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Can I delete my iTunes Librbary after using iTunes Match to free up some hard disk space?

Can I delete my iTunes Librbary after using iTunes Match to free up some hard disk space?


Apparently this was possible some years ago as iTunes would ask whether you would like to delete songs from your computer while keeping it in iCloud/Itunes Match at the same time:

It seems to me that with the current version of iTunes this option no longer exists. Or at least, I have troubles to find it.


Who can help / clarify?


Cheers, A

MacBook Pro 13", OS X 10.11

Posted on Nov 17, 2019 11:07 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 18, 2019 9:34 AM

Once items in your library have been either matched or uploaded you can right/ctrl-click and use the option Remove Download to free up the local storage used by the file. I would not recommend doing so unless you have taken a full backup of the library on an external drive first. Occasionally there can be a mismatch where the matched version differs slightly from the copy you had previously, e.g. different ending, clean vs. explicit, etc. Don't burn your bridges. If you have a backup then you can restore any item where you are not happy with the streamed version iTunes Match offers.


tt2

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 18, 2019 9:34 AM in response to SuperAndiF

Once items in your library have been either matched or uploaded you can right/ctrl-click and use the option Remove Download to free up the local storage used by the file. I would not recommend doing so unless you have taken a full backup of the library on an external drive first. Occasionally there can be a mismatch where the matched version differs slightly from the copy you had previously, e.g. different ending, clean vs. explicit, etc. Don't burn your bridges. If you have a backup then you can restore any item where you are not happy with the streamed version iTunes Match offers.


tt2

Can I delete my iTunes Librbary after using iTunes Match to free up some hard disk space?

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