Transferring iTunes library from external hard drive to iMac

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Transferring iTunes library from external hard drive to iMac

I am switching computers from a PC to a IMac desktop computer. I have a large music file (~150,000 cuts) that I store on a separate hard drive (not main C drive). I have copied my files (including all my music and itunes library) to an external hard drive that I will plug into the new IMac. I want to transfer the itunes library and music from this new hard drive onto the IMac hoping that when I do I can load into itunes and it will find and configure my playlists and files as they they were on the PC. Any recommendations on how to make sure all this happens seamlessly. My concern is that itunes library will be looking for my music on a the hard drive I used in the PC and not pick them up from the new external hard drive I moved them to and connected to my IMac.

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Original Title: Transferring Itunes library

iMac (M4)

Posted on Aug 11, 2025 07:09 AM

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Answer 1

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Limnos

Level 10

423,899 points

Aug 11, 2025 07:54 AM in response to comtao

Things are simpler if you have let iTunes manage your media and anything iTunes related is in a single folder. Copy that entire folder to the desired drive. Start Music with the option/alt key held down and it will ask for the library location. Guide it to the library file in the folder you copied.

Caveat: Now you say you were using iTunes. I haven't used iTunes on a PC but I was using an old version of iTunes on a Mac. I found that Music was not able to understand my iTunes library. I think there was a time during the iTunes to Music transition when it could but my versions were too different. I ended up having to rebuild my library from scratch. Sure, I still had all the media files but I had to add them as new files and rebuild all my playlists.

Uh, be prepared for some big disappointments when going from iTunes to Music.

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