Is it possible to "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" with multiple folders?

It bothers me, I am not proud of this, that I hunt through my "Music" folder to find my TV Shows etc. I would like to separate my iTunes media in folders by type, or conform to the default OS X home folder's subfolder nomenclature. I would settle for setting up another scheme involving seperate drives, Applescript or Automator; in order than iTunes would add appropriate media to appropriate folder.

jamms wrote:
It bothers me, I am not proud of this, that I hunt through my "Music" folder to find my TV Shows etc
It is in the /iTunes/iTunes media/TV Shows/ folder.
You can only view TV Shows in iTunes so why do you need to "hunt" them anywhere?
If you really need to, you can select the TV Show (or movie or music or podcast, etc.) right click, Show in Finder.

Similar Messages

ITunes 12.1.0.71 broke "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" option

After upgrading to iTunes 12.1.0.71 (64 bit) on my PC, iTunes is no longer organizing my iTunes media folder.
Example:
I drop a video into "automatically add to iTunes" folder
Video appears as a Home Video in iTunes as expected
I go into "get info" > Options for the video and set the Media Kind to "Movie"
Video now appears in the Movie lists, however(!)
iTunes does NOT move the file out of iTunes/Home Videos into iTunes/Movies on my hard drive like it used to
So now I have Movies piling up in the "Home Video" folder instead of getting auto-sorted correctly. The "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" option I have enabled in preferences is, obviously, not working.
This is happening for "TV Shows" as well. In addition, I can no longer set disc (season) and track (episode) numbers for TV Shows so that they're renamed with the season/episode numbers in front of the episode name. There used to be a work-around where I would shift-click "Get Info" to get into the old style pane / control panel, but this no longer works. I can't figure out how to rename files from within iTunes to force the issue. If I rename the files by hand before importing into iTunes, iTunes erases the disc/track numbers off the front of the filenames.
Does anyone know what's wrong? Why are my videos not auto-sorting into the correct folder / sub-folder hierarchy on my hard drive? Why is everything piling up in my "Home Video" folder even though iTunes has been told that they are NOT home videos? Help!

iTunes 12.0 had an issue with not moving video files around after tag/media kind changes. That seems unchanged. A workaround is to uncheck the Keep organized option, click OK, then set it active again.
The iTunes 12.1 version of Get Info appears, at first glance, to include all of the properties that were only available in the old school get info dialog in the previous version. Also gone are the Add Field button for optionally enabled fields, and the autocomplete on space bug. The old dialog doesn't seem to be available from any keyboard combination, although I quite possibly haven't tried everything.
tt2

How do I find out if Keep Itunes Media Folder Organized option is enabled programtically

How do I find out if Keep Itunes Media Folder Organized option is enabled on Windows. My Java application needs to know this because it effects how it should interact with iTunes and last time I looked the api provided by the iTunes.dll doesnt provide this information.
I have made some progress looking at iTunesPrefs.xml which stores preferences in a binary plist format and have mananged to extract the location of the iTunes xml file using a Java library called dd-plist
public File getITunesXMLFile()
        System.getProperties().list(System.out);
        String homedir = System.getProperty("user.home");
        File prefsFile = new File(homedir,"AppData/Roaming/Apple Computer/iTunes/iTunesPrefs.xml");
        File xmlFile;
        try
            NSDictionary rootDict = (NSDictionary) PropertyListParser.parse(prefsFile);
            NSDictionary userPrefs = (NSDictionary) rootDict.objectForKey("User Preferences");
            if(userPrefs!=null)
                NSData iTunesLocation = (NSData) userPrefs.objectForKey("iTunes Library XML Location:1");
                if(iTunesLocation!=null)
                    String base64 = iTunesLocation.getBase64EncodedData();
                    String filepath = new String(Base64.decodeBase64(base64),"UTF-16LE");
                    xmlFile = new File(filepath);
                    System.out.println(filepath+":File Exists:"+xmlFile.exists());
                    if (xmlFile.exists())
                        return xmlFile;
        catch(Exception ex)
            ex.printStackTrace();
            //Use default then
            xmlFile = new File(homedir + "/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music Library.xml");
            if (xmlFile.exists())
                return xmlFile;
        return null;
However the Keep Itunes Media Folder Organized option appears to be stored in the Documents:132 key with other options and this library doesnt seem able to decode the daat into a base64encoded value. I did think I could just compare differences between the file after enabling/disabling the option in iTunes, but the results are inconclusive - sometimes after chnaging the option the preferences file doesnt seem to change.
Is there a known hack for this ?

