#Where are my itunes music stored how to#
#Where are my itunes music stored manual#

However, in the case of a laptop, disconnecting the external. This copied folder should be deleted immediately after it is no longer needed because it takes up extra space on your computer's hard drive unnecessarily and could cause confusion with your most current Music or iTunes folder. You can store iTunes music anywhere you want (locally, external drive, NAS, whatever), no problem. Note: After making a copy, it is a good idea to move the copied folder to an easy-to-find location that is separate from any folder you plan to make changes to (like the Music folder).

This is, by no means, a solid backup plan, but it can be useful in a pinch. If you are about to do something wild with your Music or iTunes library and don't have a way to back it up on an external hard drive or online backup service, you can make a temporary backup that you store right on your Mac by duplicating your library. Desperate times call for desperate measures So, sit back, relax, watch a movie, or whatever you do to pass the time. This could take a very long time, depending on how big your Music/iTunes library is.

Launch Music (or iTunes in macOS Mojave or earlier) on your Mac.Ĭopy Music or iTunes Library to a backup source by showing: Click Authenticate to give permission to make a copy of your iTunes library, then enter your administrator password (Image credit: iMore).

Make sure you've downloaded a local copy of your music to your Mac.

#Where are my itunes music stored manual#

To ensure that all of your iTunes files are in the same place when you make a manual backup, you should first consolidate your iTunes library.

#Where are my itunes music stored how to#

If you're not employing a Mac-wide backup service (really, though, you should get on that), or if you want to manually back up your iTunes library separately, here's how to go about doing that: Consolidate your library

How to manually back up your iTunes library We also recommend having an offsite backup plan for your Mac as well, just in case something like a fire happens, and you lose your external hard drive. Hello Forum, As you read in the title, I wanted to know where all the data in iTunes is stored. The restore functionality lets you jump back in Time Machine's history to retrieve it.īut Time Machine may not be enough. With this feature enabled, you can automatically back up and restore your Mac with Time Machine and any of the best USB-C external hard drives. One of the easiest ways to make sure that your iTunes or Music Library is always backed up is to use Time Machine, which is already built-in to your Mac. Getting started with Time Machine (Image credit: iMore)