HT201625 iTunes unable to locate iTunes Media Folder after transfer from PC to Mac?

Hello
I recently purchased a new Mac Mini, and have been attempting to transfer everything from my old PC to it.
One of these things is my extensive iTunes library, including all of the media, and my iOS devices back-ups. I've been following these first two articles to the letter, as I was using an external drive to transfer my media (my iTunes library and Media folder were already on an external hard drive when in use on my PC):
How to move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Support
Back up your iTunes library by copying it to an external drive - Apple Support
Create and delete iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch backups in iTunes - Apple Support
However, after following the second link all the way through without issue, i've run into difficultly at the final stage (screen shot below):
I am able to find the iTunes Library file. It is called 'iTunes Library.itl'. I click, and it seems like everything is fine as iTunes opens up.
However, none of my media can be found. The only media shown is that which I have purchased via the iTunes store (as I have logged in, which has been successful). I have tried checking in preferences, but I have definitely linked to the right folder as well (see below screenshot).
I'm at a loss at what to do next! Any ideas why this might be happening appreciated.

It seems you have done everything correctly, with the iTunes Music folder in your iTunes folder like this. When you double-click the iTunes Music folder do you see all your songs etc.?
If so, leave everything as is and try a reinstall of iTunes. It might just work.
OS X Yosemite: Reinstall apps that came with your Mac
Edit: I just noticed your music folder is named iTunes Media, which may be the Windows way. Rename it as iTunes Music.

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How to Share One iTunes Media Folder on a Windows Laptop and Mac Laptop

I have an HP EX490 Home Server setup. I want to use the Music Share volume to act as the home for all of our music. I am using a MacBook Pro and my wife is using a Dell Windows Vista Laptop. I have my iTunes pointing to the iTunes Media Folder on the Music Share. The iTunes Library resides on my laptop in Music/iTunes/Library. I used the consolidate library feature and it moved all the music to the appropriate iTunes folder on the Share. Now I want to do that with the Windows Vista Laptop. I have the Vista laptop pointing to the Share for the iTunes Media folder location. The question is how do I add the files to her library? Do I "consolidate library" again or just "add folder to library"? Also do I keep the boxes checked "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" under the Advanced Tab in Preferences? Would greatly appreciate the help. Lots of music/videos and only want to do this once.
Thanks in Advance
Tom

Tom DePrenda wrote:
I used the consolidate library feature and it moved all the music to the appropriate iTunes folder on the Share.
Good!
I have the Vista laptop pointing to the Share for the iTunes Media folder location.
Good!
The question is how do I add the files to her library?
Go to your File menu and use the command Add Folder to Library. When the dialog comes up, point it to the Music folder in the Share area. But read on first...
Also do I keep the boxes checked "Keep iTunes Media folder organized"
You must turn off the "Keep..." option. Otherwise, when one of you changes a tag, iTunes will re-"organize" and the other person's iTunes will lose the link.
The "Copy..." option should also be turned off. As you add new music, put it where you want it. Then you must "Add File to Library" from each iTunes.

Link to iTunes Media folder after rebuild

I kept my iTunes Media folder on a separate drive. After rebuilding my system I linked iTunes to my folder (Preferences / advanced) and it doesn't pick it up.

Hi Appletart5000,
Thanks for the update and letting me know it did not resolve the issue for you. I'd say at this point a new library with the media added back might be the way to go. Using the article from earlier, you'd want to create a new library and then locate the media files and add them into iTunes:
Adding music and other content to iTunes
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1473
Open iTunes
From the File menu, choose one of the following choices:
MacAdd to Library
Windows
Add File to Library
Add Folder to Library
Navigate to and select the file or folder that you want to add
If iTunes is set to "Copy files to the iTunes Music folder when adding to library," iTunes will copy all content that is added to the iTunes library to the iTunes Music folder. To adjust this setting or change the location of this folder, go to the Advanced tab in iTunes Preferences.
If that still doesn't work or you've already tried that with a new library, you may find more information by using another one of Apple's support resources:
http://www.apple.com/support/contact/
Cheers,
- Ari