Thanks that certainly a possible workaround that I can see working but Im not that keen on using a users file as a test file, or adding a file myself that I have to keep deleting.
The thing is I'm very close, I've found a library that can read the binary xml format to some degree, and managed to decode the Xml Library File sucessfullly (but I don't need to this as available as the in the COM lib anyway as itunes.getLibraryXMLPath())
but I cannot decode this option whihc is lumped in with others, real shame they dont provide it via the COM lib.
Added this link showing progress in case interested:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17957433/how-can-i-work-out-if-ituneskeep-itu nes-folder-organized-is-set-programmaticall

ITunes 12 - "Keep iTunes Media Folder Organised" feature no longer works

Hi everyone, I was wondering if you could help me with an issue I've been having.
Since updating to iTunes 12, the 'Keep iTunes Media Folder Organised' feature no longer works. When I add media to the library, iTunes doesn't copy it to a destination within my media library. It only works if I turn the feature off, and then back on again.
Thanks in advance for any help.

I don't use the feature myself, but it works properly in a test library for me.
It could possibly be a permissions issue. Different processes in iTunes seem to make use of either the system or the user account for file actions and it is just possible that which has been used in that case has changed. See Repair security permissions for iTunes for Windows for details.
tt2

Keeping itunes media folder organised slows down itunes

My itunes became very very slow indeed when I updated to version 9. I looked at self help forums and discovered that it should speed up if I unchecked "keep itunes media folder organised". I did that, and sure enough, itunes was cured.
Somebody then said that if I re-checked it, then the folder would be re-organised, and everything would be OK. I did this, and it took all night to organise my library (although it wasn't actually 'disorganised'). However itunes had just returned to being glacially slow.
So why is this happening? I can't find any cure for it, although I suppose one might have been found by now.
This is on a G4 ibook, 1.42 GHz. It ran itunes 8 with no problem at all. Leopard

I don't use the feature myself, but it works properly in a test library for me.
It could possibly be a permissions issue. Different processes in iTunes seem to make use of either the system or the user account for file actions and it is just possible that which has been used in that case has changed. See Repair security permissions for iTunes for Windows for details.
tt2

What happens after unchecking 'Keep iTunes Music folder organized'?

After unchecking the 'Keep iTunes Music folder organized' option, am I right in thinking that future additions to the library are simply linked from their default location? If so, what happens when ripping CDs, and how is it possible to rename or move files/folders without iTunes failing to find them and having to add them again?

It's more what doesn't happen rather than what does. If you like to organise your own folders in your Music folder you must leave it unchecked, as checking it gives iTunes the authority to rename and move tracks at will.
If you rip a CD with iTunes and the iTunes Music folder according the tabs recovered from Grace note. The hierarchy is Artist\album.
This is not affected by Keep iTunes Music folder organised.
If you add tracks already on your PC, depending on the setting of "Copy to iTunes Music folder when adding to library, iTunes will either store a link to the track in its current location or copy it into the iTunes Music folder according to the tags.
It is not possible to move or rename any track in your library or iTunes will lose it. There is no folder watch feature.
So you need to place and name a file BEFORE adding it to the library if you want to manage your own folders. Once added you can't change it without having to either add it again or find it manually in iTunes.
The only thing you can do is to use iTunes to move the whole iTunes Music folder to a new location.
Message was edited by: polydorus

Keeping itunes music folder organized

I have the box checked for "keep itunes music folder organized" but noticed that the folders on my computer are not consistent with how certain albums are organized in itunes.
For example, I have a series of albums, all with the same name, Vol. 1-6. On itunes, they are all properly separated by Vol number and disc number, but in the folder on my computer, they are all lumped in together in the same folder.
Anyone know how I can fix this because I really want to keep my itunes music folder consistent with how the music is layed out in itunes.
Thanks much.

I just ripped a 4-disc set that had really bad Gracenote tags.
I had to fiddle around with things so itunes could organize them properly. If you want more details, post back.
I really don't think this is an itunes bug. I think it's an issue with a bad Gracenote entry.

HT1364 Can I use this procedure to consolidate my iTunes media folder along with my wife's, both in a new, common location?

