How To Transfer My Itunes Library From Mac To Pc

How To Transfer My Itunes Library From Mac To Pc 5,0/5 5228 votes

Apr 12, 2019  Transfer iTunes Library from One PC to Another Home Sharing. This is probably the easiest way to transfer your iTunes library from one computer to another, and it allows the entire library to stay in sync across different platforms. Launch iTunes on your Mac, open its preferences (Edit - Preferences), then click the Advanced tab. Click the Change button next to iTunes Media Folder Location, navigate to the iTunes Media folder.

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.

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!

Jul 16,2019 • Filed to: iTunes Music Transfer • Proven solutions

Aug 31, 2018  Downloading the GLFW and GLEW libraries for a Mac To download and install the essential libraries onto your Mac system, we'll have to install a package manager for Mac known as Homebrew. Homebrew will help us in installing all the necessary. GLEW is problematic in that in can't handle multiple contexts without extensive user intervention. This isn't an issue for OSX, which provides a core profile API and doesn't need to load 'function points'. GLEW provides efficient run-time mechanisms for determining which OpenGL extensions are supported on the target platform. OpenGL core and extension functionality is exposed in a single header file. GLEW has been tested on a variety of operating systems, including Windows, Linux, Mac. Glew library machine.

Is it possible to transfer my iTunes library from pc to mac and/or mac to pc?

The brand new expensive computer will not provide you the level of joy that you are expecting from it without the lovely melodic tunes stored in your iTunes library. So you need a reliable and quick way to transfer all your favorite tunes to your new hard drive and start having all the fun. Therefore, the need for transferring iTunes library from your personal computer to Mac computer is inevitable. To transfer the entire iTunes Library from PC to Mac does not need you to be a system engineer. There are however multiple ways to accomplish this task and transfer your files easily from one computer to other. Let us explore some nice ways to use the iTunes backup and restore the wide variety of data to our local machines.

How To Transfer My Itunes Library From Mac To Pc

Part 1. Without External Hard Drive – Using iMusic (Highly Recommend) to Move iTunes Library from PC to Mac

Before you start your transfer process, reliable network connectivity between the two computers is needed i.e. between your PC and Mac. The iTunes software must be installed on both computers also. Your Apple id must also be linked to iTunes library in order to proceed successfully. In this first method of transferring iTunes library from PC to Mac machine, we will not make use of any external storage devices or hard drives. Instead, we will make use of the gadgets like iPod, iPad or iPhone. We need to choose a robust tool like iMusic to transfer the iTunes library from Personal pc computer to Mac.

iMusic is a powerful all-in-one multimedia management tool that has built-in features for transferring media files and fixing iTunes-related issues. One particular feature that stands out in this regard is the Rebuild iTunes Library feature that can be used to transfer the entire iTunes library from a Windows PC to a Mac in no time!

iMusic - Transfer iTunes from PC to Mac without Erasing the Data

  • Move iTunes library from PC to Mac /Mac to PC Easily.
  • Transfer music, playlists, videos, and more from iPhone6/7/8/x/xs(max), iPod Touch, iPad/Android devices to Mac/iTunes/PC.
  • Copy Files to iOS/Android Devices. Put music, photos, playlists, videos, audiobooks and more from Mac/PC to iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.
  • Download Music from 3000+ Sites. Download music from YouTube, Dailymotion, Spotify, etc 3000 music sites for free.
  • Record Music from Radio Stations. Record any song that you can play on your PC/Mac with ID3 tags attached.

How To Transfer My Itunes Library From Mac To Pc Iphone

Due to the fact that iMusic is compatible with both Microsoft Windows technology as well as Mac operating system, you will find it enjoyable not to run into OS compatibility issues. Follow the steps below to enjoy a convenient experience of transferring your iTunes library from PC to Mac:

Step 1: Download and install iMusic. Connect your device with your computer and click on the “Library” , “Add” button on the top bar. Select the files from PC to iTunes Library.

My Itunes

Step 2: Disconnect your device from one computer and connect it with the other computer. Once you have connected the device, click on the “Toolbox”. Hit the “Rebuilt iTunes Library” on this new computer and select your device from the screen. Click on the “Start” button.

