Library on an External Drive?

The internal drive on my iMac is bloated, mostly due to photos and music. Can I somehow get iTunes to store its library on an external drive?
Thanks!
Ben

Yes to move the iTunes library have a read of this:
Moving iTunes Music
However, I’m going to guess that you may have wanted to ask about iPhoto too - this being the iPhoto forum an all so here you go:
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
Regards
TD

Similar Messages

So, I have just about had it. For nine days now, I have valiantly tried to move my library to an external drive. At first, I attempted to move it to my 2TB Time capsule, iTunes didn't like its new home though and moved home without telling me.

So, I have just about had it. For nine days now, I have valiantly tried to move my library to an external drive. At first, I attempted to move it to my 2TB Time capsule. iTunes didn't like its new home though and moved home without telling me. So then there were two libraries. I meshed them back together reluctantly and iTunes in a silent revolt, absolutely refused to use its own 'Keep Library Organized' criteria and may as well have thrown my music against the wall. Seriously, my 5 year old nephew has his computer files better managed. Then I bought a 3TB Time Capsule and you may ask yourself why??? Well, iTunes doubled in size- although when I ran apps that are designed to find duplicate iTunes files, it deleted the music I actually bought from iTunes. So then I watched as iTunes got it back. How you ask; I run a MacBook Air, iMac and Mac mini in my house - as soon as one powered up it hit the net like a sailor on leave and re-downloaded it all without abandon. I tried to keep the libraries separate, no success there. I tried to keep them unified; iTunes response was to ask me if I wanted to join iTunes Match every time I logged on to my computer and on any computer - my iTunes match song number has been as high as 24,367 and as low as 11,112. And I can't simply refuse iTunes. No one refuses iTunes. Refusal to allow iTunes Match to run through all 24000 songs again was to revoke my rights to the songs that were once part of my library. If I took a long time to decide or was visibly impatient while iTunes did its little 3 hour scan it would arbitrarily decide that music I bought from iTunes was ineligible for iTunes Match. How could that possibly be??? I am missing music, or at least iTunes tells me so by showing me that lovely exclamation point. I have tried backing up my computer to do a full system restore and start all over. Time Capsule claims I have 979 GB of data and takes its sweet time to even back up one gig (about 18 minutes) even though I can transfer files to my Time Capsule at about 1 GB every 40 seconds. I guess though performing back-ups are somewhat like government jobs; it will get done, when it gets done. The back up requirement of 979 GB is surprising though, my Mac claims that I currently occupy just about 25% of my 2TB drive. The discrepancy, who knows, but I think the solution lies somewhere in iTunes. But maybe iPhoto. But that is for another time.

After admittedly only a quick read the one thing you don't say is how you are trying to make this move. Most people with moving library issues do it the wrong way. Plenty of web sites tell you how to do it the wrong way.
If the iTunes application is started before the drive with the library is fully mounted and awake iTunes will revert back to the internal drive.

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.

How can I download my iMac iTunes library to an external drive and reload the library to iTunes on a PC?

How can I download my iMac iTunes library to an external drive and reload the library to iTunes on a PC?

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

HT1373 How do I backup my itunes library to an external drive

My iTunes library is unstable. I have two questions:
1) How do I backup my iTunes library to an external drive?
2) Why am I constatntly prompted to add my computer to iCloud when I have done so multiple times?
When opening iTunes, I receive he error message: "Please Sign In Again, iTunes Match has encountered an error. Please choose Sign Out and he Sign In from the iTunes Store menu and try again."
I tried downloading and installing/repairing the latest iTunes. That did not correct the problem.
Also, I have sync'd to iCloud. Every time I select iMatch from iTunes, I am prompted to Add This Computer to iCloud. I have already done this multiple times.

Hello cijackson,
You posted your question in the iTunes for Mac Forum. You may get better results on the iTunes for Windows forum. Best of luck > https://discussions.apple.com/community/itunes/itunes_for_windows?view=overview

How do I store my iTunes library on an external drive and can I still access it as I would if it was still all sitting on the mini mac?

The mini mac is full and I want to be able to use the 2 tb drive as storage and time machine. How do I get the content onto the external drive and access it it and hoe does new content get downloaded and stored to the drive not the mac? Also can I have 1 drive playing storeage and back up or do I need a second? Basic questions I suspect but not to me!

1. Drag the library to the external drive, launch iTunes with the Option key held down, click on Choose Library, and point it there.
2. Get a second. Having the backups on the same drive as the original data won't help when that drive fails.
(66929)

ITunes keeps creating a new iTunes Library instead of going to my actual iTunes Library on my external drive.

