Is it possible to keep iTunes Library on an external disk ?

Is it possible to keep iTunes Library on an external disk ?

Moving a library: Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings:  Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its sub-folders and files) intact to the other drive.  Hold down the option (alt) key (shift on Windows) and open iTunes.  At the prompt to create or choose a library choose the copied iTunes folder.

Similar Messages

  • Can i put my itunes library on an external disk?

    hi,
    i want to store my itunes library on and external disk but want it to work just like it does on the internal hdd. is that possible?
    i tried to store it on a home server. and while i could play the contents of the library. the art-work and so-forth did not appear in the itune client.
    please advise.

    Yes, it's most certainly possible. The easiest way is to just drag the entire iTunes folder (the entire folder, not just the iTunes Music folder) to your desired location. Then hold down the Shift key while launching iTunes. You'll be given a dialog box where you can select the iTunes library you want to use. Navigate to and select the iTunes folder in it's new location. Note that this procedure assumes that all of your content is contained in the iTunes Media/Music folder. If things are scattered around your drive, moving them becomes much more complex.
    Once you get things moved successfully, be sure not to launch iTunes with the external drive not mounted or iTunes will default back to the internal drive. If it does, though, just mount the external drive and launch iTunes with the Shift key again.
    Regards.

  • Am trying to transfer iTunes library to an external disk for back-up purposes.  have followed normal protocol i.e. locating iTunes file in Music folder and dragging across to external disk icon.  However, nothing seems to happen.  Any advice please?

    Am trying to transfer an iTunes library to an external disk for back up.  Have followed normal instructions by locating iTunes folder in Music file and dragging across the iTunes folder to the external disk icon.  Nothing happens.  No notifications.  Just a very pregnant pause.  Any advice gratefully appreciated.
    Michael L J

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities
    The external drive must be formatted in "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)", exFAT or FAT32, because OS X can't write in NTFS partitions by default.
    As you just want the library on the external drive to make a backup of your library, you can format it in "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" by using Disk Utility > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU1.html (Note that you won't be able to use the external drive with PCs unless you install a special application in them).
    Finally, drag your iTunes folder to your external drive

  • Keeping iTunes library on an external hard drive

    Hi,
    I am about to order a 1 TB external hard drive to store my photos and iTunes library on.
    It will have Firewire 800, so will my iTunes access files on the external drive as fast if they were the internal drive? ( and will iPhoto do the same? )
    Cheers.

    Hi, I am also having trouble moving my library. I've looked at a million threads related to this and it looks like other people have had similar issues, but I still can't seem to resolve it. I moved my iTunes music folder from one external hard drive to a larger one. then I went into iTunes-->Preferences-->Advanced, and selected the new location on the new hard drive. Then I clicked file-->Library-->Consolidate Library. Now when I click songs, I still get the message "The song "..." could not be used because the original file could not be found." I also tried quitting out of iTunes, and then opening it while holding option. Even after I selected the new location of the folder that way, I'm still running into the same problem. What am I missing?
    Jon

  • How do I link an iTunes Library (on an external disk) ?

    Hi all,
    I'd like to keep my huge collection on external drives.
    I was able to link the correct playlist (on external disk which was cloned from my previous Mac).
    What exactly should I link?
    For example: in Aperture, I just select the Aperture Library on my external drive and all my pics are available (obviously if the drive is plugged in).
    In iTunes I don't see this option... The only thing I see is the iTunes Media Folder Location option... which I don't really understand why is not there on my external hard drive.
    Any idea?
    Thanks

    If you have the whole iTunes library (media files, library files, genius, artwork, etc.) on an external drive hold down the option key while starting iTunes, navigate to the external, and it will use the iTunes folder on the external.  This is all too often confused with just keeping media (but not the library files or artwork) on an external which is the setting you see in Preferences.