HT1203 I moved my Itunes media folder to my public folder in my home folder so that my wife can share my music when she logs on to my computer. Since then aperture has been unable to locate the music files and I cannot add any of my itunes files to a slid

I moved my itunes media folder to my public folder in my home folder so that my wife can share my music when she logs on as a user. Since doing this Aperture cannot locate any itunes music files and so I cannot add any music to a slideshow. All of my existing slideshows no longer play music. Can anyone help?
Thanks

Thank you for your prompt response - I did as you said and did a drag and drop into the iTunes window - it imported and got my album art from the net. When I started Itunes with the shift key down I was prompted to choose a library but since I copied over the media folder and not the library folder I was unable to select that so I guess I will have to create a new library and add in all the music, videos, etc. unless I wait for my laptop and export the library or at least that seems to be the case? In short, all my data (iTunes media folder) is on my external drive and can be added to the blank iTunes screen but I can not choose a library folder. Is there anyway around completely making all those playlists again? I am not sure my laptop will survive the shop with data intact and really hate to start over on those.
In an unrelated question - I collect old TV shows from the 1950's. Can I make playlists within the home video folder somehow? In other words like one for Quiz shows, one for comedies, one for police and detective shows, etc. while I am remaking all my playlists for my music if I end up having to go that route?
Once again thank you for helping me out. I am not too Itunes savvy and really appreciate you taking the time to answer.

I just installed iTunes on my computer, where I already have all my music. I went to Edit Preferences Advanced, and changed the iTunes Media Folder Location to where I have all my music, in the "Local Disk." But iTunes wont import all my music. Help?

I just installed iTunes on my computer, where I already have all my music. I went to Edit > Preferences > Advanced, and changed the iTunes Media Folder Location to where I have all my music, in the "Local Disk." But iTunes wont import all my music. Help?

Have you looked in the Music App on your iPhone? On the iPhone music is played by the Music App not iTunes.

How to move library if iTunes Media Folder is not at default location

I need to move my iTunes library from my old laptop to my new one which should be simple enough but the problem is that my iTunes library database and content will not be in the same relative locations on the new computer - ie...I long ago ran out of space on my laptop HD and all my music has been on an external HD so my iTunes Media Location is not the standard "My Music" folder but instead points to E:/ITUNES EHD.
I would like to plug in the external HD to the new PC and copy the files to the new internal HD (as one of the reasons for buying the new computer was to do away with using the external HD for iTunes) and have the new iTunes point at the new media location but all the copied files have a pathway starting with E:/ rather than C:/ so iTunes immediately ignores them.
How can I transfer the files (including all the playlists other info) from the external HD to the new internal HD so that the "new" iTunes will recognise the files in their new location.
I hope this makes sense to somebody out there - please help or ask me any questions if I have not been too clear.

This article should get you started:
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive/48
The most important thing for a trouble free transfer is all you music files must be in your designated iTunes Music/media folder. That is set from the advanced tab in preferences.
If your current media folder is not set in preferences, you need to set it. If there are any music files outside the designated folder you need to consolidate your library.
The reason for this is that iTunes is extremely fussy about paths to files, but it can cope with a change in the path above the level of the designated media folder.
If you want to keep your current playlists etc, you will need to transfer your current iTunes folder containing the library files.
A simple way to do this is to install iTunes on the new PC then with iTunes closed drag the new iTuneas folder out of music to the desktop and replace it with the iTunes folder from the old PC.
You will need to adjust the permissions on the folder so your new account is the owner with full control.
Initially set the location of your iTunes music folder to the external drive and check that it all works.
Then you can move your files, by changing the location of your itunes media folder to one on the internal drive and then consolidating.
See this on moving the music folder:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1364?viewlocale=en_US
If I haven't explained it clearly enough post back with any questions.

