Trying to move iTunes library to new external hard drive

I'm trying to move my iTunes library to a new, second, external hard drive and I'm not having much luck. I have two G-Tech 500 GB external drives. One is my Time Capsule and the other one I plan to use to house my iTunes and iPhoto libraries -- I want to free up space on my internal drive.
The iPhoto library moved over to the new disk with no problems. iTunes, on the other hand, keeps hanging up, with the "beach ball of death" and a lot of file error messages. I began moving my iTunes library onto the external drive by following these steps:
• Open iTunes
• Go to Itunes Preferences
• Click the Advanced Tab
• Note where the Music Library's located under iTunes Media folder location
• Navigate to the folder and drag the library onto the external HD.
The plan was to then go back over to iTunes and input the folder location in the iTunes Preferences so iTunes can find the library again. However, the simple drag-and-drop just isn't working. My iTunes library is about 10,000 songs and videos; if I have to do this album by album (which seems to be working, but I'm still having the occasional hang-up and freeze) it will take weeks! Has anyone had this problem before, and if so, did you find a fix?
Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance for taking the time to look -- Tom

the support article Dennis pointed you to would consolidate your media files to the external but keep the iTunes folder on your startup disk.
another approach would be to copy the entire iTunes folder to the external and run your library from there (this assumes that all your media files are currently in <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music/iTunes/iTunes music).
so, if you're willing, start over yet again. before you proceed, erase the external using disk utility and make sure it is formatted for Mac (make sure the partition map scheme of the drive is GUID and the volume is Mac OS extended (journaled)).
now copy the entire iTunes folder (not just the iTunes music folder) to the external using the finder. when the copying has finished, launch iTunes while holding the option key, click on +choose library+ when prompted, and select the iTunes folder on the external.
once you're satisfied everything worked as expected, you can delete the contents of your local iTunes music folder.
JGG

Similar Messages

How do I move iTunes library to an external hard drive to use less space?

How do I move iTunes library to an external hard drive to use less space?

Our iTunes guru Terence Devlin advises the following:
1. Quit iTunes
2. Drag the iTunes folder from your internal hd - located in ~/Music folder - to your external hd. DO NOT delete the original one from your internal hd... yet!
3. When the transfer is complete, press and hold the Option(alt) key and fire up iTunes.
4. A "Choose iTunes Library" window will come up. Click on the "Choose Library" button.
5. Navigate to where the iTunes folder is located in the external hd.
6. Within the iTunes folder, select the iTunes Library file and click Choose...
That's it. iTunes will now display all your playlists, songs, movies, podcasts etc. At this point, should you wish, you can delete the iTunes folder from the internal hd to free up space.
More info:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751
Or if you prefer a more complicated explanation:
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive

Backing up iTunes Library to New External Hard Drive

I need to move the location of my itunes library as my external hard drive has become full.
I have been backing up my "computer" (i.e. internal hard drive) and the itunes library stored on the external hard drive with TM.
Once I move the library, I will be backing up the new music library. As I understand it, TM will treat this as a completely new backup. Once this is done, I would no longer need or want the older backup on TM -- what's the best way of deleting the older backup since it takes up an enormous amount of space -- i.e. it's 250 gigs -- and then the additional 250 gigs for the NEW music library backup.
Thanks

Helen Berman wrote:
I need to move the location of my itunes library as my external hard drive has become full.
I have been backing up my "computer" (i.e. internal hard drive) and the itunes library stored on the external hard drive with TM.
Once I move the library, I will be backing up the new music library. As I understand it, TM will treat this as a completely new backup. Once this is done, I would no longer need or want the older backup on TM -- what's the best way of deleting the older backup since it takes up an enormous amount of space -- i.e. it's 250 gigs -- and then the additional 250 gigs for the NEW music library backup.
Hello again, Helen!
First, see this: moving your iTunes Music folder
Are you moving the iTunes library from one external to a new, larger one? If so, give the new drive a different name than the old one, even if only slightly different (this is for you, not TM!)
Once the data is moved, eject and disconnect the old drive, and leave it alone for now.
Go into Time Machine and delete all backups of the old drive. You'll need the procedure in #E3 of the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum, to see them. Select the folder representing the old drive, click the "gear" icon in the Finder window's toolbar, select the +*Delete all backups of <folder name> option.+* You'll get a confirmation prompt, then one for your Admin password. Make a large pot of coffee, as that will take a while! If you exit from the TM display, you'll probably see a progress bar for the deletion.
Be sure the new drive isn't listed in the +Do not back up+ box in TM Preferences > Options. If it is, remove it. Then run a backup, and TM should back-up the new external in full, along with any changes to your internal. Make another pot of coffee!
Once that's done, be certain everything was backed-up properly: check sizes, and messages, and browse the backups.
If I were you, I'd keep that old one around, "just in case," until I really, really needed it for something else.