  • How do i (easily) store only PART of my iTunes library on an external disk?

    i have a LOT of music to digitize and not a lot of space left in my powerbook. i want to keep this music on an external drive for later. i do not need to play it (for now) and i do not connect to this external drive often.
    should i just drag the song folders or artist folders out of the iTunes folder on my laptop and onto the external drive?
    or, is there some sort of cool way (play list?) that will let me keep them catalogued in iTunes even though unavailable?
    pb g4 12 (first one)   Mac OS X (10.4.5)   want a new one

    so dude, it would be better to put it all. You can't just put part because itunes needs to draw the songs from one place. So what you do is drag your whole itunes folder to your external hard drive then when it is all transported go to preferences and select advanced. Hit general and change the itunes music folder location to the iTunes music folder within the itunes folder. Also select keep library organized. It will automatically update you library, organize, and transport any imports to your external hard drive. Finally, it is safe to delete the folder from your computer. DO NOT DELETE FROM ITUNES! Delete the whole folder library on your computer. Remember to connect the hard drive when ever you open itunes, and if you forget repeat the steps to as stated before to draw the songs from the hard drive. Hope this helps. It helped me free up soooo much space on my computer.

  • Organizing iTunes Library onto two external disks

    I would like to keep my Music files on one external disk and the Podcasts files on another external disk.
    I understand how to designate the media files to an external disk, but am not clear how to split the two different sources between two separate libraries.

    I see. To get a better idea of what is being stored where please download and run the script iTunesInfo which should output something like this:
    I'm interested in the block of 4 results starting ITL location. If your profile name shows up somewhere replace it with <Name>.  It is also worth checking under Edit > Preferences > Advanced to see where iTunes thinks your media is supposed to go. My script estimates the setting based on the location of the first media file it can actually find.
    tt2

  • How do I move an iTunes library from one external drive to another?

    I need to move my iTunes library from one external disk to another, because the original disk is about to fail. So, I went into iTunes Perferences --> Advanced, and set the library to a new, empty folder on the new drive.
    Nothing changed. I expected all my music to vanish from iTunes, so that I would have to re-import it. However, all the music remained, still on the old disk. At this point, if I were to recreate the library on the new disk, I would have all of my music twice.
    Is it possible to move an iTunes library from one external drive to another, or am I stuck with my original choice until I buy a new machine? If I can move it, can one of you clever folks explain how it could be done?

    Paul Seymour1 wrote:
    However, those are all dealing with old versions of iTunes that still contained the Advanced --> Consolidate Library command which is no longer part of the app. (I'm on iTunes 10.6.1.)
    Consolidate is still part of iTunes.
    It is in iTunes menu File > Library > Manage library > Consolidate.
    The article you linked to is old and it is (and was) a hacky way of doing it.
    Just copy the entire /Music/iTunes/ folder to new location, hold Option (Mac) or Shift (Windows) when launching iTunes.

  • Is it possible to keep my iTunes library in an external hard drive?

    I have just noticed that my fairly new iMac computer's hard drive is almost completely full.
    Is it possible to transfer my iTunes library to an external hard drive (that I have plugged constantly into my iMac computer), and still have full functionality of all of my purchased songs in iTunes?

    br121 wrote:
    I have just noticed that my fairly new iMac computer's hard drive is almost completely full.
    Is it possible to transfer my iTunes library to an external hard drive (that I have plugged constantly into my iMac computer), and still have full functionality of all of my purchased songs in iTunes?
    absolutely, yes.
    follow these instructions

  • I have my iTunes Library on and external hard drive.  I have a new computer and want to use iTunes and KEEP my files on the external drive.

    My iTunes library is on an external hard drive, and I was able to access / add to the library from my windows laptop.
    I now have a new laptop, and want to be able to KEEP the library on the external drive while being able to use iTunes from the new laptop.
    I have selected "choose library" in iTunes, and have chosen the iTunes Library.itl file on the external drive.
    My media populates in iTunes on the new laptop version of iTunes, but when I click on a song iTunes says that it cannot locate the song.
    Your help is kindly appreciated!

