Share between user accounts

I've seen all kinds of info on home sharing for sharing tunes between computers, but how do I share some of my tunes that are saved in my user account with my daughter in her user account, so that she does not have to access my entire library in order to sync her iPod?

Thank you! I should have thought of that. So, what I actually did was go into finder, "get info" on the Minecraft folder, and check the "share folder" box in the info window. I was then able to open his saved worlds on his account, and doing it this way will mean any changes to them can be accessed from my account as well.
Thanks again!

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How can I share my iTunes library between user accounts in iTunes 11

Since upgrading my iTunes library to Version 11 I can no longer share the library between user accounts on the same Mac.
The 2nd user is asked to create oir use an iTunes library, but when it is pointed to the Media folder it cannot share it.
Previously in iTunes 10 it all worked fine.
How can this be done please?
The library is in a shared areas that we both have Read/Write permissions to.

jc_hering wrote:
that works for anything he purchases after he creates the new account. What about his current music that currently resides in my itunes library? How can I get his current music out of my library into his new account/library?? Thanks..
Copy it to his computer into his iTunes library and authorize his computer with the iTunes account used to purchase them..
You cannot tranfser items from one iTunes account to another. Purchased items remain part of the iTunes account is was purchased with.
iTunes account - used to purchase items
iTunes library - where purchases (and CD RIPs) go on the computer

I have one imac. my wife and i each have our own user accounts and itunes library. How do we share selected music between user accounts?

i have one imac. my wife and i each have our own user accounts and itunes library. How do we share selected music between user accounts?

To give other users read-only access to your library, use the Sharing features of iTunes. Sharing works over the local network as well as on the same computer. See the built-in help for details.
If you want to give full read/write access to more than one user, see the support article linked below.
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer

Sharing between User Accounts

I'm new to Macs and need some help.
I have 2 user accounts on my mac and want to share picture and music files between the accounts. Both can be read & write. All my music is in the iTunes music folder. Even when I share that folder I can't get to the files on the other account. Each artist has their own folder within the iTunes music folder and they all have the minus symbol beside them when viewing from the 2nd account. How do I share these files between user accounts?
Also, where do I save my pictures so that they can be seen on both accounts?
I started to share all the folders with in iTunes but that was taking forever so I quit the process and now my public folders are not showing as shared in the preferences. How do I get my sharing preferences back to the default settings?

I now have my mac set up just the way i want. thanks for the input you all gave! How I did it:
in the file sharing system prefs i deleted the "ghost" folders that were showing. I call them ghost folders because they were grayed out and not clickable. They were pointing to a folder that I had removed from my system because I deleted my user account so that i could start over from scratch to set things up right from the beginning. This still left these folders in the sharing menu so I just had to delete them one at a time until they were all gone making everything look clean again.
I learned that sharing files between user accounts on the same computer (and even the guest account) can only be done with files that are in the public folder. Adding my iTunes Music folder to the sharing list did not share my mp3 across users on the same computer. I just had to move the iTunes Music folder (not the iTunes folder) to the public folder so the other account could access it. Then I followed the directions in the link provided in this thread about sharing in iTunes. Now I don't have to have my wife's Maria Carry in my library! And she does not have to have my songs in her library!
For photos I placed the files in the public folder and just imported them into the iPhoto library for each account.
On a side note, having our own accounts allows us to set up the computer they way we want, but allows us to have access to the same files. I'll be adding a 500gb hard drive to it soon for time machine and can't wait to have that set up. My only question now is when can i add time capsule? Can I add it as a 2nd wireless network in addition to my linksys wrt54g2 that is connected to the cable modem (i need the linksys connected to the internet for xbox live and ps3's network), i know i would then connect the external HDD to it for more storage, therefore I guess I would move all mp3's and picture files onto it freeing space on the computer and just direct both user accounts to the files on the HDD connected to time capsule.

Sharing libraries between user accounts question

After many years of having one user account on our iMac, I have decided to segregate user accounts for me and my wife. I'm doing this because I have an iPhone and she is going to get one soon. When we sync our respective iPhones, we want to keep iCal and and Address book information unique to each user account. What I'm trying to figure out is how to share iPhoto and iTunes content between user accounts. I know there is a share preference that will allow the master libraries in these applications to be shared, but the photo albums and playlists created on the original user account are not "shared". Would it be possible to have playlists from iTunes and albums/events from iPhoto to be shared between user accounts? This would enable my wife to sync all her iPhone data from her user account. Thanks in advance.

