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User profile for user: birdnut
birdnut Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

How to copy/replace entire Music Library Mac to Mac

Apple Support pages only mention copying PC to Mac. I have just spent several days cleaning up my Music/iTunes library on my laptop: removing duplicate songs, copying album art for my own CDs from the internet, combining orphaned separate album tracks into their albums, making compilation albums of single downloaded song tracks, correcting spellings, etc.


So now how do I copy my entire Music/iTunes library from my M1 MacBook Pro onto my iMac so that the work I have already done transfers exactly? Both are running Monterey.


I want a resident copy there, not just Home Sharing access. Even using the Home Sharing import feature, the artwork and duplication aren't fixed, so I would like "simply" to replace the iMac library altogether. It is possible? Or will I have to start over on the iMac, doing all of the above one bit at a time?

iMac 21.5″, macOS 12.3

Posted on Apr 1, 2022 11:16 AM

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User profile for user: turingtest2
turingtest2
User level: Level 10
274,564 points

Posted on Apr 1, 2022 11:59 AM

See Move (or copy) your iTunes/Music library to a new computer - Apple Community.


tt2

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User profile for user: birdnut
birdnut Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Apr 2, 2022 2:21 PM in response to turingtest2

Thanks for all the information links. I ended up copying both the Music and iTunes folder to a flash drive. Then in the iMac, I renamed those existing files and then copied the desired ones into my user Music folder. When I opened the Music app, I was able to choose the new library file and watched as my album covers nicely populated all the gray squares over several minutes. I had to fix a couple of split albums, and add the occasional album artwork, but it basically went well. Next I deleted the downloaded music on my phone and did a sync. Now I even have the right album covers on my phone. Life is good. :-)

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How to copy/replace entire Music Library Mac to Mac

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