HT1660 So...if I have limited hard space, is adding all my music to the iTunes library "doubling" the space taken up by my songs/albums?

I'm relatively new to Apple and iTunes. If I "add folders" that contain 1000s of songs from my hard drive to the iTunes library...does iTunes copy/create new files that essentially double the amount of space taken up on my hard drive, or does iTunes simply "point" to the original file?

cjags wrote:
Can I move that folder off my C drive onto an external drive?
The Automatically add to iTunes folder needs to be in the iTunes folder. If you move it elsewhere, it won't do anything.
To move yoru iTunes library to another drive...
Quit iTunes.
Move the entire /Music/iTunes/ folder to the external drive.
Hold Shift and launch iTunes.
Select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder on the external.
You can now delete /Music/iTunes/ folder.

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TS3694 Hello, I have an error while trying to add move music into my itunes library. 'The itunes library file cannot be saved. You do not have enough previledges for this operaion? help - what does this mean?

Hello, I have an error while trying to add move music into my itunes library. 'The itunes library file cannot be saved. You do not have enough previledges for this operaion? help - what does this mean?

Hi luxmi01,
Here is some information and troubleshooting on the permissions issues you are seeing:
Trouble adding music to iTunes library or importing audio CD
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1387
Cheers!
- Ari

How do I Play videos from external hard drive on Apple TV2? Can I just move the iTunes Library to the External Hard Drive?

I have several HD videos stored on an external hard drive and would like to bring them into iTunes and play them via iTunes on my Apple TV2, but I am not sure how to go about it. I don't want to store the movies on my iMac hard drive because it would eat up to much space...so do I just move the iTunes Library to the external hard drive? And, if so...will the Apple TV2 find the iTunes Library on the external hard drive? Thanks for any help anyone can suggest.

iTunes content on an external drive isn't a problem.
The simplest method is to just move your library to an external drive.
If you wanted to keep just movies on an external drive, that's a little more difficult. You'd need to put the movies where you want them to reside on the external drive and add drag and drop them onto iTunes while holding down the option key. Obviously any movies already in iTunes would need moving from their current location and removing from iTunes first.

Just upgraded iTunes to version 11.0.2.26...... now have no music or apps..... they are still in the iTunes library on the pc, just not in the iTunes interface.... ideas anyone..?

Just upgraded iTunes to version 11.0.2.26...... now have no music or apps..... they are still in the iTunes library on the pc, just not in the iTunes interface.... ideas anyone..?

Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash
Hopefully it's not been too long since you last upgraded iTunes, in fact if you get an empty/incomplete library immediately after upgrading then with the following steps you shouldn't lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping. In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these and copy it into the iTunes folder. Rename iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl and then rename the restored file as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. Should all be good, bar any recent additions to or deletions from your library.
Note with iTunes 11 an "empty" library may show all your purchases with cloud icons that allow them to be streamed or downloaded from Apple's servers.
See iTunes Folder Watch for a tool to catch up with any changes since the backup file was created.
When you get it all working make a backup!
If, for some inexplicable reason, the media has been removed from your computer see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
tt2

Have a large library of music on my iphone 5s. I have just upgraded to iphone6. I believe I need to have all my music in my itunes library to transfer it to my new phone - however all I can see in my itunes library is music I have purchased recently

I have a large library of music on my iphone 5s. I have just upgraded to iphone6. I believe I need to have all my music in my itunes library to transfer it to my new phone - however all I can see in my itunes library is music I have purchased recently. This library of music is from years ago. Ho can I get all my music on my new phone ? Thanks

See turingtest2's user tip on Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device. You should, however, maintain your library on your PC and maintain a regular backup of it. iPhones are neither designed as nor suitable as data storage devices.

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.

I have lost all my music on my itunes library. These were not purchased items from itunes, just CDs i had imported, so I could reimport them, but would rather not do that.

I have recently lost all my itunes library. All the CD's were imported, but I would rather not go through the laborious technique of downloading them on to my computer again. I have tried all sorts of methods to restore my library, and have now given up. I have deleted itunes completely from my computer, and reinstalled the program.
I have now bought itunes match.
Unfortunately, I now realise that I will lose all the music on my phone if I use itunes match. So, is there any way of transferring the music on my iphone back to itunes?
Can anybody help?
Thanks.

Hey xxCreepyFiaxx,
First, I would try the following suggested steps for when you don't see content in iTunes after updating:
Quit iTunes.
Download and install the latest version of iTunes.
Use the Finder (Mac) or Windows Explorer (Windows) to go to the iTunes folder that contains the iTunes library files:
Mac OS X
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/
Microsoft Windows Windows XP and Windows 2000
\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\
Microsoft Windows Windows Vista and Windows 7
\Users\username\Music\iTunes\
Drag the iTunes Library file from the above location to the Desktop.
Open the Previous iTunes Libraries folder in the iTunes folder.
Locate the file named iTunes Library YYYY-MM-DD where YYYY-MM-DD is the date you upgraded iTunes (Year-Month-Day).
Drag this file to the iTunes folder (the enclosing folder).
Rename this file to iTunes Library.
Open iTunes.
You should now see your missing content in iTunes.
via: No content shows up in iTunes after updating
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1967
If that doesn't resolve the issue, then I'd go through the steps in here:
iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408
Have a good one,
Delgadoh

I have a new Ipod. How do I transfer music from my Itunes library to the new ipod

I HAVE A NEW IPOD NANO. HOW DO I TRANSFER MUSIC FROM MY CURRENT ITUNES LIBRARY TO THE NEW IPOD

I HAVE A NEW IPOD NANO. HOW DO I TRANSFER MUSIC FROM MY CURRENT ITUNES LIBRARY TO THE NEW IPOD

When I bought my Mac Air OSX Version 10.9.2 my daughter helped me migrate the contents of my previous macbook. But in the process seems to have duplicated the iTunes library . The start up disk is almost full and plus it doesn't my iPhone. Please help!

