iTunes Tutorial: Move Library To External Hard Drive

[aznnemisis]

So does this work with the new iTunes?

[puppycatandmolly]

How can I get the updated 10+?

[thebigw1004]

iron maiden fuck ya

[TheSuperS0ldier]

I cant realy see the problem in this, the only thing i did was going into Itunes then the music library, make the icons of the music big so it easy it grap, then i toke all the music and copied it right into a file on my external harddrive, got all my music from Itunes into the external now, but didnt lose any on Itunes, they only resond im doing this is to fast put the music onto another computer :) i dont got a prob with space yet :P

[Mrbeatgeek]

Great video but... ive done everything you said and it worked completly fine but i lost all my playlists???

Is there any way i can get them back? or do i have to make them all againnnn?!........

[TheGoodKid]

@Mrbeatgeek I can't say for sure if you have to make them again or not. I've never had a problem following these steps. Have you deleted your old library? Check My Music/iTunes and see if it's there.

[ImSleepyHD]

you fucked up my itunes

[TheGoodKid]

@ImSleepyHD No, you did. You have to follow this step-by-step.

[CapcomAllstars1up]

@TheGoodKid how do you delete music from your i pod using i tunes ???

[Guthpasta]

You switch back to your normal library by holding shift after youve done the process and opening the original music library ya?

Also, does it need to copy your entire library every time you do this? (As in after a week of getting new music when i want to save all that does the entire process have to happen or will it auto just sync those new songs as well?

Thanks! Good video!

[NicroticSouls]

Nicely done! Very easy to comprehend too!  Thank you so much!!!

[innernerddom]

UP THE IRONS

[ILLMindedEz]

My itunes says " itunes 1 " and I cannot remove my external hard drive. How do I get it back to "iTunes"

[EfrenHC12]

TX great 411 !

[saidia0]

Gay



[THRMN8R801]

worked all the way up to selecting the folder.... different for Vista system. thanks for the video though!

[hgs25]

Will u make a tutorial for the people who have iTunes 9.2? Please.

[uchewbe]

Thank you so much, this is the only tutorial that has worked for me ! Peacee

[improm2u]

Cant u just the drag that i tunes folder to a external drive, then when installing on a new computer drag that folder back over to the newly intstalled i tunes on another computer ????

[bates507]

cheers buddy

[TheInfernalDeth]

Iron Maiden \m/ FTW

[dava4321]

hey av got an 500g External Hard Drive and it wont let me put a 1080p film file on it or any MKV film file over 7gig on it, anyone no why? or how to fix it? thanks

[nfcpanther1985]

I transfered to my external hard drive but when I open iTunes my library is gone, all my downloads, gone. Is there a way to retrieve reset or find my downloads. Please help... Thanx

[bates507]

@nfcpanther1985 watch the vid properly........

[eastlondoner21]

I had to move my ipod music to my computer and even though i was successful doing this it wasnt with ratings or in playlists that i spent the majority of my time organising, anyone know any videos that can help me copy my ipod exactly how it is with playlists and ratings, if so thanks

[dragon6594]

Great attempt but you just need more volume...thanks.

[musicman257]

i have all my music on my hard drive.but had my computer cleaned out but now that i my comeputer back my songs wont play in my itunes when i have my hard drive hooked up.is thier any way to rest it so that they will play.any hepful information would be grateful.thanks

[TheGoodKid]

I'm going to produce an updated version of this tutorial for iTunes 10+. It will also have better audio and a second video to help those who may have messed up their library along the way. Subscribe for an update.

[zeldafan2020]

@TheGoodKid

I would love an updated tutorial, thank you for doing that.

jeff

[puppycatandmolly]

@TheGoodKid Did you install the updated tutorial for 10+ If you did how can I get it?

[1965dje]

No import on menu in latest itunes 10. Instead go File/Library/Import Playlist then find your original file as in tutorial (iTunes music library xml file) Everything else the same as in tutorial.Works fine just follow the steps exactly .

