Okay Geek Farm
How to move your existing iTunes library
Chris Self
If you’re like me, you have a monstrous iTunes library filled with thousands of songs along with countless TV shows, movies and podcasts. As your library grows, the precious hard drive space on your computer dissapears increasingly faster. If you want to move that large folder to an external drive it’s necessary to follow the correct steps. Don’t just drag the folder over; let iTunes do the work for you.
Moving your iTunes Library
This can be an extensive process depending on how big your library is. There are some actions you might want to take before going ahead and moving gigabytes of files. Make sure that you remove all duplicates from your library and delete any unwatched movies, TV shows or podcasts. Deleting these files will make the process much quicker. Let’s start.
1. From the iTunes menu, go to Edit → Preferences
2. Next, go to the Advanced Tab. Check these two boxes:
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✓ Keep iTunes Media folder organized
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✓ Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library
3. Change the location of the iTunes Media folder to a directory on your computer or an external drive. Then click OK.
4. From the iTunes menu, go to File → Library → Organize Library
5. Check these two options:
✓ Consalidate Files
✓ Reorganize files in the folder “iTunes Media”
Checking the second box will place all your media (music, TV shows, movies, podcasts, etc) into seperate folders. It’s not necessary, but definitely nice if you like to be organized
6. Once you’ve checked those options, hit OK and iTunes will begin to move your files. This could take a few hours so you might want to grab a bite to eat.
7. Warning: Do not remove your external drive while iTunes is moving your files. This could result in permanent data loss. Be sure make sure that your computer is not set to sleep after a certain amount of time or it may cause the process to stop. Change the setting if you wont be at your computer while iTunes is moving your library.
8. Once iTunes is done moving your library, the progress window will dissapear. Assuming everything worked right, your library has moved to the external drive. Take note that you must have your drive plugged in to listen to music or watch any movies. Without it, iTunes will recognize your files as missing until your drive is plugged in.
Moving your entire iTunes library to an external hard drive is an easy task as long as it’s done properly. Remember that it’s best to let iTunes to do all the work for you instead of moving the folder yourself. The process may take a few hours, but it’s great to clear up some space on your hard drive. Finally, even though all your media sits on the external hard drive, there will still be a folder on your computer. Do not delete or move this file as it contains your playlists and other metadata.
