- How To Copy Your Itunes Library To A New Macbook
- How To Copy Itunes Library To Another Mac
- How To Copy Your Itunes Library To Another Mac
- How To Copy Your Itunes Library To A New Mac Free
Here are some things to know
Your iTunes library, a database that's made up of all of the music and other media that you add to iTunes for Windows, is organized into two iTunes library files and an iTunes Media folder.
Oct 29, 2010 This video will show you how to migrate your iTunes library from a Mac to a PC. Your playlists, ratings, and play count will remain in tact. For this video I used: -A MacBook running OSX 10.6.4. Jan 04, 2020 How to Move Your iTunes Library. You can move your iTunes library to a different folder, computer, or drive. Here's how to do it, even in macOS Catalina, which ditches iTunes for the Music app. Mar 31, 2010 This is a tutorial on how to add music from another iPod into your itunes library without syncing. Its a great way to transfer your friends songs on his/her iPod into your itunes library, without. May 01, 2019 Question: Q: copy iTunes library to new Mac. I had a backup of my files including iTunes on an external hard drive. I copied my iTunes folder to the new computer, but it doesn't show up in iTunes. I made sure the new computer was authorized and quit out of and signed into iTunes multiple times. The devices submenu where I should be.
Before you back up your media:
- Consolidate your iTunes library.
- Redownload any previous purchases, like music, movies, TV shows, and more. The only way to back up your purchased media is to download your purchases to your computer.
iTunes and Store availability and features might vary by country or region. Learn what's available in your country or region.
If you have a Mac
In macOS Catalina, your previous iTunes media library is now available in the Apple Music app, Apple TV app, Apple Podcasts app, and Apple Books app. And when you back up your Mac, your media library is automatically included in that backup.
Consolidate your iTunes library
- Open iTunes.
- From the menu bar at the top of your computer screen or at the top of the iTunes window, choose File > Library > Organize Library.
- Select Consolidate files.
- Click OK.
When you consolidate, copies of any files that were outside of your iTunes Media folder are added to your iTunes Media folder. To save space on your hard drive, you might want to delete the original files after you make sure that the copies are in your iTunes Media Folder.
How To Copy Your Itunes Library To A New Macbook
Find the iTunes Media folder
![New New](https://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/larger/public/field/image/2014/08/itunes_library_external.jpg?itok=0D86y9lh)
By default, your iTunes Media folder is in your iTunes folder. To find it, go to User > Music > iTunes > iTunes Media.
How To Copy Itunes Library To Another Mac
If you don't see your iTunes Media folder in the above location, here's how to find it:
- Open iTunes.
- From the menu bar at the top of the iTunes window, choose Edit > Preferences.
- Click the Advanced tab.
- Look in the box under 'iTunes Media folder location' for the location of your iTunes Media folder.
Back up your library and media files
After you consolidate your media files, you can back up your library and media files to an external drive.
- Quit iTunes.
- Find your iTunes folder.
- Right-click on your iTunes folder, then choose Copy.
- Go to your external hard drive, then right-click and choose Paste.
Restore your library from a backup
You can restore your iTunes library from your external drive to your computer. If you're restoring an iTunes Library from a different computer, make sure that your new computer has the latest version of iTunes.
- Quit iTunes.
- Go to 'This Computer,' then click your external drive.
- Select your iTunes folder, then right-click and choose Copy.
- Go to the location on your computer where you want your iTunes library, then right-click and choose Paste.
- Hold down the Shift key while opening iTunes.
- When you see a message that asks you to Choose iTunes Library, click Choose Library.
- Choose the location where you copied your iTunes folder.
- Click Open.
- Choose the iTunes Library.itl file inside.
Though we store more and more of our music online these days, a hard-copy backup is still the gold standard for keeping your data safe. And if you use Apple Music or iCloud Music Library, the best way to do that is still iTunes.
There are a few ways to back up your iTunes library; it's important to choose one and regularly back up so that you won't have to worry about your local copy getting lost or damaged. My music — at least for me — is one of those must-backup items; I don't want to have to manually re-build or re-buy thousands of tracks.
First: Make sure your entire library has been locally downloaded
If you use iCloud Music Library or the iTunes Store, you may have some or all of your music stored in the cloud. But to truly make sure your purchased and owned content is backed up, you'll want to download a local copy to your Mac. Here's the best way to do so:
To download specific items in your iCloud Music Library right now to your Mac's drive, do the following:
- Launch Music (or iTunes on Mojave and earlier) on your Mac.Source: iMore
- Find the Artist, Albums, or Songs that you want to download.