I have an idea that uses a different approach. I haven't done this for this purpose, so if you decide to try, please do it one step at a time so you can undo it. I'll explain it for iTunes.
Instead of using the Sharing preference in iTunes, put the iTunes Music folder in a location that can be accessed from both accounts. You might use an external drive, or the <hard drive>/Users/Shared folder.
iTunes should NOT be running. Go to /Users/<username>/Music/iTunes folder. In that folder is the iTunes Music folder. Copy this folder to a location on the external drive or to the Shared user folder. Rename the original iTunes Music folder another name, such as iTunes Music Old. Make an alias of the new iTunes Music folder (in the shared location) and put it in the user's iTunes folder (where iTunes Music Old now resides). Rename it "iTunes Music" if necessary (you are making the alias take the place of the actual iTunes Music folder). * It is very important that the name be exact.
Start iTunes. All of your music and other media should be accessible as if the iTunes Music folder is where it used to be. To prove to yourself that the files are being accessed from the new shared location, do a Get Info on a couple of songs in iTunes. "Where" should show the file to be in the new location. To prove to yourself that you can add new content to the new location, download a free song from the iTunes Store (or a Podcast) or rip a CD. Then do a Get Info on the new item.
Up to here, I'm confident it will work, because I have done it. The rest is "theory"...
Copy the old user's /Users/<username>/Music/iTunes folder (except the now duplicated iTunes Music Old folder) to the shared location. You are only doing this step so that it will be available when you log in as the new user (your wife's account), which is the next step.
Log out and log in to the new account.
Copy everything in the old user's iTunes folder (that you just put in the shared location) to the new user user's /Users/<username>/Music/iTunes folder. Replace any duplicated items. You want the new user's iTunes folder to look exactly like the old user's iTunes folder (except for iTunes Music Old). Hopefully, that iTunes Music alias will connect to the actual iTunes Music folder at the shared location. Try it. Run iTunes as the new user. Hopefully, everything looks like the old user's iTunes. Do the tests like before to prove it.
At this point, the two iTunes "looks" will start to diverge. But at least the starting point will be the same.
If something does not work as expected, log in to the old user's account. With iTunes NOT running, go to /Users/<username>/Music/iTunes folder. Delete the iTunes Music alias. Rename the iTunes Music Old folder back to iTunes Music. Everything should be back to the way it was.
If it works to your satisfaction, you can eventually delete that iTunes Music Old folder.
I don't use iPhoto, but if iTunes works, you can do the equivalent steps for iPhoto.

Copy and paste between user accounts

is there a way to copy and paste between user accounts?

You can drag files to the Drop Box folder in another user's Public folder.

When switching between user accounts, the background desktop picture disappears and goes to just a blue background. Whats up with that?

When switching between user accounts, the background desktop picture disappears and goes to just a blue background. Whats up with that?

All fixed! It was TeamViewer that was causing the problem.

Switch between user accounts - graphics

How do I set up Snow Leopard so that when I switch between user accounts the screen gives the appearance of swiveling on an axis?

That is strange, I never noticed before, but I just tested a few scenarios, it looks like it only rotates on the first login of another user... OR... after another user logs out and you choose another logged in one.

How do I share music between user accounts on the same computer?

My wife and I have separate user accounts on the same MacBook Pro so that we can both sync our phones to this computer. My account is the primary user account, and my iTunes library is stored in this account. My wife would like to put music on her iPhone so she can run, but I can't seem to access the music library thru her account. I know the files are all on the hard drive regardless, so I just need to know how I can make iTunes on my wife's account access the library that's there. I've tried the steps I could find on Apple's website, but I can't seem to make it work. I'm running the latest versions of everything - even tho the post says I'm running 10.9.1, I'm actually running 10.9.4

To give other users read-only access to your iTunes library, use the Sharing features of iTunes. Sharing works over the local network as well as on the same computer. See the built-in help for details.
If you want to give full read/write access to more than one user, see the support article linked below.
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer
There is a way to share the library without moving it to a secondary volume. If you really need to do that, ask for instructions.

Share iTunes files between user accounts

I am trying to share the iTunes music library between Admin. and user account on my Macbook Pro Mountain Lion OS. The user account can not find the iTunes folder, even after the Admin. gave user account access to the iTunes music folder.
Please help.

