Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive

  • Last Modified: September 19, 2008
  • Article: HT1751
  • Old Article: 307074

Summary

One way to back up your iTunes Library is to consolidate your library into one folder and then copy that folder to an external hard drive. This is a painless process that only takes a few moments to accomplish.

Note: If you would prefer to back up your iTunes Library by burning your library to CD or DVD click here.

Products Affected

iTunes 7 for Mac, iTunes 7 for Windows

Step 1: Consolidating Your iTunes Library

To make the move as easy as possible, it's important to make sure all of the items in your library are in one place.

  1. Open iTunes Preferences:
    Mac: From the iTunes menu, choose Preferences.
    Windows: From the Edit menu, choose Preferences.
  2. Click Advanced and then click General.
  3. Make sure the "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" checkbox is checked.

  4. Click OK.

    Note: After you click OK, iTunes copies any music files that weren't in the iTunes Music folder, and places the copies in the folder. The original files are left in their original locations. To save space on your hard disk, you might want to delete the original files.
  5. From the Advanced menu, choose Consolidate Library. A message appears reading: "Consolidating your library will copy all of your music into the iTunes music folder. This cannot be undone."
  6. Click Consolidate.

Step 2: Copy iTunes folder to your external hard drive

To copy all the items in your iTunes library (including the iTunes Library file that holds all your playlists, playcounts, ratings, and other data) to your external hard drive, follow these steps:

  1. Quit iTunes.
  2. Locate your external hard drive.
    Mac OS X: On the desktop or Finder sidebar.
    Windows: In My Computer
  3. Locate your iTunes folder:
    By default, the iTunes folder is located in:
    Mac OS X: /Users/username/Music
    Windows: \Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\

    If the iTunes folder is not in the default location listed above then you can find where the iTunes folder is located by following these instructions:

    1. Open your iTunes Preferences:
      Mac: From the iTunes menu, choose Preferences.
      Windows: From the Edit menu, choose Preferences.
    2. Click Advanced and then click General.
    3. The location of your iTunes folder will be listed in iTunes Music folder location box, as pictured below.

  4. Drag the iTunes folder to your external hard drive. This can take a while if you have a lot of items.

  5. When the transfer is complete, your iTunes Library will have been successfully copied to your external hard drive.
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