Geek

18th April 2010

So your first question is probably: Why on earth would you want to move your iTunes library FROM a cool Mac TO a boring old PC? Well it’s a good question and I do feel rather like I’m going the wrong way on a one-way street. But my trusty iMac just turned 9 years old and has only a 55 GB hard drive (my ipod has 64!) and less than a GB of RAM. So it’s not much fun to use anymore and I just don’t have $1200 to shell out on a new one right now. My PC laptop that I use for work is not sexy but it’s bulked up like an East German athlete in 1984.

In order to do that, you will have to make some changes in the preferences.On macOS: Open iTunes on your computer and click on “iTunes” button on the top bar and select “Preferences”.On Windows: The Windows users can open the preferences by clicking on the “Edit” button on the top. Now, select the last option in this menu “Preferences.”Once you have opened the Preferences, the next step is similar to both devices. Move itunes library from windows to mac. Normally, when you add a song to the iTunes, it will only copy the link of the location of the song.

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Mar 24, 2019 Some iTunes users then attempt to access their iTunes music library by selecting the ‘Music’ dropdown menu but still are unable to find their local music library. Not to worry, if you can’t find your local music collection in iTunes, we’ll show you how to quickly access the local music library in iTunes on the Mac or Windows PC.

That’s why I made the move, and my hat’s off to Apple because it was simple and straightforward. The only real danger here is that you may think too much and over-complicate it. If you want to know the logic behind why you’re doing all these things you can read a very informative article here… I’m basically just showing you the Cliff’s Notes version of how to do it.

Also, unless you know how to network a PC and Mac together, you will need a Portable Hard Drive to make this happen. I used an 80GB Iomega drive that I’ve had forever… you can get these very cheaply now.

Here’s how to move your iTunes library from your Mac to your PC

STEP ONE: Open iTunes on your Mac. Go to iTunes > Preferences. When the pop-up window appears click the Advanced option in the top menu. Then you should see this screen:

Now if your “Keep iTunes Media folder organized” box is already checked, then you need to UNCHECK it and select OK. Then go back to the same screen and check that same box and click OK. There will be a short progress bar and then you can continue.

STEP TWO: Still on your Mac, go to File > Library > Organize Library

Now select “Consolidate Files” and click OK as seen below.

It will let you know that it cannot be undone which is fine, so just click Continue.

STEP THREE: Now it’s time to move those songs. Plug your portable hard drive into your Mac. Go to your Mac Hard Drive menu and confirm that it’s there. Now click on your Mac hard drive and you should see a foldeer called “Music” under that will be a folder called “iTunes”. Double click the iTunes folder and you will find two things we need to move: a folder called “iTunes Music” and a file called “iTunes Library”. Drag both the file and the folder to your portable hard drive.

Depending on the speed of your USB connection and size of your library you may now have time to take in a movie. Or in my case with my 9-year-old Mac, the entire Wagner Ring Cycle.

STEP FOUR: Now we move over to the PC. If you don’t already have the latest version of iTunes on your PC you’ll need to download that now. Eject your portable drive from the Mac, then disconnect it and plug it into your PC. Go to “Computer” in the Start menu and confirm the drive is there. Now open your “Music” folder on your PC and you should see an “iTunes” folder. Drag both the iTunes Library file and the iTunes Music folder from the portable drive to this folder. Again, this may take a while to transfer.

STEP FIVE: This is where I got stuck but the solution is very simple. I was able to see the music files in the folder and play them directly, but iTunes wasn’t seeing them and listing them out for me. That’s because the file that we moved called “iTunes Library” needs a different extension for the PC to recognize it. So right click on that file on your PC and add “.itl” to the end of it. Now close iTunes if you have it open, and re-open it while holding down the SHIFT key on your PC. You’ll get a window that says Choose iTunes Library. Click “choose library” and then double click on the iTunes Library file (which should now have the little iTunes logo next to it instead of a blank page).

iTunes will now index all your songs and display them along with all your playlists. I hope this worked as well for you as it did for me, but if not I refer you to the much more complex and detailed article here: http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to-a-new-hard-drive/.

Cheers!

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.

Before you back up your media:

Sep 27, 2016 A lot of Mac tutorials mention the Library folder, which is where your macOS applications store things like settings and caches. Some settings can only be changed by editing files in the Library. But the Library is hidden by default. Access library folder mac. Oct 03, 2018 Inside the home folder on your Mac is a Library folder that stores app-specific files and settings, personal settings, and some data. The files and settings in the Library folder should be left alone for the most part. But, you may want to tweak the settings for. Jan 12, 2020 Launch Terminal, located in /Applications/Utilities. Enter the following command at the Terminal prompt: Press Return. Once the command executes, you can quit Terminal. The Library folder will now be visible in the Finder. Should you ever wish to set the Library folder back to its default hidden. May 30, 2019 How to find the Library folder on Mac (macOS Sierra, Mojave or Catalina) Open Finder window. Click Go in a Menu Bar → select Go to Folder. Or use the Cmd+Shift+G key shortcut. Type /Library and click Go in a dialog window. The required Mac Library folder will be shown.

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.

Find the iTunes Media folder

By default, your iTunes Media folder is in your iTunes folder. To find it, go to User > Music > iTunes > iTun

Itunes Library From Mac To Windows