I moved my itunes media library to an external drive to free up 40gigs. How do I recoup my 40gigs?

I moved my iTunes media library to an external drive to free up 40gigs on my hard drive. When I checked in about this Mac to see if the space was gained it now seems to be replaced by a category "backups". How do I recoup my 40gigs?

When you moved the iTunes data to the external HDD, I assume you deleted it from your MBP. Backup are not to worry about. Read this:
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14329
They will be deleted when disk space is required.
Ciao.
In addition, read this Apple support article:
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT4878

Similar Messages

I have moved my Itunes media folder to an external drive and Itunes does not find the items in the folder

Running Win7. I moved my entire Itunes library to an external drive to free up space on my laptop. Itunes recognized the change and all was well. That worked fine and I have synced several times from the laptop with the library on the external drive. Now the laptop is in the shop (sigh, not Itunes related a dead network card). I connected the external drive to my desktop, made sure my software was up to date. opened ITunes went to edit/preferences/advanced. Went to change Itunes media folder location and navigated to the proper folder on my external drive and clicked OK. None of the music, videos, etc, that are in that folder show up in iTunes on the desktop. Restarted ITunes, no help, reboot computer, no help. Have I done something wrong or left out a step. I could copy all the media onto the desktop individually and build new playlists but that seems like something that should not be needed? One of the reasons I moved my Itunes media folder to the external drive was so I could use the laptop for iTunes while travel and the desktop for iTunes while at home. Do I have to copy the entire folder to my desktop and take up space there? That would be counterproductive to using the external drive. I searched and saw a hint to hold down shift while starting ITunes but that did not change anything. Any help would be most appreciated!
Jim in WV

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 moved my itunes media folder to an external drive

Now i'm not sure how to delete the old media folder to free up space on my internal drive?

i have all the computers pointing to:
Multimedia>iTunes>iTunes Media
in the iTunes Media folder there are the following folders:
Automatically Add to iTunes
Books
Movies
Music
TV Shows
i do NOT have the "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" box checked. i read on another site that this box should remain UNchecked when storing your iTunes library centrally. what is it exactly checking that box does? does anyone know of a good article explaining how to get multiple users to be able to access a centrally located iTunes Media folder?
by that i am not talking about Home Sharing or whatever it is called. i want to be able to access the central iTunes Media Library and have my kids be able to sync their iPads and iPhones and any other A4 devices they have from their own computers. all family members are setup with Network Home Folders being handled by an Intel xServe.
all help is appreciated....

HT1449 When moving your iTunes Media folder to an external drive should the itl file be moved during the organise library process too?

I have moved all of the iTunes data to the drive, but can't seem to find the .itl folder when trying to make external drive the location for my music for a new computer.
Can anyone please assist on letting me know where the .itl file would have been copied to or whether, if I copy the .itl folder separately, would it keep play counts and ratings?
Thanks

Many people confuse moving their media folder with moving their library. A library is everything inside the iTunes folder. Unless you have a specific reason for not wanting to move the entire library it is best to do that rather than just media.
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 move only media then the main library files remain on the computer. If you want to move the whole library:
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) so you get a prompt to choose a library, then select the copied iTunes folder.
If this is to a new computer and you put the copied iTunes folder in the default location of Macintosh HD > Users > *User Name* > Music then you don't even need to start with the option key held down, iTunes will automatically look for it there. (Make sure there isn't anything already in the iTunes folder there that you want to keep since you will be replacing it with the one you are moving.)

How do I move my itunes library to an external drive to free up space on a Macbook?

Hi, I'd like to free up some room on my Macbook and was thinking of moving all my music library to an external drive. I hardly ever use my computer to play music, more I download an album and then sync it to my iphone to play from that. I use itunes and back up with time machine, but would like the music folder separate entirely, is this possible?
Thanks in advance.

