How do I move the Music folder on my Macbook to an external SSD drive?

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Level 1

9 points

How do I move the Music folder on my Macbook to an external SSD drive?

Thanks to an accumulation of mysterious "system data" that apparently can't be eliminated or reduced, I have run out of storage space on my MacBook. I can't update the operating system or software. I can't even make a Time Machine backup to my external drive, because that requires some sort of temporary copy on my hard drive while the backup is being made. Apps are quitting on me because I have so little extra storage space. I can't move my photos, music, and other big files to iCloud because I live in a remote rural area with crappy satellite internet service that is slow and data-capped, so it would take forever to do that.

I would like to move my Music (and if that's not sufficient, possibly also my Photos) to my external drive to free up some storage space, but I can't find good step-by-step instructions for how to do that. I know how to drag a folder to the external drive, but I don't know how/where to find the right folder or what to do afterward to delete it from my Mac hard drive. Please don't tell me to "simply copy the Music folder from your Mac to your external drive." Please don't tell me I just need to go to "~something." Please don't tell me to use a third-party app. Could someone explain it to me like I'm a dummy?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 15.2

Posted on Aug 14, 2025 11:47 AM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

277,711 points

Aug 14, 2025 04:44 PM in response to cozycruiser

What you need to do depends a little on whether or not you've previously used iTunes before. See

Managing your Mac media libraries - Apple Community for some background. If your library is in the standard layout of ~/Music/Music holding the .musiclibrary database and a /Media folder that holds all of your media then you can simply copy the deeper Music folder to the external drive, then option-start-Music to access the library on the external drive. If your media is in the older iTunes folder then after copying the Music folder to the external drive and accessing there you should reset the media folder (to <External>/Music/Media) and then consolidate the library (File > Library > Organize Library... > Consolidate Files).

tt2

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Answer 2

cozycruiser Author

Level 1

9 points

Aug 19, 2025 09:54 AM in response to turingtest2

Thank you for your reply. When I go to ~/Music/Music, I see the .musiclibrary database but not a /Media folder. The only other item in that deeper Music folder is a folder called Previous Libraries, which contains a second music library database that is about 8 months old.

I tried dragging the deeper Music folder to the external drive, but that was not allowed. When I try to do it, I just get the popup white circle with a diagonal line through it, and the folder does not copy.

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

277,711 points

Aug 19, 2025 10:25 AM in response to cozycruiser

A likely possibility is that your library has been migrated into Music from iTunes, and therefore your media folder is probably ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media. Try copying ~/Music/Music to your external drive as <External>/Music (while Music is closed) then hold down option as you launch Music and use the Choose Library option to open <External>/Music/Music Library.musiclibrary. The use Music > Settings > Files to reset the media folder to <External>/Music/Media. Next use File > Library > Organize Library > Consolidate Files to make new copies of your files in the external media folder. Lastly you clean up the original location manually be sending ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media to the trash and emptying it. You might want to scan the folder for any orphaned content not connected to your library that you want to reclaim/archive/whatever before deleting.

tt2

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

277,711 points

Aug 21, 2025 12:32 PM in response to cozycruiser

iTunes Music is the older name for what became iTunes Media. Revised instructions.

Try copying ~/Music/Music to your external drive as <External>/Music (while Music is closed) then hold down option as you launch Music and use the Choose Library option to open <External>/Music/Music Library.musiclibrary. Then use Music > Settings > Files to reset the media folder to <External>/Music/Media. Next use File > Library > Organize Library > Consolidate Files to make new copies of your files in the external media folder. Lastly you clean up the original location manually be sending ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music to the trash and emptying it. You might want to scan the folder for any orphaned content not connected to your library that you want to reclaim/archive/whatever before deleting.

tt2

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