My old computer died.
Luckily, my iTunes library is stored on an external drive.
My new machine is Windows 8 and my old machine was Vista, but I don't think that should cause any problem.
When I run iTunes, it comes up like a fresh install on a new machine... every time. By default, it creates an iTunes folder in my local drive and as such, has no music in and is a 100% blank slate.
When I point it to my external drive, and then import the library, it does it. All my music shows up -- after a long time, but it all shows up.
If I shut down iTunes or reboot, everything goes back to zero again.
The most disturbing thing about this is that I can't back up properly, because -- although in Preferences it's pointed at my external drive -- it's backing up my iPhone 5 to the local drive in Windows.
Any idea what's going on here?
I've gone through this process 5 times already and it's always the same.

There are two main components to the iTunes library. The media folder which you can adjust via Edit > Preferences > Advanced, and the database file iTunes Library.itl which is normally found in <User's Music>\iTunes. You can choose or create a new iTunes library by holding down shift as you launch iTunes.
In some cases third party software can interfere with the way iTunes updates its files meaning that either iTunes forgets the previously chosen location, or that the active database is deleted. AVG anti-virus and Sony VIAO Entertainment Platform typically interfere with the database. McAfee has been implicated in the corruption of iTunesPrefs.plist.
See Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash for more details on how you might recover after the library vanishes.
You may get some improvment by hosting your entire library on the external drive not just the media. E.g. Create a library at X:\iTunes where X: is the drive letter, then move the media into X:\iTunes\iTunes Media before adding it to the library. This will make it easier to backup the library to a second drive and move it between computers when the time comes.
tt2

How do i manage 1 iphoto library on 2 external drives?

I'm trying to find the most efficient way to manage 1 iphoto library across 2 external drives. In case one of my external drives dies, I'll have a backup.
I know how to copy my iphoto library onto another drive, but my question is how to manage the 2 drives when i add photos/videos to them from my iphone.
Currently, I import photos/vids from iphone onto 1 drive. Then unmount the external drive and hook up another drive. I direct iphoto to use the new drive as it's library and then import the photos/vids again onto the second drive. I make sure the event is named the same, so I have the same iphoto setup across both drives. Then i delete the photos/vids from my iphone.
Is there a more efficient way to do this? Or software that can do this in one step?
Thanks in advance for any help!

You want to have a backup of your working library on your MacBook Pro on each of two external HDs, correct?
If yes then use a backup application like Synk or Synk Pro that can incrementally backup the library, i.e. copy only those new of modified files. If you go to MacUpdate.com and do a search for "backup" you'll get a list of potential candidates.
Then all you need to do is connect EHD#1 and run the backup app to update the library then connect EHD#2 and do the same. It only takes several seconds to make the incremental backup. Synk Pro can be configured to automically start the backup when the external drives are connected. I'm not sure but believe some of the other backup apps could do the same.
OT

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)

I have just over 100gig of music in my iTunes library plus what ever else I add in the future. Because of the amount I had to save my music library on an external drive as my laptop did not have the memory to hold it all. I want to back up my iTunes libra

I have just over 100gig of music in my iTunes library plus what ever else I add in the future. Because of the amount I had to save my music library on an external drive as my laptop did not have the memory to hold it all. I want to back up my iTunes library and save it on a different external drive, one I store all my back ups on. Is this possible? If so how can I do it?

To import music into your iTunes library on the computer go to iTunes>Help>iTunes Help>Add items to iTunes and follow the instructions
Delete the "songs" that do not play in your iTunes library and reimport them.

How do you import photos from a library on an external drive to the current library running in iPhoto?

How do you import photos from a library on an external drive to the current library running in iPhoto? I have a few different pictures in each library and would like to have all my pictures in both libraries. The library on the external drive is my backup. I would appreciate any help.

Depends on exactly what you want to do.
Just move some of the Photos? FIle -> Export from one and export the shots to the Finder. Then import them to the other.
This User Tip
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921
has details of the options in the Export dialogue.
Move the photos and all versions and metadata: use iPhoto Library Manager it's the only way to do this while preserving everything. Merge two Libraries into one?
If you have Aperture 3.3 or later and iPhoto 9.3 or later you can merge libraries with Aperture.
Otherwise the only way to merge Libraries is with the paid ($20) version of iPhoto Library Manager

How do i get my laptop to access the itunes library on my external drive hooked up to my desktop via my home network?

How do i get my laptop to access the itunes library on my external drive hooked up to my desktop via my home network?

If you are willing to pay $24.99 per year for iTunes Match you can put your library in the cloud provided you don't have more than 25,000 tracks.
iCloud- iTunes Match
iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match Availability
iTunes Store- Troubleshooting iTunes Match
iTunes- How to add a computer or iOS device to iTunes Match

How to upgrade a Library on an external drive created in a previous version of aperture so I can re-import it from the external drive into Aperture 3.5.1 on my MBP ?

