iTunes library to an external hard drive to use less space?

Our iTunes guru Terence Devlin advises the following:
1. Quit iTunes
2. Drag the iTunes folder from your internal hd - located in ~/Music folder - to your external hd. DO NOT delete the original one from your internal hd... yet!
3. When the transfer is complete, press and hold the Option(alt) key and fire up iTunes.
4. A "Choose iTunes Library" window will come up. Click on the "Choose Library" button.
5. Navigate to where the iTunes folder is located in the external hd.
6. Within the iTunes folder, select the iTunes Library file and click Choose...
That's it. iTunes will now display all your playlists, songs, movies, podcasts etc. At this point, should you wish, you can delete the iTunes folder from the internal hd to free up space.
More info:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751
Or if you prefer a more complicated explanation:
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive

Can I create a "new" iTunes library on an external hard drive and transfer my iTune library to save space on my laptop

Can I create a "new" iTunes library on an external hard drive and transfer my iTune library to save space on my laptop hard drive

Yes. Just copy all your music to a folder on your external. Then delete the music on your computers hard drive.
It is not quite that simple. If you do that you will end up with many broken links and will have to re-create your library from scratch . iTunes does not like it when you move or rename files or folders and doing so between drives is guaranteed to result in exclamation marks indicating you have broken the links to all your media files.
If you are content with moving the whole library to an external drive (usually the best thing for most people), try:
iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Open iTunes and immediately hold down the Option (alt) key (shift on Windows), then guide it to the new location of the library.

How can i back up my itunes library onto an external hard drive?

I can seem to figure out how to back up my Itunes library onto my external hard drive. Any advise?

A quick search provides the answer, see the following:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1751 for backing up to an external drive.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1382 for backing up to optical media.

How to transfer ITunes library to an External Hard Drive?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for