Drag it from the Music item of the Finder's sidebar to an external drive, launch iTunes with the Option key held down, and point it there.
(59635)

ITunes Media Folder Renameable on External Drive (mac)

I have a 1TB collection of music in a folder on an external drive within a folder that is NOT called iTunes Media, but which until now had behaved as if it were.
I just switched to a clone of my old 1TB drive on a 1.5TB drive. After 11 hours of locating my 157000 tracks, I was able to find and use every track. However, when I added a new track, apparently I lost the ability to add new music tracks within the Music folder. Instead, a new iTunes Media folder was created within the folder which SHOULD have been called iTunes Media.
In the (new) iTunes Media folder there are a few folders containing the music I added after the switch. In the Music folder (below, but higher hierarchy) there is 1TB of music, which means it cannot be copied into the (new) iTunes Media file on the 1.5TB drive (not enough space).
Even though it would entail 100+ hours of new clone-backup time, the most logical solution would be to discard the embedded iTunes Media folder, rename the top-level folder iTunes Media, then let iTunes relocate the tracks again (over another 11 hours) and reload the few tracks loaded since the switch.
However I do not know if iTunes will allow this to work, and if so, what needs to be done in order to make it work.
Can the top-level folder be renamed? Do I need to untick and tick the Keep iTunes Media Folder Organized button?
Thanks
Mac OSX 10.6.8, iTunes 11.4

I am getting a bit lost on what was done and exactly why you did it that way. It looks to me like you use iTunes with standard preferences settings and you didn't so much move your media folder to the external drive as your whole iTunes library (everything in the top level folder including all the media files). This should have been done simply by copying the iTunes folder from the old drive to the new one, renaming the AllMyiTunesMusic folder if you so desire, then starting iTunes while holding down the option/alt key and selecting that folder as the iTunes library to now start using. Apart from the copy time when you could go away and drink a pot of coffee the actual labor time would be about 2 minutes. I think you must have done something different which has kind of messed up your library and resulted in duplication of files. Some of those folders such as Movies and the neighboring Music folder should be in the media folder, but don't move things about in Finder or iTunes may lose track of them and things will get worse. If you can go back and do things properly then I recommend you do so, otherwise we can see what we can work with here.
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.

Itunes looses library location on external drive

I transferred my iTunes music library to an external hard drive (Toshiba 1T) and had set the media folder location in Preferences to the new location on the external drive. Yet, occationally the external drive "shuts down" even though the computer goes to sleep and iTunes cannot find the music library.

ssn wrote:
I transferred my iTunes music library to an external hard drive (Toshiba 1T) and had set the media folder location in Preferences to the new location on the external drive.
When you move the library, you don't set the location to the new location, It is already set there.
Yet, occationally the external drive "shuts down" even though the computer goes to sleep and iTunes cannot find the music library.
Exrternal (and internal) drives usually shut down when the computer goes to sleep.
Make sure the drive is ready before launching iTunes.

ITunes Media Dir started on External - deciding to switch to local - how?

When I first set up my macbook pro, I set up iTunes to use an external WD 2 TB to store my media library. Everything worked fine, but now I'd like to
sync my devices without having to connect the external drive. I thought I could do this with a little housekeeping in iTunes ( I went into preferences -> advanced, and changed media directory location, reorganized my library with consolidate etc ... )
That did move all my music and mobile apps into the correct directory ... however, iTunes can still only locate these files if (and only if) the external drive is connected. It seems that it makes cheat notes to itself to "go looking from here into the correct location".
That's why I'd like to reinstall iTunes from a fresh start. Anyone know:
(1) Am I forced to re-install for my stated purpose?
(2) The best way to go about doing that?
If I can avoid (1) by changing up some XML files locations or something, I'm fine with that ... but thought I'd ask here first before I mess anything up.
I'm all ears for tips ...
Thanks in advance !!!
Richard

I am getting a bit lost on what was done and exactly why you did it that way. It looks to me like you use iTunes with standard preferences settings and you didn't so much move your media folder to the external drive as your whole iTunes library (everything in the top level folder including all the media files). This should have been done simply by copying the iTunes folder from the old drive to the new one, renaming the AllMyiTunesMusic folder if you so desire, then starting iTunes while holding down the option/alt key and selecting that folder as the iTunes library to now start using. Apart from the copy time when you could go away and drink a pot of coffee the actual labor time would be about 2 minutes. I think you must have done something different which has kind of messed up your library and resulted in duplication of files. Some of those folders such as Movies and the neighboring Music folder should be in the media folder, but don't move things about in Finder or iTunes may lose track of them and things will get worse. If you can go back and do things properly then I recommend you do so, otherwise we can see what we can work with here.
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.