Previously we have both kept our music folders independent. I now want to use the procedure described in HT1364 to move both of our music folders into a single, common location. The idea is to use the same media folder but still keep each of our iTunes users separate so that each can maintain its own playlists, etc.
We share the same home PC but each of us has its own user and as such, each of us have a separate iTunes. This way we can each keep sync'ing music to each of our separate iDevices but share the same source music folders.
FWIW, we both use the same appleID for purchases, but each of us have individual AppleIDs for iCloud syncing. We mostly have differents songs, but I estimate that we have about 10% duplicate songs/albums, both form iTunes purchases and uploads from CD's.
The procedure above describes how to change the location of your music files. Using this procedure I will move my media files to the new, common location. I wil then switch to my wife's iTunes user and will repeat the process. While doing my wifes procedure I'm wondering what will happen when it detects the duplicates... will it just ignore them? ask me if I want to replace the song file, or just crash and mess up either or both of our libraries?
I assume that this is the proper way to set up a family Apple ecosystem. This way when a new member of the family begins collecting music he/she can join the "family music library" and sync only the songs she wants and so on.
I will welcome your comments and implications of doing procedure above. And also, your comments on the proper way to configure a family ecosystem, if this is not the proper way to do it.
Merry Christmas to all of you.

Previously we have both kept our music folders independent. I now want to use the procedure described in HT1364 to move both of our music folders into a single, common location. The idea is to use the same media folder but still keep each of our iTunes users separate so that each can maintain its own playlists, etc.
We share the same home PC but each of us has its own user and as such, each of us have a separate iTunes. This way we can each keep sync'ing music to each of our separate iDevices but share the same source music folders.
FWIW, we both use the same appleID for purchases, but each of us have individual AppleIDs for iCloud syncing. We mostly have differents songs, but I estimate that we have about 10% duplicate songs/albums, both form iTunes purchases and uploads from CD's.
The procedure above describes how to change the location of your music files. Using this procedure I will move my media files to the new, common location. I wil then switch to my wife's iTunes user and will repeat the process. While doing my wifes procedure I'm wondering what will happen when it detects the duplicates... will it just ignore them? ask me if I want to replace the song file, or just crash and mess up either or both of our libraries?
I assume that this is the proper way to set up a family Apple ecosystem. This way when a new member of the family begins collecting music he/she can join the "family music library" and sync only the songs she wants and so on.
I will welcome your comments and implications of doing procedure above. And also, your comments on the proper way to configure a family ecosystem, if this is not the proper way to do it.
Merry Christmas to all of you.

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.

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.

ITunes adds duplicate songs when importing but not making copies in the iTunes Media folder?

This is an irregular problem and does not happen at every new import, but every now & again iTunes is creating duplicate files entries for the same song when I import my music folder.
Now I know many people post a similar problem, but before we start can I state that both the 'Keep iTunes Media folder organized AND "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library are turned off, and always have been.
Right clicking on duplicates of a particular song proves that iTunes is not copying the file into it's own media folder and adding that to the library.
All listed entries for a particular song iTunes direct you to the same file in the same location in the finder.
I am currently just having to delete the duplicates everytime it makes them, although this is VERY time consuming!
Any ideas on what is causing it or what will fix the problem would be great!

Nevermind...I figured out my issue. The problem is that I'm an idiot.
When dragging my folders in, they not only had MP3 files, but a M3U file as well. iTunes was importing the M3U playlist, then the MP3s...that's how I was getting my dups.
=\

How to split up a large iTunes Media folder onto different drives?

Hi everyone. Not too long ago I committed to digital-only media, which i am very happy with. The problem i am running into now is that my iTunes media folder is now only 100GB or so shy of the 2TB mark, so it will soon outgrow the largest of hard drives available. I have considered getting a RAID card for my Mac Pro to setup a RAID 0 with two 2TB drives, but I don't think i should have to drop $700 just to get my iTunes media organized onto any of the four 2TB drives i already have.
Ideally i would like to move my Movies folder (650GB) to one drive, TV shows(850GB) to another, and everything else to yet another folder. The problem i foresee with this strategy is that iTunes will no longer "Keep iTunes media Folder organized" or "Copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library". It would be a huge pain to have to manually manage the file structure of such a huge library.
I have also tried leaving an alias ("Movies" for example) that points to my movies folder on a separate drive, but iTunes doesn't seem to want to follow the alias.
Anyway, i figured this scenario has to have come up before, and there may be some other solutions out there. Any help would be most appreciated.
Message was edited by: acosmichippo54