HT1364 I have moved my library to an external hard drive and changed the location of the iTunes media folder in Preferences, but every time I close and re-open iTunes, I have to do it all over again. How can I make the iTunes media folder change permanen

I have moved my library to an external hard drive and changed the location of the iTunes media folder in Preferences, but every time I close and re-open iTunes, I have to do it all over again. How can I make the iTunes media folder change permanent? I have an older machine with Windows XP.

I don't believe mounting the hard drive should be necessary, unless you have several external drives and want your computer to recognise them as folders, rather than drives. I've never had to mount a hard drive, ever. If you don't know how to do it, then it shouldn't be necessary now.
Try this:
Prepare iTunes so that it can see the external drive.
Make a note of which drive-letter the external drive has been allocated. (Look in Windows Exploer)
Look at the file location for a song. Make sure it plays (and therefore that iTunes has found it). Highlight it and select File/Get Info/Summary>Where: and make a note of the drive letter for that song.
Close and shut down the computer.
The next time you turn the computer on again, connect the external drive
Before you start iTunes - check the external drive in Windows Explorer. Is it ready, does it have the same drive-letter that it had last time? Can you go into the drive and see the files on it?
Once you can, start iTunes. (If the drive lettter has changed, you need to work out why before going any further.)
If iTunes fails to find your external drive, you need to check where iTunes is looking for your Library.
Select the same song you checked before (presumably iTunes can no longer find it). Follow the procedure for locating it. You should be able to see where iTunes thinks the file is. It's the drive that counts. Which drive letter is iTunes looking at? Is it the same one that it was previously (which should also be the same one that the drive has now).
What happens, which step do you have problems with?
Message was edited by: the fiend

How to set up iTunes with an external hard drive so that there is not a double location for the iTunes Media folder

Hi,
A very helpful postee got to the end of his knowledge level, so I am posting this for you tech guys to sort out. Bit long because I've tried to set it out step by step. Briefly I'm new to iTunes and my laptop has a very small hard drive and is virtually full and due to be replaced. So I want to use an external hard drive.
Now I know that iTunes installs itself to two locations: 1. Programs Files 2. Music. And its the Music location that bothers me.
I asked about using an external hard disk to store the actual AAC files. I was advised that in order to change the loaction of the iTunes media folder I was should employ preferences/advanced/ and this is what i saw (as you would expect):
Then I hooked up my hard drive, hit 'change', and this is what I saw:
I was a bit worried by the lack of pathway details, but assumed it must have done something on the external drive, so I looked on it and this is what i saw (highlighted):
But compare this with what was in the directory I attempted to reproduce, viz in the iTunes folder in /laptop/Music/iTunes:
A ton of stuff. The only stuff that corresponded with what iTunes had created on my external hard drive was in Music/iTunes/iTunes Media folder:
Now this suggests that there are TWO locations for my preferences. The advanced tab only allowed me to ADD an extra location, not REPLACE the original.
So:
1. Which of the two locations will iTunes choose when I add music? Surely it will go with the original pathway laid down in the directory when iTunes was installed, and ignore my external Hard Drive? I mean, how can there be two automatic locations?!!!
2.. I don't mind itunes library being on my laptop as this is just a list, but it obvoiusly has to have a pathway to the site where the actual AAC files are stored.
so surely it won't work unless the whole lot is on the external hard drive: library, extras, genius, the lot?
4. How then do I get it all on the external since merely changing "preferences" doesn't do the job?
5. Is this perhaps the reason why so many people report that iTunes does not recognize their external hard disk:
http://www.ehow.com/info_12199596_external-hard-drive-not-recognized-itun es.html
I just don't want this to happen to me. Any answers?
Philip Joy
UNITED KINGDOM