When I bought my Mac Air OSX Version 10.9.2 my daughter helped me migrate the contents of my previous macbook. But in the process seems to have duplicated the iTunes library - How do I get rid of one. The start up disk is almost full and plus it doesn't synch properly with my iPhone 4S. Please help!

Hello nicky:
You should run repair disk from your software install DVD before you try anything else. The crash may have damaged some of your directories - and a possible cause of the "missing/not missing" tunes.
Barry

HT1589 My laptop memory is getting very full, mostly with music in I tunes. I have an external hard drive and I would like to move all the Itunes library to the external drive but I am afraid I will screw up I tunes and I won't be able to find and or syn

My hard drive is filling up with music files in I Tunes. I would like to move them to my external hard drive but I am afraid when I do that I won't be able to sync my music to my devices. I have just added I cloud and signed up for I Match. I wonder if this would allow me to move all my I tunes files to the external drive. What will be the impact of this. I believe I can set the default to the new location for future downloads

Move the entire iTunes folder out to the external drive, e.g. as X:\iTunes where X: is the letter of the drive. Hold down shift as you click the icon to start iTunes and keep holding until asked to choose or create a library. Click choose then browse to the file X:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl.
tt2

I have lost all my music in my itunes library, how can i recover my music?

how can i recover my itunes library after it has been deleted?

It has always been very basic to always maintain a backup copy of your computer for just such an occasion. Use your backup copy to put everything back.

How do I transfer my iTunes library from an old, slow pc laptop to a newer faster pc laptop? Do I have to take a copy of my iTunes library on the hard drive of the old(er) pc laptop and load it onto the hard drive of my new(er) pc laptop?

How do I transfer my iTunes library from an old, slow pc laptop to a new(er), faster pc laptop? Do I have to make a copy of the iTunes library on the old pc laptop and re-install it on the new(er) pc laptop? Is it something that can de done using the actual iPod itself?

This is the method I would normally recommend:
Backup with this User Tip, restore the library to the new computer using the same tool, keep the backup up-to-date in future. Deauthorize the old computer if you no longer need to access protected content on it.
You can use your iPod classic to move your library to a new computer but if you don't already have a backup copy of the library (and your other important data) now is the time to think about it.
tt2

I have 60 000 songs on a hard drive. The songs are referenced to the media file and not stored in the media file. I have moved the songs to another external drive. The itunes library has lost the link to the media files. How can I restore the links?

I have all my songs (60 000) on a remote drive. The drive is wireless networked. I installed a new router and had to map the drive again. Once this was done itunes could no longer locate the music. My music is not sitting in my media file but is rather referenced to the location of the music. Now that the location has changed due to the remapped drive how can I link the itunes library to the songs (media)again.
I have read many help comments and forums but so far nothing specific about relinking once the songs have already been moved and are referenced songs.
A step by step procedure would be helpful.
Thank you
Graham

I've uploaded a newer version that might catch that error. For some background on the script look at this thread.
iTunes remembers the location of each file in the database. If you right-click on a missing file, click Get Info, cancel when it asks you to try to find it, then look on the summary tab it will show you the last known location in the form file://localhost/<some path>. If you put the files back where they are expected to be, close iTunes and reopen, then iTunes will find them again. If not my script can attempt the task. When the script asks for a media folder you should respond with Z:\ since that seems to be where the artist folders are located.
tt2

Hi 0 can anyone help me. I have music in my iTunes library, but they are not backing up on my computer library. I need to do this in order to transfer to a new computer

Hi
Getting really frustrated, I have loads of music on iTunes on my old PC, but only a small amount is saving to the computer hard drive.
I want to back up the itunes library on the old computer so I can transfer it to the new computer using my hard drive.
How can I get the rest of my music to save to my hard drive?
Thanks
T

Hi there TatLondon,
You may find the information in the article below helpful.
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4527
-Griff W.

HT1751 Not all the music I have in Itunes is in the Itunes library, how do I make sure all is there to transfer to new computer

I am trying to move my Itunes Library to a different computer. When I put the Itunes library onto the external hard drive it only had a portion of the songs. Alot did not copy over. How do I make sure that all the songs in Itunes are in the Itunes Library stored on my computer?

These are two possible approaches that will normally work to move an existing library to a new computer.
Method 1
Backup the library with this User Tip.
Deauthorize the old computer if you no longer want to access protected content on it.
Restore the backup to your new computer using the same tool used to back it up.
Keep your backup up-to-date in future.
Method 2
Connect the two computers to the same network. Share your <User's Music> folder from the old computer and copy the entire iTunes library folder into the <User's Music> folder on the new one. Again, deauthorize the old computer if no longer required.
Both methods should give the new computer a working clone of the library that was on the old one. As far as iTunes is concerned this is still the "home" library for your devices so you shouldn't have any issues with iTunes wanting to erase and reload.
I'd recommend method 1 since it establishes an ongoing backup for your library.
Note if you have iOS devices and haven't moved your contacts and calendar items across then you should create one dummy entry of each in your new profile and iTunes should merge the existing data from the device.
If your media folder has been split out from the main iTunes folder you may need to do some preparatory work to make it easier to move. See make a split library portable.
Should you be in the unfortunate position where you are no longer able to access your original library or a backup then then see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device for advice on how to set up your devices with a new library with the maximum preservation of data.
tt2

HT1660 So...if I have limited hard space, is adding all my music to the iTunes library "doubling" the space taken up by my songs/albums?

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