Sorry, I think that this official Apple Post ought to do it.
iTunes: How to share music between different user accounts on a single computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203
Chris CA is an expert, so if you don't understand Chris's expert advice and/or you don't understand the official post here, then simply take a break, relax, and come back and try again.
Best Regards,
~mm

How do I share my photographs between User Accounts

I want to share my iphoto photographs between users on the iMAC. Is this as suimple as moving the iphoto folder to the public folder?
iMAC Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Davinho
No it's not that simple. iPhoto is a single user app, not designed for multiple users working simultaneously.
What do you mean by sharing? If you want the others to have the ability to VIEW photos, there's a way. In the main account got to iPhoto -> Preferences -> Sharing and enable Share this Library. Leave iPhoto running and go to the other account using Fast User Switching. In that account, enable 'Look for Shared Libraries' in the iPhoto Preferences, an the main library will turn up in the left hand pane of iPhoto. Remember iPhoto must be running in the main account for this to work.
If you want the others to be able to add, edit, keyword etc., then that's a different way. In this case, move the iPhoto Library Folder to the Users/Shared folder. This way both accounts can see it. Then you'll need to configure the permissions to allow everyone read/write access. (you can do this using BatchMod from http://macchampion.com/arbysoft/)
Then hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto, Choose 'Locate' and navigate to the new location for the library. Repeat for both accounts. This will give read/write access tot he library for both accounts.
However, as I said above, iPhoto is not designed for multiple users accessing the db simultaneously. Doing this increases the likelihood of db corruption greatly, so backing up is the order of the day.
Personally, especially if you're still finding your way on the Mac, I recommend the first way. It's safer. When your confidence is up, you can easily move on to the second way.
Regards
TD

Share files from the Library/Application Support folder between user accounts?

I am using Mac OS 10.10.2, and am having trouble with allowing my son's user account to see his Minecraft files which are on my user account (User/Library/Application Support/Minecraft) how do I make it so that Minecraft will find and use these files rather than the empty folder on his own user account?
thanks!

Thank you! I should have thought of that. So, what I actually did was go into finder, "get info" on the Minecraft folder, and check the "share folder" box in the info window. I was then able to open his saved worlds on his account, and doing it this way will mean any changes to them can be accessed from my account as well.
Thanks again!

Sharing Music Between Users Accounts on a Single Computer

I know that you can listen to music belonging to another user account on the same computer (as long as that user remains logged in), however, is there a way to COPY (drag and drop) music from one user account to another user account (on the same computer) similar to how it is done between multiple computers with Home Sharing?

iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 - relocating iTunes' media folder to a shared area but leaving separate library files - extra tip at https://discussions.apple.com/message/17331189

Home Sharing - Can you share between two accounts on the same computer?

I haven't been able to find any info about this, but does home sharing allow you to share files between to different user accounts on the same computer? I have been struggling with trying to do this for years, and I'm really hoping this solves my problem.

This is true in a sense; you have to use the same itunes account to activate home sharing. BUT, you don't need to use the same itunes account for general use.
Example:
My computer and iPhone has one itunes account.
My wife's computer and iPhone have a totally separate account.
I turned on Home Sharing on both machines using one account name and ID - mine.
Now she can see and copy my music and apps, etc. I can see and copy her music, apps, etc.
However, when she goes to the iTunes store, she still can buy and so forth *on her own account*. Same with her iPhone. And I can still do the same as well on my own account on my machine and phone.
The only limitation seems to be updating apps: If you copy apps over to another machine using Home Sharing and install them on another phone running another account, it works great. But you can't seem to update those copied apps, unless you log in on the phone or the computer it syncs up to with the account it came from.
Aside from that, the apps still work even when the computer it was copied to and the phone it was synced to are active on ANOTHER account.
The key is the setup - for Home Sharing. That needs to be one account, but otherwise it's business as usual.
Message was edited by: controller2k

Sharing Music between User Accounts

Hello,
I've been trying to share a single itunes music folder between two accounts on the same computer. I've read dozens of threads on this topic in these forums, and still can't seem to get this to work.
Right now, I'm going back to basics and simply trying to put the iTunes music folder in a Public folder, which can be accessible by both user accounts. I've followed the instructions documented in the following article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93195
When I do this, I have a problem with permissions. If I move or copy the music folder on one user account to a public folder - when I switch over to the other user account, and access that public folder, some of the individual music folders within the itunes music folder are accessible, and then on others, I am denied permission. There does not seem to be anything unique about the folders that I don't have permissions on, compared to those that I do.
Any thoughts? Thanks.
ML
iMac G5, Mac Mini Intel Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
I did a copy paste of the iTunes Music folder into a new iTunes Music folder under Users/Shared. When I switch over to the other user account, I get the same results. Some folders are accessible and some folders I have no access. It's strange as about 25% of the music folders are No Access, and the others are readable.
Any further thoughts? Thanks,
ML

Share between user accounts

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