[PinkWotent]

so this will not work in itunes 10? hmm..

[weealecess]

its gonna take me forever to copy my library considering i have over 250,000 songs

[photoroll]

I did this exactly as you said and it worked great. Thank you so much for making it simple and easy to follow.

[LeftCoastGator]

Interesting; I haven't seen this exact process used before. One thing: You don't address consolidating the library here. How does that figure in? Also, if you've never had the "Keep iTune folder organized" button checked, how do you proceed?

[marvelrocks11]

Is there any way to move the entire iTunes app to an external hard drive?

[TheGoodKid]

@marvelrocks11 You could install the program on your external drive, but I wouldn't suggest doing it.

[marvelrocks11]

@TheGoodKid Thanks dude. Luckily I just moved my Media folder then.

[KinnR]

Does it transfer all your playlists too??

[TheGoodKid]

@KinnR It should, yup. Just don't delete anything until you are 100 per cent sure everything copied over.

[fltr561]

Can you help me fix my music in itunes? It got all messed up after using your tutorial

[TheGoodKid]

@fltr561 What happened?

[fltr561]

testing

[fltr561]

I used your tutorial and now i have many problems with my itunes. 1) Some of the music did not transfer over to my external hard drive 2) I now get messages from itunes saying "The itunes library file cannot be saved . The required folder cannot be found" AND when I load itunes it says "The folder containing itunes library. itl cannot be found and is required. Please choose or create a new itunes account" ****NOTE: cannot fit entire message on this note. Will send continued note.

[fltr561]

I used your tutorial and now i have many problems with my itunes. 1) Some of the music did not transfer over to my external hard drive 2) I now get messages from itunes saying "The itunes library file cannot be saved . The required folder cannot be found" AND when I load itunes it says "The folder containing itunes library. itl cannot be found and is required. Please choose or create a new itunes account" **NOTE: cannot fit entire message on this note. Will send continued note

[fltr561]

I used your tutorial and now i have many problems with my itunes. 1) Some of the music did not transfer over to my external hard drive 2) I now get messages from itunes saying "The itunes library file cannot be saved . The required folder cannot be found" AND when I load itunes it says "The folder containing itunes library. itl cannot be found and is required. Please choose or create a new itunes account" ****NOTE: cannot fit entire message on this note. Will send continued note.

[TheGoodKid]

@fltr561 If you do not follow each step you will run into troubles. You're on your own, sorry.

[mizzbanks707]

when i created the new library it wouldnt allow me to import because i have an older version of itunes; now the new library i created is empty and i dont know how to get to my old library PLEASE HELP

[TheGoodKid]

@mizzbanks707 Check My Documents / My Music / iTunes - your music should still be there. Also, try updating iTunes and then try importing.

[calerbass]

your video has being a great help......thanks

[AustinAlive1]

thanks man, this is exactly what i was looking for

[meltdownband]

thanks mate!

[dude2106]

eeeehmm.. you should probably have told that you have to have the thing in advanced settings checked before.. because i can't find my music anymore..

[lcboo9]

FOR GODS SAKE U SHOULD HAVE SAID AT THE START OF THE VIDEO THAT IT DOESNT WORK FOR itunes 9 man! now i have to start all over again coz it wouldn't let me put it on.... u suck lol

[Groovepocket80]

Thank you so much for this tutorial. I didn't thank that backing up my iTunes to an external drive would be so simple. It worked like a charm.

[gala232]

This was better explained, than the certain german version for me!

Nice video, of course 5* stars and favourised =P

regards

[d2theutchgold2]

Hey I got it done and it all worked great thanks. Is it now safe to remove i tunes from my computers hard drive?

[illmatic33]

this is fucking irritating me!!! when i hold down atl and open itunes it dont give me the option of choosing... it keeps saying "itunes properties"

[TheGoodKid]

@illmatic33 you need to hold down the shift key, not alt.

