Migrate Your iTunes Library from Windows to Mac (and keep your ratings, play counts and date added)
By tunequest November 5, 2006
Note: This article was written with iTunes 7 in mind. However, the principle should hold for moving comparable versions (ie iTunes 6 Win to iTunes 6 mac) or for moving upstream (iTunes 6 Win to iTunes 7 Mac). Also, the principles describe below also apply to simply moving your iTunes library from one computer to another, Mac-to-Mac, PC-to-PC, or any combination of the two. You can even use this method to clone an iTunes library from one computer to many others.
Apple’s market share has been growing dramatically. Many observers attribute that growth to the introduction of the Intel-based Macintosh as well as the so-called “halo effect” of the iTunes-iPod phenomenon. If you’re one of those people who have recently made the switch from Windows to Mac OS X because of said halo effect then you probably have already established an iTunes Library (with valuable hours spent creating playlists, rating songs and increasing play counts).
It would be a shame to lose all that hard work and data when switching platforms. Fortunately, it’s a rather simple* procedure to move all your music to your new Mac while preserving all that precious, gooey metadata. Some guides say to export your existing library to XML and re-import it one the new machine. But that’s a bit complicated and you run the risk of loosing your metadata. Since both the Mac and Windows versions of iTunes use the same file format for the library file, all you really need to do is copy the library files from one computer to the other, while making sure iTunes doesn’t forget where the songs are located.
*This procedure is rather simple provided a couple conditions are met:
- Your music files, be them mp3, aac or other, are all stored on your main (C:) drive, not an external hard drive.
- iTunes manages all your music files (ie all you music files are stored in the iTunes Music folder).
-or-
You are willing to have all your music files moved into your iTunes Music folder on your new Mac.
You’re starting fresh; it might be a good time.
Preparing Windows iTunes for Export
click to see full-size
In this image, there is a simple Windows iTunes Library I created. It features a couple albums which have been rated and played.
- In Windows, open iTunes.
Select Consolidate library from the Advanced menu. This will move all the music files into the iTunes Music folder and sort them by artist and album.- Quit iTunes.
- Navigate to your My Music folder. It’s typically found at
C:\Documents and Settings\~username~\My Documents\My Music. - Copy the iTunes folder to the
Desktopof your new Mac. Depending on the size of your library and the method of transfer, this could take a while.
Ready your Mac and copy
On your Mac, launch iTunes. If you haven’t used it yet, go through all usual set up questions. When iTunes asks to find your music, say “No.” You will be presented with a new, empty library.- Quit iTunes.
- Navigate to
/Users/~username~/Music/. - Move the iTunes folder to the trash and empty it.
- Move the iTunes folder that you copied from Windows from the Desktop into the Music folder, replacing the folder you just deleted.
- Open iTunes again. You should see your familiar library with all the ratings, play counts intact.
click to see full-size
Exact copy of your Windows iTunes Library, ready for listening.
Enjoy.
P.S.- Theoretically, this procedure will also work for moving your iTunes Library from Mac OS X to Windows as well.
UPDATE Jan 30, 2007: Apple recently updated its instructions for moving a library using an iPod that includes similar instructions to what I’ve presented above. If you need a second opinion, give it a look.
April 9th, 2007 at 4:27 am
There is a much simplier method that is relatively the same as above.
01. Backup the xml file on the windows computer.
02. Make sure that the Mac Itunes has no files inside the itunes folder
03. Make sure Itunes is closed on the Mac,
04. Paste the Windows .xml file into the Mac Itunes folder.
05. Change the paths as necessary using a text editor and batch find/replace.
06. Open Itunes and click on file -> import and select the xml file.
07. Sit back and wait for about a minute or two depending how big your library was.
08. Preview a song.
If the song plays you are successful. If the song does not play close Itunes and open the Itunes folder and delete all the files except the xml. Then open the xml file and make sure you correctly changed the paths.
I have done this twice so far making sure that I did not make any mistakes and both times it worked like a charm.
NOTE: Make sure that you setup your preferences correctly or else the music will be copied to the itunes music folder.
