Moving iTunes Library and Music to External Hard Drive...Possible?

I want to transfer my iTunes Library to an external hard drive. Is this possible and what are the pitfalls, if any?
Thanks
A.L.I

Yes it's quite possible, that's how I have mine set up, and Moving iTunes Music will tell you how to go about it.
Pitfalls? Can't really think of any.
Regards
TD

Similar Messages

  • Successfully moved iTunes library to a bigger external hard drive.......

    Hi all,
    Yesterday I successfully moved my iTunes media library over to a larger external hard drive for my profile. The problem I am having now is that my girlfriends profile is still pointing over to the old hard drive. I thought following the same steps would be the best way to get her pointed to the new location.
    I updated the path in the iTunes preferences Advanced tab to the new location.
    I started the "Consolidate" process and noticed that it was creating duplicates of everything that I copied (Consolidated) yesterday, so I stopped that before it got too far - last thing I want is to have to go through and find and delete all duplicates.
    In addition to her profile on my Mac, there are 2 other profiles as well. How can I get all profiles to recognize that the iTunes library location has changed, with out creating multiple duplicates of each media item?
    Thanks in advance!
    Mike

    Drag the entire library to the Mac's internal drive, launch iTunes with the Option key held down, and point it to that library. If the library only contains the music and not the iTunes database files, drag it into the open iTunes application window.
    (80731)

  • I redirected iTunes to an external drive and moved my iTunes library and folder, but my hard drive is still low on space.  How can I be sure that my music is all on the external HD ONLY, especially with the new iCloud technology?

    I redirected iTunes to an external drive and moved my iTunes library and folder, but my hard drive is still low on space.  How can I be sure that my music is all on the external HD ONLY, especially with the new iCloud technology?  It doesn't look like I created any more space by doing this, AND I totally lost all my iTunes playlists.  I'm not sure if because I added old library materials manually if this messed up my playlists, or if the new location is just not reading my moved library.  In any case, I followed step by step instructions and found a few holes and thought I'd just "figure it out" but I guess I'm not as smart as I thought since I'm still scratching my head many hours later.
    Thanks for any support ;-)
    Eaglerocker

    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 select a library, then guide it to the 'iTunes Library.itl' file in the moved 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.)
    iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music [library] to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527 - a somewhat bewildering and not always easily understandable set of options.

  • My itunes Library is on an External Hard Drive, but my internal hard drive crashed, I have to re-install windows XP--What do I do to re-associate my Library on the external drive and not wipe my iphone when I synch?

    My ITunes Library is on an external hard drive, however, the internal hard drive on my laptop crashed, requireing a complete re-format and re-installation of Windows XP--When I re-install Itunes, what do I need to do to make sure I do not lose all of the content on the two iphones I have, and to re-associate the library with Itunes ( i know how to change the path) but I am fearful that somehow the library link will be broken since the old Itunes installation is gone, and who knows what else might go awry. 
    any help or advice is welcome.

    You're Welcome...
    This Link explains the correct way of putting iTunes onto an External Drive...
    If you have have not done it this way that could explain a lot...
    Backup iTunes to an External Drive
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751

  • How can i transfer my itunes library from a PC external hard drive to iMac?

    I have recently bought a new iMac but my iTunes library is on an external hard drive that is formatted for PC use, this is then linked to my old PC laptop, how can i get the library onto my new iMac?

    Drag the entire library to the Mac's internal drive, launch iTunes with the Option key held down, and point it to that library. If the library only contains the music and not the iTunes database files, drag it into the open iTunes application window.
    (80731)

  • My iTunes library is on an external hard drive; how do I set it so other users (accounts) on my imac, will also have the same library, with the same playlists

    my iTunes library is on an external hard drive; how do I set it so other users (accounts) on my imac, will also have the same library, with the same playlists

    Quit iTunes.
    Sign into another user account.
    Hold Option, launch iTunes.
    Select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder on the external.
    Do this for all users.
    NOTE: You must quit iTunes when switching users as the library can only be opened by one user at a time.

  • HT1751 I have recently purchased a MacBook Pro. My iTunes library is on an external hard drive. What do I do next ?

    Recently purchased a MacBook Pro.
    I am currently setting it up to use. My entire iTunes library is on an external hard drive. What do I do next?

    Quit iTunes.
    Sign into another user account.
    Hold Option, launch iTunes.
    Select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder on the external.
    Do this for all users.
    NOTE: You must quit iTunes when switching users as the library can only be opened by one user at a time.

  • ITunes library stored on an external hard drive which is connected to my airport extreme, I wish to share my iTunes library over my network, I can do this with my laptop, but not with my iPad, can anyone tell me if it is possible

    I have my iTunes library stored on an external hard drive which is connected to my airport extreme, I wish to share my iTunes library over my network, I can do this with my laptop, but not with my iPad, can anyone tell me if it is possible

    You can't connect directly to the external drive, but should be able to use iTunes Home Sharing via the laptop.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH1453

  • I've had my iTunes library stored on an external hard drive, and I'm now trying to load it onto a new computer, how do I do it?

    I have my complete iTunes library stored on an external hard rice and bought a new computer yesterday, I've connected the external hard drive to my new computer, downloaded iTunes but cant get my library to show, can anybody tell me how to fix this?

    Hold down SHIFT and launch iTunes.
    When prompted to create or locate an iTunes library point iTunes to the location on the external drive.