Trying to move iPod library to an external hard drive

Okay I am totally confused and hope that some of you can help me. I have a 60GB iPod and a few months ago I tried to move my library to an external portable hard drive (so it wouldn't take up so much room on my computer hard drive) using the instructions in the manual for iPod. Moving the library using the instructions in the manual did not include my playlists and play count and etc. Then I realized that when I opened iTunes the file names were there but the songs wouldn't play. So I came to the message board for help. Someone gave me links to info on how to move the music from iPod to iTunes including play count and etc. Well I tried that but all of the songs were not transferred (I have over 7000 on my iPod now) and some songs are being transfered more than once when I try to run the program again to add the songs that were missed. This whole process has been a mess!!!! So I just stopped working with it. So now I really just need to start from the beginning. I want to rebuild my library from my iPod to iTunes but I want the iTunes library to be on an external hard drive so that it is not taking up all the extra room on my laptop. Can this be done? Can someone help me please!!!! I am in desperate need of help!!! Thanks!!!
HP notebook Windows XP

Usually, I set up my ExHDs to be a letter that is farther down the alphabet. Try 'M:' for Music, or 'T:' for Tunes. That way, anything else you add will not take up that drive letter inadvertently.
Remap you ExHD to another letter. See the instructions below:
-- Click on 'Start'
-- Right-click on 'My Computer'
-- Select 'Manage' from the drop down box
-- That will launch the 'Computer Management' utility. From there, select 'Disk Management'
-- If you right-click on the ExHD drive letter, you should be able to 'Change Drive Letter and Path'
-- Change only one drive letter at a time
-- Reboot after the change, for it to take effect.
-- Repeat for additional drives
Also see: How to change drive letter assignments in Windows XP

My Mac is telling me that my disk is full. I have bought an external hard drive and have just listened to a youtube tutorial on how to move iTunes library to the external hard drive. If I do this can I still load new media on my Mac without the external?

my Mac is telling me that my disk is full. I have bought an external hard drive and watched a youtube tutorial on moving iTunes library to external hard drive. Will I still be able to use iTunes on my Mac for new media or will this now only work through my external hard drive?

To do this you need to learn the details of how iTunes works. For example, you just said, "leave my iTunes on my computer". iTunes is the application itself so of course it has to be on your computer. That said, I therefore don't know what you mean when you say leave iTunes on your computer. The phrasing of your question suggests to me, if I may be frank, you don't understand how iTunes works fully and we can't just give you a "do this" answer and have it work out. It would be too easy to make a mess of things.
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
Yes, you can download media and delete it again (but if it is from the iTunes Store there is the possibility you can't always download it again). Of course if you want to keep a copy you can archive it. I have done that with some files for which I have no room on my computer. I transfer them to an external hard drive and delete the reference to the file (but not the file itself) from my library. If I want a quick listen I go to the file on the drive and use Quicktime player or something else non-iTunes so I don't have to have it added to iTunes and delete again. I don't know if that is the solution you are looking for. I could leave the reference in iTunes but if the file can't be located by iTunes it will tell me there is a broken link = ! I guess I could live with that except I periodically scan my library for broken links and don't want it getting confused with ones I have done deliberately and ones suggesting I am really missing a file somewhere.
Another possibility is to make a second iTunes library for material you are archiving and only use that library when the computer is using the external drive. There are tricky aspects to dong that but it is a possibility too.
The simple solution for most people with computers with tiny drives (as most seem to be these days) is to put their whole iTunes library on an external drive and use it from there.

I've tried moving my iTunes library to an external hard drive but it is still on my local C drive?

