How to Move iTunes Library from Mac to Windows with iTunes. Step 1: Backup your iTunes library to an external hard drive or a USB at your Mac. Step 2: Click on your desktop to make certain you’re in the Finder. Step 3: From the top of the computer screen choose finder. How to Back Up Your iTunes Library and Other Media Files. Posted on April 16th, 2015 by Kirk McElhearn If you’ve got a large iTunes library—and even if yours isn’t of epic scale—you’ve probably spent a lot of time buying music, ripping CDs, tagging files, and organizing playlists. Jun 07, 2015  Request: Quick video showing you how to put music that you downloaded or have on your mac/pc into your iTunes library so that you can sync it with your devices.

iTunes Library is a database used to organize and store your songs, music videos, movies and other media contents. What the iTunes Library stores or what the iTunes Library file location seems to be unimportant for us as we can choose exactly the music, videos or other contents from the clear and easy-to-use iTunes interface.

However, it is chaotic and disorganized when your iTunes Library is getting bigger and bigger, and it turns out that Mac is running out of storage space. So managing your iTunes Library on your Mac is a must. The way you manage these iTunes files can make a big difference in freeing up Mac, as well as how easy it is to back them up or discover them. Below you will see some tips to manage and organize iTunes Library on Mac.

1. Delete Apps You Don't Need Anymore

You should notice that Apple would keep track of what you download from the App Store. If you have a large hard disk drive, the storage isn't an issue. But if your Mac is lack of storage, that is a real problem and you may fail to download and save any content on your Mac. Just try to delete the gigabytes of downloads you no longer needed and reclaim some of the hard drive space back. Now, just follow the below steps to delete App backups in iTunes:

Step 1. Launch iTunes app and choose 'Apps' from the Library sidebar.

Step 2. Select the apps you want to delete.

Step 3. Right click and choose 'Delete from Library'

Choose iTunes App to Delete

Step 4. Choose 'Delete App' from the pop-up window .

Confirm to Delete iTunes App

Step 5. Continue to select 'Move to Trash' and then empty the Trash.

2. Delete Old Software Update Copies

iTunes keeps the copies of firmware files which can be restore to your iOS devices in no time. It is good in some way. However, when you update your device to the latest iOS version, the old firmware files you will never use anymore would occupy hundreds of megabytes on your hard drive. To release the wasted storage space on your Mac, you should delete those files.

Step 1. Head to Finder and keep holding down the Option key on your keyboard. Then select 'Go > Library' option.

Step 2. Find out the iTunes folder.

Step 3. Go to the 'iPad Software Updates', 'iPhone Software Updates', and 'iPod Software Updates' folders to find out a file with 'Restore.ipsw' extension. Then move those files to the Trash.

3. Remove Duplicate Media Files

You may keep the same or similar songs, albums, movies and other media contents on your Mac, which occupy the storage space a lot. To get the wasted megabytes back, you are recommended to use FonePaw MacMaster app, which is a great Mac management software that will help you find out and clean the duplicate files. Now you can download and install the program on your Mac computer to give it a shot. Want to learn more details about how it works? Please head to this post: Duplicate Files Finder on Mac

Confirm to Delete iTunes App

4. Consolidate Your Library

It make sense to bring all of your media into the iTunes Media folder so that you can easily find the related contents as well as back them up to an external hard drive. To consolidate iTunes Library, you should:

Step 1. Launch iTunes on your Mac.

Step 2. On menu bar from the top pane of your computer screen, choose 'File > Library > Organize Library'.

Choose Organize Library Option

Step 3. Check the box next to 'Consolidate files' and click on the 'OK' button. Then iTunes will copy any files that are not in the iTunes Music folder to that location.

Choose Consolidate Library Option

5. Backup iTunes Media Files

You can backup the entire iTunes Library to an external or a new computer to prevent data loss. In addition, after you move the iTunes media files to another location, it's feasible to delete the iTunes media folder on your old Mac to release its storage space. But before we can do this, you need to firstly consolidate your iTunes Library, which you can refer to part 3 for the task. Now, let's see how to move iTunes Library to external drive.

Step 1. Make sure you have quit iTunes app on your computer.

Step 2. Connect an external hard drive to your Mac and get it detected.

Step 3. Go and find out your iTunes folder. You may ask 'where is iTunes music stored on my computer'. To discover the iTunes Library file location, you should select the item in iTunes, and choose 'File > Show in Finder'.

Find iTunes Library File Location

Step 4. Drag and copy iTunes folder to external hard drive for a backup.

See also: How to Move iTunes Library to New Computer

It's time to manage your iTunes Library on MacBook or iMac and you can get back tons of the wasted hard drive space this way. So tell me what you think in the comments!

Upgrade your iTunes library in macOS Catalina

When you open the Apple Music app or Apple TV app for the first time in macOS Catalina, your iTunes library is upgraded so you can use it with the new apps. If you have multiple iTunes libraries, you need to upgrade each library before you can use and switch between them in macOS Catalina.

Switch to another iTunes library

How To Pull Up Itunes Choose Library On Mac Computer

1. Hold down the Option key, then open the Music app or Apple TV app.
2. In the window that appears, click Choose Library.
3. Select a library, then click Choose.

How To Pull Up Ituneschoose Library On Mac Windows 10

Learn more about what happens when you upgrade another iTunes library.