Itunes old library saved on external drive wont open

I have an old library file of itunes music saved on an external hard drive. Unfortunately now it wont open due to upgrading my laptop. Any ideas please would be welcome.
I get the error message "itunes was not installed correctly . please reinstall itunes. Error 7".
This is depsite having the latest version of itunes installed and other songs working fine.
Thanks

ssn wrote:
I transferred my iTunes music library to an external hard drive (Toshiba 1T) and had set the media folder location in Preferences to the new location on the external drive.
When you move the library, you don't set the location to the new location, It is already set there.
Yet, occationally the external drive "shuts down" even though the computer goes to sleep and iTunes cannot find the music library.
Exrternal (and internal) drives usually shut down when the computer goes to sleep.
Make sure the drive is ready before launching iTunes.

Can I backup my iTune music library to an external drive and install on a new computer?

Can I backup my iTune library to an external drive and reinstall on a new computer? To use disks I need 29 to do this.

Hi Niel. Can you be move specific for those of us not tech savy? 1 - Can you provide steps to back up the library? 2 - How do you organize the library? 3 - When you move the entire iTunes folder, does it include iTunes paid for music along with downloaded music from CDs? Thanks

Moving iTunes 6 Library to an external drive

All I wanted to do is reroute the iTunes Library from my Macs INTERNAL DRIVE, to an EXTERNAL DRIVE (that has more space) AND keep all my hard earned playlists & downloaded album covers intact. Unfortunetly I followd the directions for an earlier versions of iTunes. Final result; I was able to change the location, BUT all the playlists & album cover downloads were lost (hard work down the drain!). Does anybody know if there are any updated instructions for doing this available for iTunes 6?
Thanks to anybody who can help with this.
Dan

Dan,
in this case for whatever reason something went really wrong: The 2 library files "iTunes Music Library.xml" as well as "iTunes Library" must not be moved.
All playcounts, ratings etc. are stored in the last one mentioned.
If this files isn't in your iTunes folder, iTunes creates a blank one: All metadata will get lost.
If the original files still exist: Close itunes and move back "iTunes Music Library.xml" as well as "iTunes Library" into "iTunes" and relaunch the application.

Is it possible to save an iTunes media library on an external hard drive that is connected to a wi-fi router?

The external hard drive is connected, through USB, to a wi-fi router. So, can I save my entire iTunes library on that external hard drive and access the files wirelessly and also use that library to sync my iPhone 4S? I have a limited hard disk space on my MacBook Air and don't want any itunes media on my computer, so would it be possible to have it all on the external hard drive while maintainig the ability to sync/play those files saved on the external hard drive without the original files being on the MacBook Air? Sorry for the long question I just want to make everything as clear as possible. Really thanks guys!

Unfortunately, I don't see a solution to your problem.

ITunes Media Folder Location on External Drive

Setting up a new Mac. I already have my iTunes media from my previous Mac on an external drive. Went to Preferences and selected the external drive and iTunes Media folder and the files are not showing up in iTunes. Any ideas?

FrustratedAJM3 wrote:
Setting up a new Mac. I already have my iTunes media from my previous Mac on an external drive. Went to Preferences and selected the external drive and iTunes Media folder and the files are not showing up in iTunes. Any ideas?
That simply tells iTunes where to put new files.
It does not add anything to iTunes.
You should keep the entire iTunes library (iTunes media and all library files) in one location.
Do this...
Connect external to old computer.
Copy /Music/iTunes/ folder from internal drive to external drive.
On the external, move the iTunes media folder into the iTunes folder you just copied to the external.
Hold Option, launch iTunes, select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder on the external.
Everything should work fine.
Quit iTunes.
Connect drive to new computer.
Hold Option, launch iTunes, select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder on the external.
Everything should work fine.
This is all you need to do.
This will bring all your playlists, ratings, comments, everything from old computer.
You do not need to change the iTunes media folder location in iTunes prefs..

Saved iTunes 4 library to an external drive and original library is missing

Can you help me to get it back?

Lara-Mom wrote:
I have a MacBook that I maintain my Itunes library on but had run out of memory so I attempted to move my library to a Lacie external drive.
How & what exactly did you movie?
It appeared to work following steps in a discussion thread
Which discussion thread?

If I put the contents of my iTunes library on an external HD to free up space, how do I stop losing it from my iPad the next time it syncs?

if i were to transfer the contents of my itunes library to an external hard drive how do I not lose it from my i pad the next time it syncs ?

as long as you change iTunes preferences to point the new location, you'll be fine.

I moved my itunes media library to an external drive to free up 40gigs. How do I recoup my 40gigs?

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