Hi there,
I am working on PC equipment here, not Apple. I have tried consolidating my my iTunes library and changing the "iTunes Media folder location" to my external hard drive as described on some discussions on this website and at first it seemed to work. But when I disconnect my external hard drive (E: drive) and click my iTunes icon on my desktop, iTunes still comes from my local C: drive, so iTunes is still there taking up all my memory space on C:drive. What I want to do is set up my iTunes to be entirely on my my external E: drive and not on my C:drive at all (it is taking up WAY too much memory on my c:drive). So here are my questions:
1. If I have correctly copied all my iTunes library onto my E:drive - is it just a copy and all the original information is still in C;drive as well? If so, how do I go about clearing my library in C:drive?
2. Do I have to 'unistall' iTunes from my C:drive to get rid of all my memory robbing iTune files. If so, how can I make sure that all my information has been copied onto my external E:drive before I get rid of all my music? I don't want to lose everything?
I just want to clear up my local C:drive on my laptop to get my memory back, what can I do?
Thanks.

Thanks so much for your tip!! I did that, but it says there's no files in the library.
Originaly in Itunes > preferences>advanced>under folder location I put in new path pointing to the Ex HD. made a new folder for my son's library "Nick's Itunes Library". (Keep itunes media folder organized is checked).
Clicked on change.
Then i was prompted ot move the exisiting files over which I did. Went to File>Library>Organize Library>consolidate files>OK
I did all that. I closed itunes, went to the external HD to verify all the files were there. They were. Went back into itunes on the mac mini HD and deleted the files one at a time. I realize that this whole thing is not a deal breaker as it is all in iCloud. And can be downloaded again if necessary. But I want to know how to do this manually.
I just checked the external HD again. The files are there, Itunes isn't recognizing them is my guess.

Using my iTunes library from an external hard drive to a brand new Macbook.

This seems to be such a simple thing to be able to do but I'm fearing it's not. Basically I've had an iMac for 3 years and during that time have built up around 165gb in my iTunes folder. So I learnt off the net how to move my library onto an external hard drive so that I can free up the space on my iMac and play my iTunes library from the external drive. So far so good. My iPhone 4 is obviously connected to my iMac and thats how I get my media on and off the phone. Here's where my problems begin.
I've just bought a Macbook Pro. Its obviously empty and has no media on it. I have paired my iPhone 4 with the new Macbook but obviously the iTunes library on my new Macbook is empty. I downloaded a couple of podcasts onto my new machine and tried to put them onto my phone but got a message saying that the podcasts I currently have on my phone (that are on there from my iMac iTunes library) were going to be deleted and the new ones would be put on. Still with me? So, if I could get my original 165gb library thats now on my external hard drive to be seen on my new Macbook that would possibly solve my problems. But I cant see a simple way of doing this. I've pointed the iTunes Media Location folder in the preferences on my new Macbook to the same folder on my external hard drive as is on my iMac but iTunes on my Macbook is not showing up my library. Do I really have to open every album into iTunes on my Macbook seperately? It seems such a stupid, laborious way of doing it. As if you cant have two Apple computers and run one iTunes library off an external hard drive so that its the same on both machines.
Help!
Message was edited by: Eels290776

Eels290776 wrote:
if my external hard drive is not connected to either of my machines, and I download something onto my iMac and then something different onto my Macbook, where are my machines going to be storing the new downloaded media
when the drive is not connected, +iTunes media folder location+ will default back to <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music/iTunes/iTunes music (or media)
and when I next connect the external hard drive how will I easily get the newly downloaded media onto the external HD
you'd have to point +iTunes media folder location+ back to the external via preferences > advanced > iTunes media folder location, then file > library, organize library > consolidate files
and essentially, to have it easily readable on both machines?
in that case it might be best to copy the entire iTunes folder to the external. then, on each machine, launch iTunes while pressing option on your keyboard. when prompted, click on +choose library+ and navigate to the iTunes folder on the external.
note only one iTunes can access the iTunes library @ a time !
also, make sure the external is mounted on either machine before launching iTunes.
JGG

HT1751 I am trying to backup my iTunes library onto an external hard drive but it won't complete due to 'insufficient privileges for some of the items'. Am I doing something wrong and is there a solution to this problem?