My Library Itunes Music

Step 3: Now, select the corresponding tab which is present at the top and click on the “Export to Mac”. This is the last step which may take some time depending upon the music present on your computer. Once the process is completed, you will see the pop-up on the screen showing the successful transfer. Which means that you have finished the process transferring itunes from PC to Mac.

How to pull up choose library on mac windows 10

Using the “Rebuild iTunes” feature is easy but you need to be cautious also locate folders yourself. This may take a lot of time to complete depending upon your computer speed and data files, but in the end, it leaves you happy and satisfied.

Related article reading: transfer itunes playlist to new computer.

Part 2. Transfer iTunes from PC to Mac With External Hard Drive With External Hard Drive

Keeping your iTunes files in one location makes your job easier for using this method. Then you can arrange a hard drive to copy all your files to it and enjoy transferring the data to a new location on the new machine. The best way is to you External Hard Drive or the USB depending upon the music library present on your computer. Before you continue, remember that this method will not work the Apple music and you can only transfer the tracks which are already present on your computer or you have purchased from the iTunes Library.

  • On your Mac computer, click open preferences and click iTunes. Then select advance and keep track of your music folder on your local PC.
  • Now select Organize Library and click on the Consolidate option. Now all your media and music files will be copied to your computer in the iTunes folder. The larger the size of your files, the longer it will take to complete. As soon as the process of Consolidation ends, you can quit iTunes.
  • The next step is to plug in the hard drive externally which has large free space available to hold all your desired data. Check the folder size and find out how much the size of your data in the folder properties is.
  • If your external hard drive is no formatted, format it before proceeding forward. The Apple iPod or iPhone can also be used as an external hard drive depending on how much space they have.
  • Once the external drive is formatted and connected, you can drop and drag the iTunes folder and start the process of copying the media files to external drive. Click Eject Hard Drive once the copying process is over.
  • Now move on to your Mac computer and locate your iTunes media folder on the new system. Connect the external drive to this machine and you are ready to transfer the iTunes library to your Mac now. If you do not want the existing music on your mew machine to be deleted, then copy those files and save them on the external disk.
  • Now all you have to do is to replace the currently existing media folder with the new one. All the playlists, ratings and songs information will be reloaded by the iTunes automatically once it is done.

Part 3. Transfer iTunes from PC to Mac With Home Sharing Method

The Home Sharing Method is relatively an easy method to transfer the iTunes library from PC to Mac. The necessary condition to complete this method is to install the iTunes on the both computers first. Moreover, you will also need to use the same iTunes account on the both computer. Let’s see the step by step procedure to use the Home Sharing Method.

  • As soon as the Mac and old computer are connected to the same network using the Wi-Fi, open iTunes on them one by one.
  • Then on the first computer (with Windows), select the Home Sharing icon which will be seen on the left menu. Sometimes this icon does not appear due to Home Sharing being turned off, in this case, turn on the home sharing first.
  • After the Home sharing is enabled on both of your computers, you can see the Home sharing icon and click it. The Home Share Button can be created here by entering your known Apple password and id.
  • Now you need to assign permissions to your computer on which you are copying your iTunes library to. Click Authorize Computer on the Store Menu and again enter your Apple id and password.
  • In the left menu, click the Home Sharing icon now. Select all the files and music that you want to copy or select all if you need everything to the new machine.
  • Now the final step is to hit the Import button. Once done, the files will start copying onto your new computer without a delay. If network speed is good with a Wi-Fi connection, then the process will take only a few minutes. The transfer speed also depends on the size of your iTunes library items. That completes our third method to transfer the iTunes library from PC to Mac successfully.

Conclusion:All methods have their own pros and cons, if you don’t want to use the same iTunes account on both computers, the best way is to transfer the iTunes library from PC to Mac using iMusic. Moreover, it will also save you a lot of time as you will not need to transfer the data from one computer to hard drive and then to the other computer. In this way, you can also preserve the library on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Which is your favorite method? Let us know in the comments section below.

iMusic - Move iTunes Library from PC to Mac with Simple Clicks

  • Copy iTunes Library from PC to Mac Easily.
  • 1-click to backup iPad music to iTunes Library/Mac.
  • Transfer music from Mac/PC/iTunes to iPhoneXR/XS/8/8plus/Android phone easily.
  • Download music from over 3000 music sites, including download YouTube to MP3.
  • Record music from any radio stations with music tag, covers, album name attached.
  • Built-in library collected thousands of songs for free download.