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Last Updated: Dec. 15, 2014
Having good, recent backups of your files is crucial for any computer user; you never know when a crash or hardware failure can strike. A backup is especially important when you consider the thousands of files, and thousands of dollars worth of purchases, contained in your iTunes library.
No one wants to be faced with having to re-build an iTunes library from scratch—but if you make backups regularly, you'll be ready when trouble strikes.
There are a number of ways to back up iTunes libraries, but you'll want to make sure that you also back up your song ratings, play counts playlists, and other metadata. The instructions in this article help you back up that kind of data (another good way to back up most data, though not playlists, is iTunes Match).
So, now that you're ready to make a backup, there's another wrinkle: backing up on your primary computer probably isn't a great idea. If your hard drive breaks, you don't want the only backup of your data to be on a hard drive that just stopped working. Instead, you should use an external hard drive (compare prices on external hard drives at multiple stores).
NOTE:Cloud-backup services are also great options (I actually use both so I have double backups in case one fails), but these instructions don't apply to them.
To back up your iTunes library to an external hard drive, follow these steps:
- Begin by plugging the external hard drive into the computer that has your iTunes library on it
- Make sure the external drive has enough free space to store your entire library
- Once the drive appears on your computer, launch iTunes.
Add All iTunes Files To One Folder
Once you've connected your hard drive, you'll need to consolidate your iTunes library. This is a process that makes sure that all files you add to your iTunes library in the future are put in the same folder. This is important because backing up your library involves moving just one folder; you don't want to accidentally leave behind any files that are stored somewhere else on your hard drive.
Luckily, iTunes has a feature to enable this.
To use it:
- In iTunes, open the Preferences window (On a Mac, go to iTunes -> Preferences; On Windows, go to Edit -> Preferences)
- Click the Advanced tab
- Check the box next to Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library
- Click OK to close the window.
Once you've clicked OK, all the files you add to your iTunes library in the future will be added to your iTunes Media folder. By making sure that all of your files are stored in one location, you can be sure that you're backing up all your files each time.
But what about files already in your iTunes library that are stored outside your iTunes Media folder? You need to get them into that folder, too, to make sure they're backed up. Proceed to the next step for instructions on tackling them.
Related: How to Use iTunes On An External Hard Drive
The music, movie, app, and other files in your iTunes Library aren't necessarily stored all in the same folder. In fact, depending on where you got them and how you manage your files, they could be spread throughout your computer. Just like with the last step, this one is crucial because we're going to be backing up a single folder and need to make sure everything is in it.
To do that, use iTunes' built-in Organize Library feature:
- In iTunes, click on the File menu -> Library -> Organize Library.
- In the window that pops up, there are two checkboxes (depending on what version of iTunes you're using, the language for the checkboxes will be a little different; the first should be Consolidate Files and the second some variation of organizing your iTunes Media or Music). Consolidate Files moves all files used in your iTunes Library into a single location—crucial for backing up—while the other organizes files into subfolders by type. All music will be in one folder, all apps in another, etc., all stored in the main iTunes folder. Check both boxes.
It's important to note that Consolidate Files actually makes duplicates of files, rather than moving them, so you'll end up with duplicates of any files that were stored outside the iTunes Media folder. You may want to delete those files to save space when the backup is complete and you're sure everything is working as expected.
If the Reorganize option is disabled, your files are already organized into the structure that iTunes prefers, so you don't need to do anything.
- After you've checked the correct box/boxes, click OK. Your iTunes library will then be consolidated and organized. This should take just a few seconds.
Related: Restore iTunes From Backup On An External Hard Drive
With these steps complete, your iTunes library files have all been moved to one place, organized in an easy-to-understand way, and are ready to be backed up to your external hard drive. To do that:
- Begin by quitting iTunes.
- Next, browse through your computer to locate your external hard drive. It may be on your desktop or can be found by navigating through Computer/My Computer on Windows or the Finder on Mac.
- Open a second window in Finder or Computer/My Computer and navigate through it to your iTunes library. You're looking for a folder called iTunes.
On Windows, it will be in your My Music folder, which you can reach through My Documents (in Windows XP) or your hard drive (in later versions of Windows)
On a Mac, it will be in your Music folder, accessible through the sidebar of the Finder window or by clicking on your username in the Finder sidebar and then clicking Music. - When you've found your iTunes folder, drag it to your external hard drive. This will copy your iTunes library to the hard drive. The size of your library determines how long the backup takes.
- When the transfer is done, your backup is complete and your external hard drive can be disconnected.
Making new backups regularly—daily, weekly, or monthly—is a good idea if you frequently add content to your iTunes library. There are also automated backup programs you can use to do this, if you prefer. Since those all work differently, I haven't included instructions for each one, but to learn more about those check out:
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