How to Move Music in iTunes to Another Computer
If you have purchased a new computer, you’ll want to transfer your iTunes music library from your old computer to the new one. Or, you might simply want to transfer a selected group of songs or albums from your home computer to your office computer. You can use several methods to transfer music from one computer to another. To transfer an entire music library at once, use an external hard drive. To transfer smaller amounts of music, you can use blank CDs.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
Using an External Hard Drive
-
1
Connect your external hard drive to your computer’s USB connection port.
-
2
Find your iTunes music library in the “Music” folder on your “Macintosh HD” on a Mac, or look for it in “My Documents” on a PC.
-
-
3
Highlight the folder by clicking on it once on a Mac, or left-clicking it on a PC. To select more than one folder at a time, hold down the APPLE key on a Mac or the CTRL key on a PC.
-
4
Drag and drop the selected folder or folders onto the external hard drive icon on your desktop if you are using a Mac. On a PC, right-click the folder or folders you have highlighted, then select “Send to” and then “External Hard Drive.” The files will begin copying.
Using Blank CDs
-
5
Open iTunes, and select “New Playlist” in the “File” menu to create a playlist of songs to copy to a blank CD.
-
6
Drag and drop songs from your music library to the new playlist.
-
7
Insert a blank CD. Go to the playlist you want to burn, and click “Burn Disc.”
-
8
Select a burn speed and CD format from the available options. Select “Audio CD” if you want to be able to play the CD in any stereo. Select “MP3 CD” to make a disc that will play in most stereos and that will fit more music. Select “Data CD” to create a CD that will not play in stereos but will hold much more music. Select the third option to transfer more music at once. Most audio CDs can fit only 80 minutes of music, and data CDs can fit up to 700 megabytes of data.
-
9
Click “OK” to begin burning the disc.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
To transfer music using a flash drive, follow the same basic steps you would follow with an external hard drive. Flash drives, however, often do not have as much storage space as an external hard drive, so you might not be able to transfer your entire music library at once.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Jeffrey Hamilton/Digital Vision/Getty Images
