How To Wipe Itunes Library On Mac

How to delete library cache on mac with terminal reddit download In addition, many of these folders are incorrectly made and can result in issues either immediately or further down the line.

Moving to a new Mac?

Sep 03, 2008  You can delete the current entries in your Library by highlighting them - iTunes menu Select All will do the trick - and then right-clicking Delete. Thanks for your help. When I tried this earlier I must have had an artist selected and it appeared that it was only going to delete the visible songs. Mar 24, 2020 How to manually back up your iTunes library. If you're not employing a Mac-wide backup service (really, you should get on that), or if you just want to manually back up your iTunes library separately, here's how to go about that. Consolidate your library. To ensure that all of your iTunes files are in the same place when you make a manual. Your library will transfer automatically to the new Apple Music app, Apple TV, and Apple Podcasts. And you’ll still have access to your favorite iTunes features, including your previous iTunes Store purchases, rentals, and imports and the ability to easily manage your library.

Learn how to move your files to your new Mac. Do this before you erase the hard drive or follow any other steps.

Create a backup

  • Oct 09, 2013  How to Move an iTunes Library to an External Drive or USB Flash Stick Oct 9, 2013 - 8 Comments Have you ever wondered if you can keep your entire iTunes Library on an external drive, freeing up disk space and providing for a portable music and media library?
  • Jan 10, 2017  To completely uninstall iTunes follow these steps: Drag the desktop iTunes icon to the trash - if you receive an error continue to step 2, if you don’t skip to step 6. Right-click the iTunes.app file in the Applications folder and click Get Info. Click the padlock icon and enter your Admin Password.
  • Change where your iTunes files are stored on Mac. By default, the music, TV shows, movies, podcasts, and other files that appear in your iTunes library are stored here: Home/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media. You can change where your iTunes media files are stored.
  • Here are some simple but effective techniques to sync an iPhone with iTunes on a new Mac (or more than one Mac) without erasing the apps, music, photos and other data on the phone.

Be sure you have an up-to-date backup of your important files and data. Learn how to back up your data in macOS. If you have macOS Catalina, skip the sign out of iTunes step.

Sign out of iTunes on macOS Mojave or earlier

Open iTunes. From the menu bar at the top of your computer screen or at the top of the iTunes window, choose Account > Authorizations > Deauthorize This Computer.

When prompted, enter your Apple ID and password. Then click Deauthorize.

Learn more about deauthorizing your computer using iTunes, including how to deauthorize all the computers you've used with your iTunes account.

Sign out of iCloud

Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Apple ID. Choose iCloud in the side panel and Turn off Find My Mac. Then select Overview in the side panel and click Sign Out.

If you have macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, click iCloud, and then Sign Out.

A dialog asks whether you want to keep a copy of your iCloud data on the Mac. Because you'll reformat the hard drive in a later step, just click Keep a Copy to proceed.

After you sign out of iCloud, your iCloud data remains in iCloud and on any other devices you've signed in to with your Apple ID.

Sign out of iMessage

If you're using OS X Mountain Lion or later, sign out of iMessage.

In the Messages app, choose Messages > Preferences, click iMessage, then click Sign Out.

If you're keeping paired Bluetooth devices, unpair them (optional)

If you have Bluetooth devices — such as keyboards, mice, or trackpads — paired with your Mac, and you plan to keep these devices, you can unpair them. This optional step prevents accidental input on the Mac if the computer and the Bluetooth devices have separate owners but remain within Bluetooth range of one another.

If you're unpairing an iMac, Mac mini, or Mac Pro, you must have a USB or other wired keyboard and mouse to complete these steps.

To unpair your Bluetooth devices, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Bluetooth. Hover the pointer over the device that you want to unpair, then click the remove (x) button next to the device's name. When the dialog asks if you're sure, click Remove.

If you're using an iMac, Mac Pro, or Mac mini, use a USB or other wired keyboard and mouse to complete the next step.

Erase your hard drive and reinstall macOS

The best way to restore your Mac to factory settings is to erase your hard drive and reinstall macOS.

After macOS installation is complete, the Mac restarts to a Welcome screen and asks you to choose a country or region. If you want to leave the Mac in an out-of-box state, don't continue with the setup of your system. Instead, press Command-Q to shut down the Mac. When the new owner turns on the Mac, setup assistant will guide them through the setup process.

Learn more

No matter the model or condition, we can turn your device into something good for you and good for the planet. Learn how to trade in or recycle your Mac with Apple Trade In.