[illmatic33]

thanks dude, every f*cking tutorial shows instruction for macs like everyone on the planet owns a damn mac,,, these authors are so lame!!!

[Micpross]

i got this to work with vista...and itunes 9. Now I just need to figure out if i need to change anything back?  I am also now going to try and put my library on a new computer with new os (windows 7) pisses me off apple wont help "non itunes purchased items" thanks for your help

[TheGoodKid]

@Micpross Let us know how it worked out for you.

[tswagg504]

I got it..thanks a lot man...I lost my entire library before due to a virus...Now I know it won't happen.

[tswagg504]

I don't think this works for vista..I held down the shift button and nothing happened

[hyunhyun21]

will this work if u move it to the D: drive?

[TheGoodKid]

You need to be more specific. What is your D: drive? Is it an external drive or a CD Rom?

[Mudvayne2010]

will this work for apps and my iphone backup?

[TheGoodKid]

Works for APPs but I am not sure about the phone backup.

[TheGoodKid]

After hearing complaints of lost music I decided to test this tutorial with the new iTunes 9.2.

When I selected 'iTunes Library.xml' I was told the file already existed. Clicking OK overwrites the library and does not populat with songs.

Files are fine! You music is in the iTunes/iTunes Music folder either in your new location or in your My Music folder.

I will post a new video once I figure this out.

[HahUsmell]

when i hit import itunes.xml nothing happens!!!!!

[TheGoodKid]

A few comments were posted over the last two months with people saying this tutorial made them lose their music.

DO NOT DELETE ANY FILES UNTIL YOU KNOW THE NEW LIBRARY IS WORKING.

How to check if it worked:

- Open iTunes and right click on a random song and choose 'Get Info'.

- In this window you can see where the file is located. If the location is on your external drive it worked, if not, you did something wrong.

[braydenmurray1]

THEGOODKID i can no longer find my library! please help?

[TheGoodKid]

You must have skipped a step. Thousands of people have followed this tutorial with great success.

Message me your email address and I will try to help you recover your music.

[kishna09]

Wow, my entire itunes library is freakin GONE. I tried to do the import library thing and it doesn't work. Thanks a lot.

[TheGoodKid]

You must have skipped a step. Thousands of people have followed this tutorial with great success.

Message me your email address and I will try to help you recover your music.

[miamicanes561]

thegoodkid. i got an external hard drive so i could use it as my main drive and delete everything off my c drive. if i do this can i delete all my songs off the c drive and run everything off my external. thanks

[TEHAW1]

YOU ARE RETARDED!!!!!

because of this STUPID video, my entire itunes library of 4500 songs was deleted. thank you IDIOT!

For any wanting to use this video, dont. hes retarded and youll only mess your itunes up.

[TheGoodKid]

You must have skipped a step. Thousands of people have followed this tutorial with great success.

Message me your email address and I will try to help you recover your music.

[swsw88]

nice ... thanks for giving this tutorial

[lurch2b4]

Also thanks very much for adding the notes for new itunes 8

[lurch2b4]

Thanks for saving my tail. I have used this video at least three different times.

[DirtyFranK85]

wow cant hear anything and the video is terrible quality. why bother.

[99jeffers99]

very helpful, thanks mate...

[dancewriter]

Why is it so blurry? I can't read anything on your screen.

[GlenysFeliz]

Both my computer and YouTube volume are ALL the way up and STILL the volume is VERY low.

Please fix.

Thank you SO much

[TheGoodKid]

Sorry, I know it is low. My microphone was broken the day I recorded this video so I had to use my onboard mic.

I'll try and figure something out.

[WhiteThunder745]

If we do this does it transfer all movies tv programmes game etc

[mountjarvis]

do u no how to highlight all the doubles(diplicates)

thanks mountjarvis

[TheGoodKid]

File, Show Duplicates.

This option was moved from the View menu to File menu.