I have exported earlier Projects [which were created in Aperture 3.4.5] to an external hard drive. Now I wish to reimport them into Aperture 3.5.1 - which I use after having upgraded to Mavericks - but am given an error message saying I can’t reimport because the external drive is storing a Library created by an earlier version of Aperture than I’m using now. It tells me to upgrade that externally stored Library.
The Question - one can only upgrade a Library on one’s computer, not on the external drive. How can I upgrade it if I can’t get it back into Aperture [3.5.1] on my MacBookPro in the first place ?
Thank you
Bob

The Question - one can only upgrade a Library on one’s computer, not on the external drive. How can I upgrade it if I can’t get it back into Aperture [3.5.1] on my MacBookPro in the first place ?
You can upgrade the library on the external drive. Connect your external drive to your computer.
Then select the library with the exported projects on the external drive and double-click it to open it in Aperture. This will upgrade the library to Aperture 3.5.1. Since upgrading can sometimes be problematic, I recommend to make a backup copy of the library before you try to upgrade the library.
After that you should be able to merge the library into your main library using File > Import.

My MacBook Pro hard drive is almost full and I wish to store my Aperture Library on an external drive, how do I do this and is the use of USB2 suitable or do I need to use a Firewire external hard drive?

My MacBook Pro hard drive is almost full and I wish to store my Aperture Library on an external drive, how do I do this and is the use of USB2 suitable or do I need to use a Firewire external hard drive?

You'll get better performance if you use a Firewire hard drive (especially if you buy a 7200 RPM drive). Firewire's IO speed is significantly faster than USB 2. USB 2 has a theoretical max speed of 480 Mbps except that it has extremely high over-head. The fastest speeds you can typically get are about 300 Mbps. Firewire, on the other hand, has very little overhead. The fastest speeds you can get are very nearly 800 Mbps. You will typically be constrained by the maximum read/write speed of the drive, not the speed of the I/O on the Firewire bus. Now if you had one of those nice shiny new Macs with the Thunderbolt I/O and a Thunderbolt drive (Light Peak) ... I think they alter space and time so that your data arrives before you know you want it.
Also... unless you want to buy a solid state drive (very expensive), try to keep your hard drives from becoming much more than about 60% full if you want great performance. A nearly "full" hard drive is, on average, only about half as fast as the same hard drive when nearly empty.
USB 2 will work perfectly fine... just not as fast.
Also... it's much safer to move the entire Aperture library than to "relocate masters". Your images must be managed. You can Aperture manage them, or you can manage them. But someone has to manage them. If you "relocate" them so that they are no longer stored inside the Aperture library then you'll need to work out a system of how you decide to organize things and it's critically important that you don't start moving files around or deleting things without Aperture's knowledge. If you do, you'll break the links to your masters and start having problems with missing masters. If you have Aperture manage the library then you don't need to worry about any of that stuff.... it's safer.
Do make backups (use the Aperture Vault or use some other backup program, but make sure you back up your work if you care about it.) There are only two kinds of hard drives in the world: (1) those that have failed and (2) those that are going to fail. There are no exceptions to this rule. Hard drives are cheap. Backup software is built into Aperture and into your Mac.

Storing iPhoto 8 Library on an External Drive

I have some data on storing (moving) iPhoto 2 to an external HD. Does this apply to iPhoto 8? Can there be more than one Library stored? Any practical suggestions on doing this?
Thanks
Mike

Mike,
The process is very similar. Drag the iPhoto Library +package file+ (previous versions have a regular folder) from your Pictures folder to your external hard drive, and it will be copied there. Hold down the Option key as you Launch iPhoto, select "Choose Library" and navigate to the new location. iPhoto should open the library in exactly the same condition as before you moved it. It will continue to open the library from the new location by default unless you tell it otherwise.
You may keep as many iPhoto Libraries as you like. To create a new library, Option-Launch and select "Create Library", taking care to not overwrite an existing library. A downside of running multiple libraries is that iPhoto can only read one library at a time, so photos in one library are not accessible when viewing another. A benefit is that you can maintain a full library on an external drive and a smaller, partial library in your laptop for when you travel. You can easily transfer photos/events/albums from one library to another using [iPhoto Library Manager|http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm>. It is the only way to transfer your titles, keywords, and other organizational efforts between libraries.
Regards.

Moving iTunes library to an external drive that already has music on it?

I want an external drive that contains music to be designated as my iTunes library. How do I do it?
Note: I do not want to move an existing library to the external drive, just start fresh with the library on the drive.
Thanks!

pbay wrote:
I want an external drive that contains music to be designated as my iTunes library. How do I do it?
Note: I do not want to move an existing library to the external drive, just start fresh with the library on the drive.
welcome to the discussion area, pbay !
1) launch iTunes with the option key pressed. choose to create a new library when prompted.
2) in preferences > advanced make sure iTunes is pointed to the external drive and that +keep iTunes media folder organized+ and +copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library+ are checked.
3) from the iTunes file menu, choose +add to library+ and start populating iTunes with the tunes you want.
when you have added all tunes to your new library, make sure they play fine. right-click on random files and +get info+. look at the summary tab and check if the path leads to the correct location (your external drive).
when satisfied, the original files can be deleted.
happy computing ...

Library on an External Drive?

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