Hi All,
I am currently trying to backup my iTunes library onto an external hard drive so that I can copy it onto my new Macbook Pro. I have been following the steps posted on the Apple website however each time I get a dialogue box stating:
'The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for some of the items'.
Is this because I have items that were bought under another persons iTunes account? If so, is there a solution to this problem? Or am I doing something completely wrong?
Thanks in advance,
Sbrooks19

Go through the below forum with similar issue and follow the process mentioned by "Macjack" in the beginning.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4499820

How do I move my itunes library from my external hard-drive back to my MacBook Pro?

A couple of years ago I moved our itunes library to an external hard-drive to free up some space. I got a new MacBook Pro and would like to move the itunes library to it. I don't remeber how I moved it from my old laptop to the external hard-drive and have no idea how to move it to my MacBook.

See Restoring your iTunes Backup here...
Backup iTunes to an External Drive
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751

I have two apple id's one from my old laptop and one from my iPhone. I saved my iTunes library to my external hard drive and then tried to transfer it to my iMac. My music skips like a scratched cd now and I can't add any to my iPhone. Help please!

I have two apple id's one from my old laptop and one from my iPhone. I saved my iTunes library to my external hard drive right before my old mac laptop died and then tried to transfer it to my new iMac. Now when I try to play my old music it skips like a scratched cd. Also, now I can't add any music to my iPhone unless it was purchased recently through itunes and downloaded through icloud. I tried to "Organize" my library in hopes of correcting the problem but my iMac just ejects my external harddrive part way through. Please help!

Ejects the harddrive?
Of what did your old Mac die?
It sounds to me like you have some file corruption somewhere. Either in the transfer of your library to the external or the external itself is flaky if it keeps ejecting.

I got a new computer and backed up my iTunes library to an external hard drive. The external hard drive is not allowing me to access the drive. Is there a way to transfer the songs from my iPod touch to my new computer?

I got a new computer and backed up my iTunes library to an external hard drive. The external hard drive is not allowing me to access the drive. I no longer have access to the old computer. Is there a way to transfer the songs from my iPod touch to my new computer?

That's a bummer, didn't realize the exHD files were corrupt, esp if you have tried from another PC and not just this new computer.
You can get purchases from the itunes store transferred from an iPod using these directions:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1848?viewlocale=en_US
If you want everything (meaning non-itunes songs, app data, photos, etc) you need to buy a 3rd-party ipod manager that support iTouch. Here is an iLounge article to start your research:
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/copying-music-from-ipod-to-co mputer/P2/

HT1751 if I move my iTunes library to an external hard drive can my computer access these files in iTunes or do I need to move them back to play music, watch movies, etc.???

If I move my iTunes library to an external hard drive, can my MacBookPro access these files in iTunes or do I need to move them backto my MacBookPro to play music, watch movies, etc.???
Trying to alleviate some disc space on my Mac!!!

Yes, it can. Launch iTunes with the Option key held down and navigate to that instance of the library.
(86939)

How do I export itunes library onto an external hard drive so i can put the music on my new mac book?

How do I export itunes library onto an external hard drive so i can put the music on my new mac book?

iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
do not confuse moving your whole folder and library with moving just media files as in
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
Quick answer if you let iTunes manage your music: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Start iTunes with the option key held down and guide it to the new location of the library.

Can I create a "new" iTunes library on an external hard drive and transfer my iTune library to save space on my laptop

Can I create a "new" iTunes library on an external hard drive and transfer my iTune library to save space on my laptop hard drive

Yes. Just copy all your music to a folder on your external. Then delete the music on your computers hard drive.
It is not quite that simple. If you do that you will end up with many broken links and will have to re-create your library from scratch . iTunes does not like it when you move or rename files or folders and doing so between drives is guaranteed to result in exclamation marks indicating you have broken the links to all your media files.
If you are content with moving the whole library to an external drive (usually the best thing for most people), try:
iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
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), then guide it to the new location of the library.

How do I move my iTunes library from my external hard drive back to my computer?

Just wondering how do I move my entire iTunes library from my external hard drive back to my computer? It was moved to an external hard drive a few years ago, and now I'm wondering how to move it back to my iMac to increase performance.
Where does it belong in the computer?
Any suggestions?

The library itself is the /Home/Music/iTunes/ folder in its entirety. Did you also change where preference files were stored? Normally, they would be in the /Home/Library/Preferences/ folder.

Trying to move iTunes library to new external hard drive

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