As I've replied to your other threads...
Easy method 1:
Move or Copy entire working library from current location to the root of your external drive. Press & hold down shift (option on a Mac) as you click the icon to start iTunes. Click Choose when prompted, then browse to ..\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl on the external. If you copied the library across then test your new library works properly after renaming the original folder, before deleting the original folder to recover space.
Easy method 2:
If you haven't really started to build your library. Press & hold down shift as you click the icon to start iTunes. Click Create. Browse to the root of the external drive. Create the library as ITunes. Drag your media into ..\iTunes\iTunes Media\Automatically Add to iTunes.
Complex method:
Required if you've already tried other things and now have media & library scattered around. See the post make a split library portable.
in addition...
In all cases the idea is to get a library folder called iTunes containing a media folder called iTunes Media with all media inside this media folder. Once you have the library in this shape it is easy to reconnect to the library with the shift-start-iTunes method if the drive letter changes, move the library to another computer, and backup the library by cloning the folder to another drive.
tt2

I lost my itunes media folder how can I export the photos from my ipad to another location

I lost my itunes media folder and also my iPhoto files. I have the majority of the photos from iPhoto library on my iPad. How can I get them from my iPad to another location. Like exporting them to a folder on an external drive.Is this possible. I know I can move photos I've taken with the ipad to a new iphoto, but how can a get the old iphoto photos from my ipad to a new location? I'm basically starting over. Don't ask what happened. It was horrible.

An external drive? Not sure that there is any way of doing that. There are a number of WiFi transfer apps that should let you transfer the photos back to the Mac itself. Look at some of these.
https://www.google.com/search?q=wifi%20photo%20transfer%20from%20iPad%20to%20Mac
This application allows you to transfer all iPad content back to your computer.
http://www.wideanglesoftware.com/touchcopy/index.php

Can you "lock" iTunes Media Folder location?

One of the things I hate about iTunes is that I keep my music collection on an external hard drive with mirrored RAID array. Songs I buy are automatically transferred onto that drive. But sometimes, the hard drive will go offline, for whatever reason - a power issue, bumped by someone, whatever. When that does happen, iTunes doesn't give you a warning, it just defaults to the internal Music folders. Until you realize that the hard drive is offline, every CD you rip, every song you buy will go straight to the iTunes folder on the Mac. When you finally reconnect that hard drive, and redirect iTunes to the iTunes Media Folder on it, you're hopelessly lost, with your music collection distributed between the two drives.
First off, WHY can't iTunes notify you that it can't find the designated iTunes Media Folder? It'll notify you about just about every single other bloody thing that happens in the computer?
Second, is there a way to LOCK the iTunes Media Folder onto another drive, such that iTunes can't find the iTunes folder on the Mac HD?
Third, is there an easy way to scan the library on my Mac HD and on the external HD to find out which files are missing from the external HD and need to be manually added to the library?
ks in advance!
Than