acosmichippo54 wrote:
ok, after reviewing those tips, these problems still bug me:
Macyourself: +"Any time you want to add a new movie or TV show to your library, move it over to the appropriate folder on your external hard drive, hold Option, and drag it to iTunes.+
i agree this involves a little more +user interaction+ but once you get into a routine, it is really quite simple to manage. for example, i keep all my *Apple Lossless* tunes on an external USB drive. i add newly ripped CD's to that external, then option drag the folder into iTunes and have iTunes convert those tunes to AAC 256 (which are thus kept in the main library).
machintsandtips: +"This does involve a couple of extra steps for movies and TV shows I automatically download from the iTunes store, since I have to move that media to the external drive, and then move it back into iTunes."+
again, splitting your library across various drives does involve more user interaction. your only alternative would be e.g. a 4 gig (or more) Drobo or similar. however, in order to have a backup, you would need another, equally sized, Drobo which you would need to keep +in sync+ with the primary one.
Everything you linked to will definitely resolve the problem for my current library, but as soon as i start adding media, it seems like it will get quickly disorganized.
i humbly disagree. it all depends on what you want: dish out $$$ for bigger sized drives or split your lib across various (already available) drives - whichever path you decide on, you'll be more involved in maintaining your library - i consider that a plus coz it let's me manage things as i want.
however, there are tools that could help you manage your split-lib, one of which being TuneSpan.
best of luck !
JGG

Content in iTunes Media folder is not loaded on new Computer

1. Yesterday I moved my iTunes Media folder from Computer A to a external HD. Used the instructions found here and everything works/worked great. I removed my old iTunes Media folder and verified that Computer A was indeed super happy and e.g. found and played music just fine.
2. Today I setup a Computer B, since Computer A is being retired. On Computer B I went to Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced and changed the iTunes Media folder location to be the folder on the external HD from step 1 and checked 'Keep iTunes Media folder organized'. I deauthorized iTunes on Computer B.
I was hoping that these steps would automagically make the contents in the folder appear in iTunes on Computer B, but no such luck.
I am hoping I am missing some easy step.

Make sure that the structure of the iTunes library on your external drive looks like this:
Ideally, the iTunes folder should be in the root of the external drive - however, the key factors are that:
the iTunes folder includes the iTunes database - the iTunes Library.itl file that you should have copied from computer A.
the iTunes Media folder is contained within this iTunes folder
all your music, movies, podcasts, audiobooks, etc. are contained within the iTunes Media folder.
See turingtest2's user tip on Make a split library portable for more information, and details of steps you may need to take to bring your library into this layout.
Assuming your external drive conforms to these principles, connect it to computer B, hold down the SHIFT key while you start iTunes; when you see this prompt:
click on Choose Library... then navigate to the iTunes folder on your external drive, select the iTunes Library.itl file, and click Open.

ITunes Media folder organization on a network drive

I have a problem with a strange behaviour of iTunes media folder organization on my network drive.
Option "keep iTunes Media folder organized" is enabled.
If the Media folder is on a local drive or the Media folder is replaced by an alias pointing to a folder on an external drive it works correctly.
(Correctly means subfolders like "music" are generated by iTunes.)
But if the Media folder is an alias that points to a networkdrive directly (instead of pointing to a folder in that drive) iTunes does not create the subfolders anymore.
What is the reason for that behaviour, how can it be fixed?

Thanks for the feedback, but with the iPhone (I use the calendar feature a lot), synchronising just became a very common event, and perpetual re-connecting will drive me insane.
I guess I will just live with what we have until the folks at Apple figure it out;

I moved songs within my iTunes media folder and now my iPod can't find them

Hello. I have a few albums in my iTunes library that organize the artists by such folders as Artist feat. So-and-So. This makes it difficult to scroll through artists on my iPod and in my car. So I moved those songs that are in those folders to their corresponding album folder under the original artists' names. Now when I try to sync my iPod it tells me that those songs cannot be found. I completely restored my iPod and tried again after unchecking the following, but it still couldn't find the songs.
Convert higher bit rate songs to X kbps AAC
Keep iTunes Media folder organized
Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library
Luckily I do still have the original CDs and can delete the albums then restore them, but I find this particular feature to be pretty ridiculous.
Can anyone help? Thanks in advance!

The Macintosh has something called "file aliases" which allow you to move files from their original locations and applications that reference those files will still know how to find them. Windows does not have anything like that. It works off of full path / file names. So, when you moved your music folder and all your music in Windows Explorer, iTunes is still pointing to the old location.
Here is the knowledge base article with the information on how to move your iTunes Music Library without these issues, <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305451>

Is it possible to "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" with multiple folders?

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