[thedizzit]

WHAT ABOUT VIDEOS??????

[TheGoodKid]

It should move anything that is in an library, Music, Movies, Podcasts, TV Shows.

The only things I am not sure about are APPs and Games. I know iPod Software and iPhone Software are stored locally no matter where your iTunes Library is located, so I am assuming APPs are stored in the same manner.

[stickman225]

Wait, will I lose my song ratings?

[Mpntball2012]

try running itunes as administrator

[slippyking07]

Fantastic, clear and easy to follow thanks for putting this up

I used it to move my iTunes with over 4 thousand songs,........ now i just have to find a tutorial that shows how to update what i backed up on my external drive

Thanks again 5*****'s

[geniusoftherestorati]

Thanks for this, very easy

[h0b0nub]

how do u change language, plz respond as soon as possible

[TheGoodKid]

Language options are on the main screen under Preferences. Some computers will require you to change the computer's language settings, which are in your Control Panel on Windows.

[mufferrs]

thanks

[COLMCI]

Great, so helpful and thanks for easy to follow guidance.

[arlingcay]

Great Video, really quick and helpful!

I managed to copy my music from my desktop onto my external hard drive using the method above.

What I am looking to do now is use iTunes through the external hard drive, so I do not have to use up the memory on my laptop by copying all the files onto it.

I have a couple of questions.

Does this mean I can only play the music when the external drive is plugged in?

Am I able to maintain the play count etc?

Any feedback would be deeply appreciated :)

[8burg8]

On a Mac, it's pretty much similar except you need to hold down the option key while trying to open iTunes where on a Windows you're using the shift key. This was very helpful & thanks for including the blurbs for newer versions of iTunes 8. Much appreciated!

[TheGoodKid]

You're welcome.

[pclerimus]

the "hold shift key on keyboard" doesn't work at all in Windows and itunes 8.1.0.52

[TheGoodKid]

This tutorial is still compatible with iTunes.

[specialdefect]

Thanks for making this video, it was very helpful!

[gordon08122006]

sorry can't see or hear you

[MJ4786]

Hi, thanks for the tutorial. It appeared that all the files got copied to my external hard drive yesterday. Today when I synced my iPod, I thought I was syncing with the new library, but I ended up losing half of my 5000 songs (they have exclamation points beside them in iTunes with a mesasge that they can't be found) but they still appear to be in the folder on my external hard drive. What did I do wrong, please and thank you?

[HS74AB9]

HELP....when i get itunes xtl file...there is none!!

i totally screwed it up and now i have one song..don't know how this happened...I had something like 4,500..now what to do Help help help.

thanx

[HS74AB9]

nothin ????

[HS74AB9]

am I the only one with focus problems????

[TheGoodKid]

YouTube killed the screen capture quality when I uploaded the video. I tried my best to direct people through the tutorial in my narration.

[HS74AB9]

and you did!!

[ladfemax]

THANKS SO MUCH

[stillfreefilms]

thanks i was about to smash my laptop i was getting really angey that it did not work thanks!

[DrGrrrlfriend]

I have over 15,000 songs in my library and my laptop was about to explode, so I really needed to do this. As a note to people who also have this many songs, dont be alarmed when they dont show up at first (as I was) they will show up eventually. And in random order. Also in iTunes 8, when selecting "import playlist" the folder will only say "iTunes Library" it doesnt have the .xml after it. If I unplug my EHD from my laptop and replug it in will iTunes stil find it? Thanx GoodKid!!!

[kiskate1]

Thanks for all the advices! This is what I'm dealing with right now: when I open the My music/itunes folder, i'm missing third of the songs I have on itunes.If i do the Consolidate Library option, will I duplicate those songs I already have in the folder or do I have to delete them first and then drag all of them from itunes to my mucis?? Basicly how can I put all of my itune songs in the My music/Itunes folder without harming anything so I can put all of them on the external hard drive?

