Recreate Itunes Library On Mac
- Method 2: Recreate an iTunes Library without iTunes If you try the above method and something goes wrong, and you do not succeed you can try iMyFone TunesMate. It is an all in one music management tool allowing you to back up and restore your iTunes Media library on any device and at any time.
- To do so, connect your external HDD to computer, then drag and drop the iTunes library backup folder to the internal drive of your Mac or PC to replace the existing iTunes media folder. After that, open iTunes, click File Import and double-click the iTunes Music Library.xml file to restore your entire iTunes library.
Here are some things to know
Step 1: Close iTunes. Step 2: Go to where your library file is. In Windows, this is UsersUsernameMusiciTunes. For Mac, you go to Go Home, and then click to open your Music folder, then the iTunes folder. Step 3: Take the iTunes Library.itl file and drag it to your desktop. Open iTunes while holding down the Option key (Mac) or Shift key (Windows). In the resulting dialog, click the Choose Library button. Navigate to the new iTunes folder you just copied and locate the iTunes Library.itl file; Click Choose (Mac OS X) or Open (Windows) iTunes will.
Your iTunes library, a database that's made up of all of the music and other media that you add to iTunes for Windows, is organized into two iTunes library files and an iTunes Media folder.
Before you back up your media:
- Consolidate your iTunes library.
- Redownload any previous purchases, like music, movies, TV shows, and more. The only way to back up your purchased media is to download your purchases to your computer.
iTunes and Store availability and features might vary by country or region. Learn what's available in your country or region.
If you have a Mac
In macOS Catalina, your previous iTunes media library is now available in the Apple Music app, Apple TV app, Apple Podcasts app, and Apple Books app. And when you back up your Mac, your media library is automatically included in that backup. Firefox bookmarks mac.
Consolidate your iTunes library
- Open iTunes.
- From the menu bar at the top of your computer screen or at the top of the iTunes window, choose File > Library > Organize Library.
- Select Consolidate files.
- Click OK.
When you consolidate, copies of any files that were outside of your iTunes Media folder are added to your iTunes Media folder. To save space on your hard drive, you might want to delete the original files after you make sure that the copies are in your iTunes Media Folder.
Find the iTunes Media folder
By default, your iTunes Media folder is in your iTunes folder. To find it, go to User > Music > iTunes > iTunes Media.
If you don't see your iTunes Media folder in the above location, here's how to find it:
- Open iTunes.
- From the menu bar at the top of the iTunes window, choose Edit > Preferences.
- Click the Advanced tab.
- Look in the box under 'iTunes Media folder location' for the location of your iTunes Media folder.
Back up your library and media files
After you consolidate your media files, you can back up your library and media files to an external drive.
- Quit iTunes.
- Find your iTunes folder.
- Right-click on your iTunes folder, then choose Copy.
- Go to your external hard drive, then right-click and choose Paste.
Restore your library from a backup
You can restore your iTunes library from your external drive to your computer. If you're restoring an iTunes Library from a different computer, make sure that your new computer has the latest version of iTunes.
- Quit iTunes.
- Go to 'This Computer,' then click your external drive.
- Select your iTunes folder, then right-click and choose Copy.
- Go to the location on your computer where you want your iTunes library, then right-click and choose Paste.
- Hold down the Shift key while opening iTunes.
- When you see a message that asks you to Choose iTunes Library, click Choose Library.
- Choose the location where you copied your iTunes folder.
- Click Open.
- Choose the iTunes Library.itl file inside.
For avoiding the big downside—one system crash or failed hard drive, you may lose everything you've spent hours ripping from CDs or, even worse, purchasing from the iTunes Music Store, you may have backed up your iTunes library to prevent the loss of your precious files. But what if you want to reinstall iTunes library on your Mac (OS X Mavericks and Mountain Lion included) after some accident or something? Don't worry, here you will find the answer about the iTunes restore:
Condition 1:
If you back up iTunes library to CD/DVD disc, then for restoring iTunes library, you then could follow this:
- Open iTunes and insert your backup disc.
- Then iTunes will ask whether you want to restore iTunes from this disc. Click Restore.
The next two conditions show you how to restore iTunes playlists:
Condition 2:
If you have an iPod touch/iPhone/iPad and want to transfer media files to your Mac or iTunes, then you can use iTransfer for Mac to sync these files back to your iTunes library in only a single click. This Mac app won't require you to open your iTunes to restore iTunes from backup. It allows you to transfer music and playlists with rating and play counts without any duplicate contents. Here take iPhone for example:
Step 1: Install iTransfer for Mac on the computer and launch it, then connect your iPhone to Mac. By doing this, iTransfer will detect your iPhone automatically. The smart Mac app supports the newest iOS 10 and other versions, and it can work on MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and iMac.
Step 2: From the main window, click “Rebuild iTunes Library”. In the pop-up window, please confirm the operation by clicking “Start”, letting the software scan media files on your device. Choose Music tab on the new windows and click on Start to let the software transfer music to your itunes Library.
While if you just want to transfer some songs, videos or photos from iPhone to Mac/iTunes, you can go to 'Music', 'Videos' and 'Photos' tab to select the files you want, and then click the 'Export' to Mac or iTunes library.
Condition 3:
If you back-upped iTunes to external hard drive or other places, you can import your playlists like this to restore iTunes backup:
Open Itunes Library
- Connect the external hard drive to Mac and open iTunes.
- Head to 'File'> 'Library'> 'Import playlists…' .