- Click the ... button to bring up a pop-up menu.Source: iMore
- Click Download to initiate the download of these items.Source: iMore
And if you want to start automatically downloading everything that you add to your Apple Music library from this point forward, then it's easy peasy! Here's how:
- Launch Music (or iTunes on macOS Mojave and earlier) on your Mac.Source: iMore
- Click Music in the menu bar.
- Click Preferences (or press ⌘, on the keyboard).Source: iMore
- Make sure you're in the General tab.Source: iMore
- Click the box for Automatic Downloads to turn it on.Source: iMore
Once that is turned on, any music you add to your Apple Music library will be downloaded automatically to your Mac's hard drive.
How to back up iTunes via Time Machine or another backup service
If you have Apple's Time Machine backup system enabled — or any other cloud — or system-based backup — your iTunes library should automatically be covered. This way, if you ever need to restore, you can just pop back in Time Machine's History (or a past backup from CrashPlan or Carbon Copy Cloner, for example) to retrieve it.
How to manually back up your iTunes library
If you're not employing a Mac-wide backup service (really, you should get on that), or if you just want to manually back up your iTunes library separately, here's how to go about that.
Consolidate your library
To ensure that all of your iTunes files are in the same place when you make a manual backup, you should first consolidate your iTunes library.
- Make sure you've downloaded a local copy of your music to your Mac.
- Launch Music (or iTunes in macOS Mojave or earlier) on your Mac.Source: iMore
- Click File in the upper left corner of your Mac's screen.
- Hover your cursor over Library in the drop down menu.Source: iMore
- Select Organize Library from the secondary menu.Source: iMore
- Tick the box for Consolidate Files when the Organize Library window appears.Source: iMore
- Click OK.Source: iMore
This will make a copy of all files in the iTunes media folder, leaving the originals in their current location.
Copy your iTunes library to a backup source
- If you are using an external hard drive, connect it to your Mac using a USB cable.
- Click on Finder to open a Finder window.
- Select your Mac's Hard drive.Source: iMore
- Click on Music in the sidebar.Source: iMore
- Select the Music folder (or iTunes on macOS Mojave and earlier) and drag that folder to the external hard drive icon on your desktop or copy it to your online backup service.Source: iMore
- Click Authenticate, if prompted, to give permission to make a copy of the iTunes folder.
- Enter your administrator password.
- Click OK.Source: iMore
The copy process will begin. This could take a very long time, depending on how big your Music/iTunes library is. So, sit back, relax, watch a movie, or whatever you do to pass the time.
Desperate times call for desperate measures
If you are about to do something wild with your Music or iTunes library and don't have a way to back it up on an external drive or online backup service, you can make a temporary backup that you store right on your Mac. This is, by no means, a solid backup plan, but can be useful in a pinch.
Note: After making a copy, it is a good idea to move the copied folder to an easy-to-find location that is separate from any folder you plan to make changes to (like the Music folder). This copied folder should be deleted immediately after it is no longer needed because it takes up extra space on your computer's hard drive unnecessarily and could cause confusion with your most current Music or iTunes folder.
- Click on Finder to open a Finder window.
- Select your Mac's Hard drive.Source: iMore
- Click on Music in the sidebar.Source: iMore
- Right-click or control-click on the Music folder (or iTunes folder if you're still on macOS Mojave or earlier).Source: iMore
- Select Duplicate from the drop down menu.
- The copy process will begin. This could take a very long time.Source: iMore
- Move the copied iTunes or Music folder to a new, easy-to-find location.
- Delete the copied iTunes or Music folder once you no longer need the temporary backup.
Any questions?
Running into issues making an iTunes backup? Pop them in the comments below.
March 2020: These are still the current steps for how to back up your music.
Serenity Caldwell contributed to an earlier version of this guide.
How To Copy Your Itunes Library To Another Mac
Backing up: The ultimate guide
Main
Power upAnker's PowerCore Wireless 10K charger is a battery pack without the fuss
How To Copy Your Itunes Library To A New Mac Free
Anker is out with a new wireless battery pack that'll keep things ticking along no matter where you are.