[TheGoodKid]

Following this tutorial will move all of your songs (in iTunes Music or other various folder on your PC) to your new location. If you consolidate your library iTunes will make a copy of songs NOT in the iTunes Music folder and will consolidate them into the iTunes Music folder.

[kiskate1]

Thanks! Now if i do your tutorial and move everything to my external hard drive, will i be able to use the same external hard drive with my husband laptop as well as with my PC?

[jap1981]

Thanks for this.Once ive followed your tutorial can i wipe all itunes stuff off my computer or do you need to keep it there. I want to have as much free space as possible on laptop as it only has a small hard drive. please help.....

[dontblinknow182]

Thank you.  I just got an iPod and am having many problems. It's already making my computer run slow and I only have a little over 1GB. I am planning on relocating iTunes to an external hard drive and this sounds so simple! Thanks again!

[comedyjuggler690]

maiden!

=P

[flnewf]

You made this task very easy! Thank you so much...it worked great!

[nickrza]

Nice! question for you. if you have podcast will you be able to update them will keeping your music on your external hard drive?

[TheGoodKid]

Podcasts download directly to where ever iTunes is set to store your music files. If you follow all of the steps in this tutorial then all of your podcasts should download directly to your external hard drive.

[spreethis]

does this also copy the torrent music and limewire or those you just bought from itunes?

[TheGoodKid]

This will only move the file which you have in iTunes ONLY if the option to 'add files to iTunes Music Folder when adding to iTunes' is checked.

[WillB74]

You can do this faster using CopyTrans.

[TheGoodKid]

Different process and different end results. Following my steps requires no extra software. Why bog down your machine when you already have what you need; after all, iTunes is heavy enough as it is.

[rwagel]

not sure what i did wrong here...i followed everything in the video, however, now when i click on my itunes icon on my desktop, it gives me an error message that says 'can't run itunes. some of the files are missing.' it gives me the same error message when i click on the itunes folder that's now on the external drive. so, how do i access my files now?

[cheleygirl]

Worked perfectly!  Thank you so much.

[SpartainIV]

Thank you! you saved my overflowing drive

[NeOublieMenteith]

in making this library change, will all future downloads go to the external hard drive if it is attached?

[TheGoodKid]

As long as you checked the Advanced option to 'copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library' is checked then all new songs added to your library will have its file in your iTunes folder on your external drive.

[Knightrayn]

Thanks!

[Knightrayn]

I echo Kevindudbrow's question ... now that the music is copied to the external drive, how and what do I delete from my computer to save space? No use in having two libraries ...

[TheGoodKid]

Once you are 100% the music is on your external drive then you can delete the original folder to save space (My Documents, My Music) delete the iTunes folder.

[Knightrayn]

I figured it out. Just go into your my music folder on the originating computer (BE SURE THE ITUNES LIBRARY IS ON YOUR EXTERNAL DRIVE FIRST) and just delete your itunes folders. Voila. You should have much more memory after that.

[Kevindubrow]

So, how do I actually move the music? I was moving my library to an external hard drive because I was out of room. Thanks!

[TheGoodKid]

If you follow everything I do in this video you will have no problem.

[TheGoodKid]

I am not sure about APPs but I know games are saved in the iTunes folder. iPod touch and iPhone software saves in another area on your computer.

[boxingfan666]

Can you save spps and games that you have brought form itunes?

[mctoyboy42]

Thanks!!!!

[sprtsgy016]

thanks

[laughkid]

I started this and the computer locked up so i thought i would start over... now the itunes folder and all my files/movies are gone. Help?

[helloeveryone1111]

When you have put it onto the hard drive do you have to move it to a new computer say a mac or can you just keep it on the hard drive and play it on the computer then take it away??? Please someone help!!!

[kellygirlmusic]

thank you! this did help but i have a question... what do you do after this? do you have to delete your old library on your hard disk your computer?

[PortalRealm]

thanks!!!

[Heugans]

Thanks a bunch