Hi Jonathan, it annoyed the heck out of me too. Answers to your questions:
No idea, it’s probably trying to be “helpful”.
I don’t believe you can lock iTunes the way you want, but you CAN stop iTunes from running WITHOUT THE DRIVE YOU WANT I got sick of manually transferring songs when this happened to me too. In my case my library is on a network server (NAS). I wrote the following AppleScript to deal with the situation and it will work for any externally connected drive, network, USB, FireWire etc.
So to explain the script: I’m asking Terminal to list the directory contents of the iTunes Library folder on the external drive. If it can, it makes iTunes start. If it can’t (the “on error” bit), it beeps at you and displays a dialog box that tells you it cannot start. I then save the script as an App, and give it the same icon as iTunes has, but a different name (‘iTunes Custom Launcher” for example). Then I remove iTunes from the Dock and put my custom launcher in the Dock instead. Doing this means the only odd thing you will see is that when the launcher starts iTunes, there will seem to be two iTunes icons in the Dock, but only while iTunes is running.
— Start of script
tell application "Terminal"
          try
                    do shell script "ls \"/Volumes/Music/iTunes Library\""
                    tell application "iTunes" to activate
          on error
beep
                    display alert "iTunes will not start until the Network Music Library is available"
          end try
end tell
tell application "Terminal" to quit
quit
— End of script
In order to use the script, you will need to replace the folder location of the iTunes Library. If you’re not familiar with Terminal, see what Finder says the name of the Disk (or network share) is when it is connected. Assuming your iTunes Library is called “iTunes Library”, the format of the third line of the script is:
do shell script “ls \"/Volumes/<disk or share name>/<folder>/<sub-folder…>iTunes Library\"”
If, like me, your iTunes Library folder is at the root of the external drive, you only need to replace <disk or share name> with the drive name and forget about the <folder>/<sub-folder…> bit. If you’re not sure what to do to the script let me know and we can do more Q&A to see exactly what you need to make the script look like.
So, the main steps:
Open the AppleScript Editor and copy/paste the script into the blank window
Save the script as “iTunes Custom Launcher” and choose to save it as an Application.
Copy/Paste the app into your Applications folder using Finder
To give the new app the same icon as iTunes has (optional), in the Applications folder, select iTunes and copy it. Do a “Get Info" on your new app and select the little icon in the top-left of the info screen so it has a blue outline, then do command-V (paste).
Remove iTunes from the Dock and add your new app.
For your question 3, I would just go into the music folders of whoever logs on to your mac and manually move whatever folders for artists/albums/songs are there; it should be the last time
Let me know if you need more help
Message was edited by: SilverSkyRat

ITunes Media Folder location can't be changed in Advanced Settings

I used to keep the iTunes Media Folder on an external hard drive. Now I copied the iTunes folder to the default location on my local hard drive. Once I changed the folder location in the Advanced Settings to the default settings everything worked fine for a week. Suddenly iTunes can no longer find the files unless I connect my old external hard drive. Reveal in Finder shows that iTunes is still looking at the old folder location despite the change to the local hard disk location in Advanced Settings. I tried changing the Advanced Settings folder locations back and forth but iTunes keeps pointing to the old external hard drive. Software Update is up to date. What can I do? Thanks.

I just looked at the "iTunes Music Library.xml" file with TextEdit. There are references to the external hard drive everywhere. It appears that the path to the iTunes Media folder just does not reflect the location selected in Advanced Settings.

I joined iTunes Match on my MBP and added our MBA to the same Match account. What should the iTunes Media Folder Location be for iTunes on the MBA?

The iTunes libraries on both machines appear to be in sync, though I don't know if Home Sharing or iTunes Match is to thank for the consistency. But the iTunes Media Folder locations are different on the MBP and MBA, and I don't know if they should point to the same storage location (it's been on a drive connected to our Airport for years). I also don't know what options for Copying Files and Keeping iTunes Organized should be on the MBA. I certainly don't want the media files duplicated yet the devices sharing a cloud version.
I hoped the MBA would act like an iOS device using iTunes Match in that music would stream unless downloaded. Then downloaded music would have to be managed (deleted from the MBA's iTunes) for space reasons at some regular intervals-- just like we now do on the iPhones and iPad. The library entry for the song would remain... just the locally stored file would be deleted and the iCloud download would change back to the download symbol.
But if a purchase is made from the iTunes store on the MBA, the file is stored on the local MBA machine as well as the external drive because the MBP receives the song via Home Sharing and downloads the file.

Each iTunes client will expect a discrete iTunes library location. The iTunes Match service will allow the libraries to be automatically synchronised along with any IOS devices that are also registered for iTunes Match.
Following making a secure backup for any given library it is possible, once Songs have been 'matched' or 'uploaded' to remove the local copies and play the Songs from the Cloud. The behaviour on IOS devices is different, they will download each Song as it is played.
Note: Apple is very clear that the responsibility for maintaining music files remains with the user - so it remains essential to ensure that you have your own Songs secure backed up prior to relying on the Cloud. Should there be an issue with the Cloud resulting in loss of Songs you will need your own secure backup.

