Can I move my iTunes library to an external hard drive?

Yes. First you'll need an external hard drive large enough to contain your entire collection (with some room for growth.) This process can take a bit of time, if you want to preserve your playlists, ratings and history. 

These instructions are for iTunes 7 or later for Mac. If you're working on a Windows PC see Apple Support article HT1364.

First make sure that the "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" option is selected in iTunes Preferences:

• From the iTunes menu, choose Preferences.
• In the resulting window, click the Advanced tab.
• Select the "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" checkbox. Click OK.

Once you've done that, follow the next set of steps to change your iTunes Media folder location to the new drive and then consolidate your library to the new location. This not only copies your audio and media files over, it also retains your ratings and playlists.

Note: If you move your music and media to an external hard drive, you will need to have that drive connected to access your files. No matter what, it's always a good idea to have a backup of the media you have in iTunes.

• Connect the external drive to your Mac using FireWire if possible. Connecting to your Mac with USB will work just fine too but take longer. 
• Open iTunes.
• From the iTunes menu, choose Preferences.
• Click the Advanced button in the Preferences window.
• Click the Change button in the iTunes Media folder location pane. In the Change Media Folder Location window that appears, navigate to the location where you would like your new iTunes Media folder to be created. 
• Click the New Folder button in the Change Media Folder Location window.
• In the New Folder window that appears, enter the name of the new iTunes Media folder and click Create.
• Click Open in the Change Media Folder Location window.
• Click OK in the Advanced window.
• From the File menu, choose Library and then Organize Library if using iTunes 9. If you're using iTunes 7 or iTunes 8 for Mac, choose File > Library and then Consolidate Library. In the Organize Library (or Consolidate Library) window, select Consolidate files. Click OK.
• A message appears that says: "Consolidating your library will copy all of your music into the iTunes Media folder. This cannot be undone." Click Consolidate. Important: This action copies all of your music and media files to the new location. There must be enough hard disk space available to copy all of your music and media files. This may take some time if you have a large library.
• After the folder has been copied, locate your original iTunes Media folder, and drag it to the Trash or Recycle Bin. Note: Don't remove the iTunes library files that may be in the same location as the iTunes Media folder. 
• Empty the Trash.

You may also want to look at article HT1589, which explains how to open a different library when starting iTunes (in case you decide to keep your full library on an external drive, and a smaller travel iTunes library on your portable computer).

Published March 24, 2009 12:00 PM
Last modified on July 20, 2010 3:00 PM