How To Wipe Itunes Library On Mac Windows 10

Though we store more and more of our music online these days, a hard-copy backup is still the gold standard for keeping your data safe. And if you use Apple Music or iCloud Music Library, the best way to do that is still iTunes.

There are a few ways to back up your iTunes library; it's important to choose one and regularly back up so that you won't have to worry about your local copy getting lost or damaged. My music — at least for me — is one of those must-backup items; I don't want to have to manually re-build or re-buy thousands of tracks.

First: Make sure your entire library has been locally downloaded

If you use iCloud Music Library or the iTunes Store, you may have some or all of your music stored in the cloud. But to truly make sure your purchased and owned content is backed up, you'll want to download a local copy to your Mac. Here's the best way to do so:

To download specific items in your iCloud Music Library right now to your Mac's drive, do the following:

  1. Launch Music (or iTunes on Mojave and earlier) on your Mac.

    Source: iMore

  2. Find the Artist, Albums, or Songs that you want to download.

  3. Click the .. button to bring up a pop-up menu.

    Source: iMore

  4. Click Download to initiate the download of these items.

    Source: iMore

And if you want to start automatically downloading everything that you add to your Apple Music library from this point forward, then it's easy peasy! Here's how:

  1. Launch Music (or iTunes on macOS Mojave and earlier) on your Mac.

    Source: iMore

  2. Click Music in the menu bar.

  3. Click Preferences (or press ⌘, on the keyboard).

    Source: iMore

  4. Make sure you're in the General tab.

    Source: iMore

  5. Click the box for Automatic Downloads to turn it on.

    Source: iMore

Once that is turned on, any music you add to your Apple Music library will be downloaded automatically to your Mac's hard drive.

How to back up iTunes via Time Machine or another backup service

If you have Apple's Time Machine backup system enabled — or any other cloud — or system-based backup — your iTunes library should automatically be covered. This way, if you ever need to restore, you can just pop back in Time Machine's History (or a past backup from CrashPlan or Carbon Copy Cloner, for example) to retrieve it.

How to manually back up your iTunes library

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

Consolidate your library

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.

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

  2. Launch Music (or iTunes in macOS Mojave or earlier) on your Mac.

    Source: iMore

  3. Click File in the upper left corner of your Mac's screen.

  4. Hover your cursor over Library in the drop down menu.

    Source: iMore

  5. Select Organize Library from the secondary menu.

    Source: iMore

  6. Tick the box for Consolidate Files when the Organize Library window appears.

    Source: iMore

  7. Click OK.

    Source: iMore

This will make a copy of all files in the iTunes media folder, leaving the originals in their current location.

Copy your iTunes library to a backup source

  1. If you are using an external hard drive, connect it to your Mac using a USB cable.
  2. Click on Finder to open a Finder window.

  3. Select your Mac's Hard drive.

    Source: iMore

  4. Click on Music in the sidebar.

    Source: iMore

  5. Select the Music folder (or iTunes on macOS Mojave and earlier) and drag that folder to the external hard drive icon on your desktop or copy it to your online backup service.

    Source: iMore

  6. Click Authenticate, if prompted, to give permission to make a copy of the iTunes folder.
  7. Enter your administrator password.

  8. Click OK.

    Source: iMore

The copy process will begin. This could take a very long time, depending on how big your Music/iTunes library is. So, sit back, relax, watch a movie, or whatever you do to pass the time.

Desperate times call for desperate measures

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 drive or online backup service, you can make a temporary backup that you store right on your Mac. This is, by no means, a solid backup plan, but can be useful in a pinch.

Mac os x software free. 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 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.

  1. Click on Finder to open a Finder window.

  2. Select your Mac's Hard drive.

    Source: iMore

  3. Click on Music in the sidebar.

    Source: iMore

  4. Right-click or control-click on the Music folder (or iTunes folder if you're still on macOS Mojave or earlier).

    Source: iMore

  5. Select Duplicate from the drop down menu.

    • The copy process will begin. This could take a very long time.

      Source: iMore

  6. Move the copied iTunes or Music folder to a new, easy-to-find location.

  7. Delete the copied iTunes or Music folder once you no longer need the temporary backup.

Any questions?

Running into issues making an iTunes backup? Pop them in the comments below.

March 2020: These are still the current steps for how to back up your music.

Serenity Caldwell contributed to an earlier version of this guide.

Backing up: The ultimate guide

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