ITunes Media folder external drive location not found at restart

How can I force iTunes to remember where my iTunes Media folder is located? I have followed the Apple iTunes Media library move instructions to the letter and the new folder location is correctly shown in the iTunes/Preferences/Advanced tab. If I close and reopen iTunes it finds the folder OK however when the laptop is shutdown it appears to forget. After a laptop restart and iTunes relaunch I get a media location failure warning and I have to manually direct it to where the media folder is every time, very annoying. The media library is actually located on an Apple Time Capsule which Time Machine happliy finds/connects to every time it backs up but for some reason iTunes does not. Any advice/tips much appreciated.

Hi Chris
I have now experimented a little more and discovered that although Time Capsule (TC) is showing in Finder as a Shared Drive at laptop startup (and showing a status of a connected user, me) it is not actually 'mounted' in the true sense of the word i.e. the unmount/eject symbol is not showing next to it nor either of the drives connected to the TC. By clicking on either of the 2 drives (i.e. the TC 'Data' disk or the TC USB-connected drive) the status changes to show the dismount symbol on both the selected drive and the TC in the Finder side bar. Launching iTunes after this intervention works every time as per your advice. Not the Apple 'it just works' that I have come to expect and appreciate but at least I now understand how to make it work reliably..........many thanks and I hope Apple just makes it work sometine in the future

If I move my iTunes media folder to an external hard drive, will Time Machine still back up that externally-located iTunes library?

To be precise, I've moved my iTunes Media Library to the same external hard drive where my TM backups are stored, although there's plenty of free space on that drive for both.
As I write that, however, it strikes me that if that external drive fails, I've lost my entire iTunes media directory AND my TM backup. So I suppose I should use a separate external HD for each, right?
But my main question is whether or not TM will still back up that iTunes media folder even if it's no longer located on the same boot drive as my main machine, which is a Mac Mini.
The whole reason I'm doing this is because my MM has a 250GB solid-state drive that is rapidly filling up because my iTunes library is 150+GB.

mende1 says:
I recommend you to store the library on another partition on the external disk and keep the first volume only for Time Machine backups.
and you say:
As I write that, however, it strikes me that if that external drive fails, I've lost my entire iTunes media directory AND my TM backup. So I suppose I should use a separate external HD for each, right?
From what people report here I'd say more people lose collections through whole drives failing and not just individual volumes becoming corrupt. A drive failing will take out all volumes on that drive.
Whatever the scenario, you will need multiple external drives. For convenience you could do as mende1 suggests and partition the TM drive. Keep TM on one part and your library on the other. This would be convenient because then you would only have one external connected to your Mac most of the time. However, then you should do as you observe and back up the partition used for iTunes to another external drive as often as you deem necessary. Basically you always want two copies of everything on two different drives, but they don't all have to be on the same two drives. Your TM drive acts as the backup for your computer and the primary for iTunes. Your computer acts as the primary for what's on TM and the second external acts as the backup for iTunes.

I am trying to move my iphoto and itunes to an external hard drive to free up space on my macbook...i have followed the steps to the change itunes media folder location (chosen external hard drive) but my new folder is greyed out so cant continue ?help?

I need to free up space on my macbook pro as hard drive is full!! So with 20 000 photos/video clips and itunes I would like to move this to a external hard drive!
I have followed steps on apple support but when i get to the Change itunes media folder location and chosen external hard drive it will not let me access the new folder option ?? help?

errrrrrrm!
Yes external drive shows up in finder on desk top and can change to in the media folder location thing!
My external hard drive is a WD Elements. I have no idea about permissions to the external? Do i Have to format external hard drive to a mac?
I am trying to follow the steps on the apple support page to transfer files (consolidate library etc) just cant get further down steps as the new folder option is greyed out!
Thanks for you help

HT201625 iTunes unable to locate iTunes Media Folder after transfer from PC to Mac?

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