  • ITunes library on a networked external hard drive

    Recently, I want to upgrade to snow leopard (finally) but was short on hard disk space on my MacBook Pro and lacking a consistent backup solution. I added a 1TB time machine to my network and mounted an external hard drive to the Time Machine for media. The goal was to have my media on the drive and then back up all hard drives to the Time Machine. I copied the iTunes library to the hard drive and pointed iTunes to the new folder location. (I also moved photos and other media.) The media has been accessible and iTunes works fine (with occasional network interference) but I was reluctant to immediately delete the old iTunes library.
    Well, I've finally reached the hard disk point that I must delete the old library, but as I was about to, I noticed that my "iTunes Library" database file and "iTunes Music Library.xml" omni outliner file in the original MacBook Pro Hard Drive Location were updated yesterday, not the same files I copied to the new iTunes folder on the network. I thought if I moved the library and redirected iTunes, I'd be done, but I guess not.
    Questions:
    1. Can I point iTunes to search for its database and XML files in the new folder on the network, and how?
    2. Is that advisable, or should I delete the other music files from the "Music" location on my MacBook Pro and leave the database files remaining on the hard drive?
    3. Are there any other considerations I've overlooked in trying to store my media library on a network mounted EHD?
    Thanks for your help.

    kneedragger101 wrote:
    Note this is an iTunes Library that was on a PC
    you might want to read these articles: one and two.
    why not move your media files using _*Home Sharing*_ ?

  • How do I get itunes library to move to external hard drive automatically?

    I have a 250 GB Verbatim external hard drive. This hard drive has an existing itunes library from my PC. I figured out how to combine the two itunes libraries, (1 from PC and 1 from Macbook). I cannot figure out how to set up itunes to automatically save to external hard drive. In other words, I've gotten everything onto my Mac, but not onto the external, which is what I want. When I try to move the itunes folders to my Verbatim in Finder, it gives me the circle with the line through it. It will not let me move anything over to the Verbatim. Please help!

    On the copying issue, if the drive was used with a PC initially it is quite possible it is formatted to NTFS.  Macs can read NTFS drives but not write to them  You could try to use a utility such as NTFS-3G to enable read-write, or you could use Disk Utility to reformat the drive to FAT (probably FAT32) which can be read by both PCs and Macs. FAT has certain disadvantages too, such as not being repairable by Macs, and there is a limit on single file sizes (2GB or 4GB depending upon the FAT version).
    Once you get your whole iTunes folder (not just media) onto the external drive, start iTunes with the option key held down and  show it the new location.
    iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
    do not confuse moving your whole folder and library with just storing media on another drive:
    iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449

  • Moving itunes folder and music to external drive

    I moved my itunes folder and all my mp3's onto an external hard drive. As a result, all of the songs that appear in itunes has a ! and says they cannot find where the songs are. It seems that I have to re-import everything all over again including re-ripping all my CD's to itunes again. Is there a better way to go about retrieving my library? Is there a way to import what is on my ipod into itunes or is it only a 1 way thing? Please help.

    Go to edit-->preferences Click the advanced tab
    Change the location of the iTunes music library to the current location. I don't recall if it will then update the links. If they still show up with the ! after the change, post back for instructions on how to tell iTunes they are there all at once.
    btabz

  • I lost my iTunes library on a crashed external hard drive.  How can I import music from my iPod that was not originally purchased on iTunes?

    The 500 gig hard drive on my 2008 iMac was so full it was running very slowly, so I transferred the iTunes library to an old external Maxtor 1T drive.  A few months later the Maxtor crashed, and the library went with it.  My 3rd G. iPod Touch still has the whole library on it, but I don't know if ALL the music will transfer back to the mac when the iPod syncs.  A portion of the music was from CDs we borrowed from our kids.  How can I get all of the music that is presently on my iPod to transfer back to a new iTunes v. 11.1.2 library on the mac?

    One application that's able to accomplish what you want is called Senuti.
    http://senuti.en.softonic.com/mac.
    I've used it many times to recover music from my iPod to iTunes.

  • Moving iTunes library on to a portable hard drive and then my new laptop?

    I am getting a new PC laptop and I want to move my entire iTunes library from my old PC to a portable hard drive and then eventually put it on my new laptop.
    How do I do this without loosing all my play counts, play lists etc.?

    Assuming you use the iTunes default settings where iTunes copied added items to your iTunes folder and organizes your library (meaning - everything is all self contained in the iTunes folder), then all you have to do is drag & drop your iTunes folder (not just the iTunes Music folder you find inside the iTunes folder) to the external drive and copy the entire thing.
    If you want to test that it worked or would like to actually start using it from that location instead, use these instructions when you start iTunes to point it to the new location...
    How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304447
    If you are just testing, then close iTunes after you verify it works, and restart iTunes again with the same instructions and point it back to your internal drive (original) location.
    Additional info...
    Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307074
    Cheers,
    Patrick

  • How to play iTunes and music from external hard drive?

    I recently back up all my music from my old computer on to an external hard drive. I have a new computer but don't want to store all the music on the computer's hard drive. I would rather play iTunes and all the music straight off of the hard drive. How do I do this?
    I already downloaded and installed iTunes on my external hard drive and my music is on a separate folder. When I open iTunes it says that I have no music in the library. How do I tell iTunes to use all the music from the external hard drive? I do not want to save anything on my computer's internal hard drive if possible because I do not have enough space.
    Thanks for the help. Also, if I should clarify anything else then please just let me know!

    did you ever find the answer to this question? I have the same problem

Maybe you are looking for