How can I ensure iTunes works after relocating files to external drive?

iMac M1, 2021, 15.1.1

To free up space on the 1T internal drive, I changed the Music Media folder location to an external drive. iTunes worked perfectly. When I moved the internal drive iTunes folder to the trash (but did not empty the trash) iTunes would not work. What am I doing wrong?


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iMac 24″, macOS 15.1

Posted on Mar 6, 2025 1:36 PM

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Mar 6, 2025 2:32 PM in response to Niel

To clarify: in the finder window, in Music, there is a folder named Music. That folder contains iTunes, Media, Music Library, and Previous Libraries. I moved iTunes. Are you saying I should move the entire Music folder? Thanks in advance.

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Mar 6, 2025 4:25 PM in response to Niel

Well, it still doesn't work. I copied the Music folder to the external drive, set that as the file location in the iTunes settings, and it worked just fine. But when I moved the original Music folder to the trash it didn't work - no error message, the songs just wouldn't play. When I moved the folder back from the trash it worked again. Stumped.

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Mar 6, 2025 4:49 PM in response to Niel

Again, appreciate your help. But I don't understand what you mean by "The entire library location needs to be changed as described above." Is the library you are referring to in a different location? The Music Library file in the folder is only 21.6 mb, but there is 437 gb of music.



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How can I ensure iTunes works after relocating files to external drive?

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