had my itunes media folder on an external drive (I:) for years. recently moved my library to a new pc,.
i set up it to have my media on on the external drive under the advance preferences, but when ever i restart itunes, it goes back having my media folder on the C drive.
If you have the library at I:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl and the media folder at I:\iTunes\iTunes Media then when iTunes "resets" the media folder nothing changes. That's where you want to end up. If your effective media folder right now is I:\iTunes then you temporarily move the .itl and its supporting files and the Album Artwork folder up into I:\, access the .itl there, open iTunes and make the media folder I:\iTunes, close iTunes, rename I:\iTunes as I:\iTunes Media, launch iTunes, check everything works and the media folder now reads as I:\iTunes Media, close iTunes, make a new I:\iTunes folder, move the .itl file, Album Artwork, and iTunes Media folder down into I:\iTunes and then choose the .itl file on its new path.
tt2
If you have the library at I:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl and the media folder at I:\iTunes\iTunes Media then when iTunes "resets" the media folder nothing changes. That's where you want to end up. If your effective media folder right now is I:\iTunes then you temporarily move the .itl and its supporting files and the Album Artwork folder up into I:\, access the .itl there, open iTunes and make the media folder I:\iTunes, close iTunes, rename I:\iTunes as I:\iTunes Media, launch iTunes, check everything works and the media folder now reads as I:\iTunes Media, close iTunes, make a new I:\iTunes folder, move the .itl file, Album Artwork, and iTunes Media folder down into I:\iTunes and then choose the .itl file on its new path.
tt2
There is a bug in recent builds of iTunes that, at least for some users, seems to stop the media folder preference from being saved properly. See Make a split library portable - Apple Community and put your library in a shape that isn't affected by the issue, and is easier to backup and move around in future.
TL;DR - make I:\iTunes the location of the iTunes Library.itl database and I:\iTunes\iTunes Library the media folder.
tt2
so i made some progress, but still have issue.
all of my media is in I:\iTunes
my itunes library is in I:\itunes Library 2023
i direct itunes to my media via edit> preferences> advanced and select the I:\iTunes for the media location.
the problem is when i restart itunes, it is moving the media location back to I:\itunes Library 2023\iTunes Media
does the media folder need to be literally named "itunes media."?
does library file need be with the media file?
so i understand movind the .itl file, seems easy enough. but for the media, i leave the acual files where they are? i have a lot of movies, music and audiobook.
thanks in advance. much appreciated.
Thank you.!!!!! you nailed it. your instrucrtions were precise and so much appreciated.
You're welcome. 🙂
tt2
keep itunes libary on external drive? itunes keeps moving back to the C drive.