    Thanks.  Were the settings shown in your last screenshot in force when you added the song that's shown on being on the C: drive?  It is also possible that at some point you ran iTunes with the external drive disconnected, in which case it will have defaulted to the library on the C: drive, or that you've run iTunes without explicitly selecting the library on the E: drive.  To make sure the latter is the case, hold down SHIFT while starting iTunes, then when you get this prompt:
    click on Choose Library..., navigate to the location of your current iTunes Library.itl file, and click Open.
    Part of your issue may that its not obvious where that current database file is located.  The folder layout on your E: drive isn't the one that's most easily managed - so its possible that the database file could be in:
    E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes
    E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes
    E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes 1
    I suggest that a lot of your issues can be addressed by reshaping your library into the reliable "portable" layout as described in tt2's Make a split library portable user tip.  Comparing your screenshot with the equivalent on my system (where I have a "well-formed" library on an external drive):
    where:
    there is just one iTunes folder with everything used by iTunes inside it
    all media is held within subfolders of the iTunes Media folder
    The way you have yours set up, where the iTunes Media Folder location is set to E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes rather than E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes Media is probably why some of your media is not being located correctly - the extent to which iTunes can correctly resolve locations is, to an extent, reliant on the folders for the different media kinds (Music, Audiobooks, etc.) being inside the iTunes Media media folder.  One common misunderstanding (not helped at all by Apple's documentation!) is that the iTunes Media Folder location setting in Edit > Preferences > Advanced does not tell iTunes where to find anything; rather it determines where iTunes will put new additions to your Library, in conjunction with the Copy files to iTunes Media folder ... flag:
    I would definitely take the time to work through the steps to bring your library into the "portable" shape - there may be few remaining issues with broken links when that's complete but this will be much easier to fix if your library is in a more standard structure.

  • Hi, can I move my iTunes library to an external hardrive without having to consolidate it as my prehistoric computer just doesn't have the space even though I have deleted everything possible to make room? Please help :(

    Hi, can I move my iTunes library to an external drive without having to consolidate it as my prehistoric computer just doesn't have enough space even though I have deleted everything possible to make room? Please help

    Hi, do you know if this works if I then want to move my library to a new computer as that is my main intention bacause my old computer hasn't got enough space for me to add new albums so I want to ditch the computer (its got to be about 100 years old and doesn't seem to cope well with modern technology!!) and start using my laptop for my iTunes. I am at the point now where i'm ready to throw both my computer and iPod out the window!!!! I might point out as well that in trying to clear space on my computer I accidently deleted the Bonjour programme which is aparently needed to use the home share option, oops!!!!
    Thanks, Kerry

  • 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

  • Is there a way to keep iTunes library on AppleTV after sync and then...

    Is there a way to keep iTunes library on AppleTV after syncing with my iTunes library on my MacBookPro and then erasing library on the MBP so that I can save HD space?
    Will they just auto sync and either erase library on AppleTV or copy complete library from AppleTV to MBP?
    Thank you for any insight you can give.

    Is there any change on this with Take 2? I was really hoping I would be able to specify which movies are on both ATV and my computer, and which are only on ATV. I don't have enough disk space on my MBP to store all the movies I want to have on my ATV!

  • Can I store the apps in my iTunes library on an external hdd but keep my music on my mac

    can I store the apps in my iTunes library on an external hdd but keep my music on my mac?
    thanks

    I don't know if this is me adding files to iTunes when the external wasn't connected
    it is.
    is it OK to just keep deleting that library on the Air?
    i wouldn't - at least not until i
    mount the external
    point iTunes media folder location back to the external via preferences > advanced
    consolidate my library via file > library > organize library
    The ntfs hasn't seem to be causing any problems, but I've always wanted to know.
    in order for your Mac to write to NTFS drives, it needs some help by installing e.g. the NTFS 3G driver. apparently that or something similar is installed on your Mac already. preferably, it would be formatted for Mac but then windows machines would need to have e.g. MacDrive installed to recognize the drive.

  • How can I move part of itunes library onto an external hard drive?

    I have a small hard drive (160 gb) and I want to keep my music on my internal hard drive so I can take my laptop around and listen to music throughout the day, but if I want to watch a movie I can plug in my external hard drive and launch them from itunes. For example, if the external hard drive was not connected it would just say "unable to find file". Currently I have my entire itunes library on an external hardrive.
    Is this possible? Any help would be greatly appreaciated.
    Late 2008 Unibody Macbook
    OS X 10.9.1
    Itunes 11.1.3

    Create a new library and transfer what you want in it from your other library. To switch between libraries hold down the OPTION key as you start iTunes. Select the one you wish to use.

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