How to Move iTunes Library to External Hard Drive [2024]
Your iTunes Library is filled with a lot of precious content. It may have music files, TV shows, podcasts, audiobooks, and more. Thus, it’s not crazy to learn how to move iTunes Library to external hard drive. Backing up data is very important nowadays.
In a snap of a finger, your precious content may be lost. For instance, your computer may be corrupted by malware. In this case, you need to make a backup of your files regularly. That includes implementing how to move iTunes or Apple Music library to external hard drive.
Can I put my iTunes library on an external hard drive? Lucky for you, we’ve got the right guide. Here, we will discuss how to move iTunes library to external hard drive Windows 10 or on a Mac. So, how do I move my iTunes library to another hard drive? Check out our comprehensive article below.
Article Content Part 1. Why Need to Move iTunes Library to External Hard DrivePart 2. How to Move iTunes Library to External Hard Drive with iTunesPart 3. Best Way to Move iTunes Library to External Hard DrivePart 4. Summary
Part 1. Why Need to Move iTunes Library to External Hard Drive
Before we start to learn how to move iTunes library to external hard drive, let's learn about why we need to move iTunes library to external hard drive windows 10 or Mac? Moving your iTunes library to an external hard drive can be beneficial for several reasons:
Freeing up Local Storage: iTunes libraries can become large, especially if you have a vast collection of music, movies, TV shows, and other media. Moving your iTunes library to an external hard drive allows you to free up valuable space on your computer's internal storage.
Portability: Having your iTunes library on an external hard drive makes it more portable. Backup and
Redundancy: Storing your iTunes library on an external hard drive serves as a form of backup. If something happens to your computer, your media files are safe on the external drive. Regularly backing up your library is a good practice to prevent data loss.
Performance Improvement: Moving your iTunes library to an external hard drive might improve the performance of your computer, especially if your internal storage is nearing capacity.
Multiple Users: If you share a computer with others, having the iTunes library on an external hard drive allows each user to maintain their own library and settings without interfering with each other.
Part 2. How to Move iTunes Library to External Hard Drive with iTunes
Can I put my iTunes library on an external hard drive? Yes. In this case, we will learn the answer to the question, how do I move my iTunes Library to another hard drive. Here are the steps on how to move iTunes Library to external hard drive Windows 10 or Mac using iTunes:
- Open your iTunes application. Then, visit the iTunes menu.
- From that section, click Preferences. Then, click the option for Advanced.
- Check out the box that says you have to organize the Media Folder of iTunes.
- After that, check the box that says files should be copied to the Media Folder of iTunes when you add them towards your Library.
- Within that same window for Advanced Preferences, make sure you press the Change button.
- Now, visit the location of your iTunes Media Folder. From there, check out the location of your external hard drive. Choose the drive or subfolder where you literally wish to implement how to move iTunes Library to external hard drive. Press OK afterwards.
- Now, go back to the File menu on your iTunes app. After that, visit Library.
- Then, click Organize Library. Make sure the option to Consolidate Files is checked.
If you can’t use iTunes anymore, because you have updated your computer, you can follow the steps below to implement how to move iTunes Library to external hard drive on Mac:
- Exit your Mac’s Music app.
- Connect the hard disk drive to your computer.
- Press Finder and make sure you select the external drive.
- Now, open a separate window. Within it, select the hard drive of your Mac computer.
- Press the folder for Music.
- Then, choose iTunes. Make sure you drag it from the previous folder towards the external drive’s folder.
- Press Authenticate if you are asked to confirm the process.
Now, it may take some time, depending on your iTunes Library size. However, this is another way on how to backup iTunes to external hard drive. Now, we will move on to the next part. We will teach you the best way on how to move iTunes Library to external hard drive Windows 10 or Mac. Also Read: How To Copy iTunes Library To External Drive [Backup Guide]
Part 3. Best Way to Move iTunes Library to External Hard Drive
This section will teach you the best way on how to move iTunes Library to external hard drive Windows 10 or Mac. For this method, we will use a tool called TunesFun Apple Music Converter. What is this tool? It’s actually a software to help you grab tracks from iTunes and Apple Music.
Once you have grabbed your tracks, you can keep a copy of them forever. Thus, you don’t need an Internet connection to listen to your tracks. TunesFun Apple Music Converter enables you to grab tracks while keeping its original quality. Plus, ID3 tags and metadata are kept as well, making your entire library organized.
TunesFun Apple Music Converter enables you to grab tracks and convert them into popular formats. These include MP3, WAV, AAC, FLAC, M4A, and more. Plus, you are sure of lightning-fast speeds. The tool is 16x faster than the average converter. Read More: How to Convert Apple Music to MP3 [4 Helpful Ways 2024]
Here are the steps to use it in order to implement how to move iTunes library to external hard drive Window 10 or Mac:
Step 01. Download And Install TunesFun Apple Music Converter
Visit the website of TunesFun. Locate the option for Apple Music Converter at the top menu. Now choose whether you like Mac or Windows versions. Then, opt for a free trial or buy the full version outright. Install it on your computer. After that, click its icon to open it.
Step 02. Choose Desired Tracks
Choose the tracks you actually want to get. You can choose one. If you like to grab multiple tracks, that is possible as well.
Step 03. Choose Desired OUtput
Choose the settings you want. MP3 is the recommended output format when you actually want to implement how to move iTunes library to external hard drive forever. But, you can opt for other file types too. Then, select a destination folder on your computer. This is where the tracks will be saved after conversion.
Step 04. Convert
The fourth step is very easy. You just have to click the Convert button in order to start grabbing the tracks.
Step 05. Transfer Files To Hard Drive
Finally, once the conversion process is complete, you can go to the output folder you have chosen before. Here, you can copy and paste the files to your external hard drive. So, you have ultimately done the process on how to move iTunes Library to external hard drive on Windows 10 or Mac.
Part 4. Summary
This article is a great source of information on how to move iTunes Library to external hard drive Window 10 and Mac. We’ve given you the top tips to do it manually on iTunes. But since the app is quite obsolete on newer Apple devices, you can also do it through the Music app of Apple.
If you really want to keep tracks forever, you can also go for TunesFun Apple Music Converter. In this case, you don’t need to know how to move iTunes library to external hard drive. You just use TunesFun in order to grab all the tracks you like. And, you can keep them forever in different devices.
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