Click on Itunes -> preferences -> Advance and click on the general tab. And
remove the checkmark from Keep Itunes Music Folder Organized and the Copy
Music to Itunes muisc folder.
Andy Reply:
July 11th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
I can confirm that these steps work even when moving the library between two different versions of iTunes.
On my Windows machine I use Windows XP x64 (which cannot use any newer iTunes Version than 7.5) and on the Mac the current iTunes 7.7.
I exported the Library on the Windows Machine via File>Export Library and used the same File on the Mac Machine as Import.
I had troubles with the whole procedure until I removed all files in the Music>iTunes folder on my Mac that were created beforehand.
Now all my play counts, ratings and Playlists are on the Mac and look correct.
Thanks a lot for the great walkthrough!
Andy
Jeremy Reply:
August 1st, 2008 at 5:43 pm
thanks lot ralph!!! this helped alot
July 16th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
does anyone have any info re migrating itunes from a mac laptop to a pc desktop?
tunequest Reply:
July 17th, 2007 at 6:53 am
Hi Jennifer, the above method should work for your situation. Just reverse the steps and copy the files from the Mac to Windows.
August 22nd, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Unfortunately, it does not work for me. When I try to open the library coming from Windows, iTunes does not even give the option of selecting that file (it is ghosted).
Here is how I proceed:
1. Copy my iTunes dir from Windows to Mac using the SMB service (remote connection).
2. I replace the iTunes dir with the new one.
3. Start iTunes (with the option key) and opt for the selection of the library.
THe finder that pops up has the library file ghosted and hence I cannot select it. It’s the same thing with the xml file. However, Importing using the xml file works, even though it works, I loose all the play count and date played, etc…
Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong here ??
iTunes 7.3.2
Mac OSX 10.4.10
Windows XP Pro
August 30th, 2007 at 1:27 am
just from a quick browse of the above instructions, it sounds as if it should only be used if you have not yet downloaded any music into itunes on your mac. is this correct? what if i have music on my mac itunes already and only now want to add the music i currently have stored in my windows-based itunes. how do i “combine” the two folders?
thanks!
tunequest Reply:
August 30th, 2007 at 8:07 am
Hi reese. You are correct. These instructions are for moving Windows iTunes to a virgin Mac installation.
As for merging two existing libraries, I’m afraid I’ve never done that, so I can’t be of much help. Actually importing the songs from one library to another is just a matter of drag-and-drop; the difficulty comes in not losing the ratings, counts, etc.
There’s a program called TuneRanger that might do the trick if you have a network. SuperSync might also do it.
If those fail you, a google search brings up a number of pages.
Good luck.
reese Reply:
August 31st, 2007 at 2:18 am
hi, tunequest - i actually googled it after i posted and did find quite a few possible solutions… however, i’m intrigued by your mention of an easy “drag and drop” method. i have not yet created ratings or playlists and don’t mind losing counts, so this seems to be a quick solution. how would i drag and drop from one computer to another? would they need to be on the same network? or can i transfer my windows files to an external drive, hook it up to my mac, then drop the files into the itunes library there?
i’m so-so with computers but am pretty good at “following directions”… any details you might have on the proper procedure would be much appreciated (: thanks!
tunequest Reply:
August 31st, 2007 at 7:25 am
Oh, well if you don’t care about play counts etc, it should be very simple. You just have to somehow get all the music files from your WIN machine to your Mac. You can do it over a network (though it can be tricky to get the two O.S.’s to talk to each other–google it if you need help).
If you have an external drive, that would probably be the easiest way. Once all the mp3s are copied to it, hook the drive up to your Mac, launch iTunes and, if your Preferences are set to “Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library” (i think that’s the default, but double check–it’s under the Advanced tab), simply drag the files to iTunes. iTunes will copy and sort all the music for you.
If “Copy files…” isn’t selected, manually copy the files to your mac before adding them to your library and you should be good to go.
September 4th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
how do you copy the folder onto your mac?
January 17th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
I did this from XP to mac leopard and it works perfectly fine. just remember to deleted the iTunes on the mac first.
February 14th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
If you migrate from Mac to PC you have to add the suffix “.itl” to the iTunes Library file. After that I was able to select my Mac ITL in Win Vista..
The other way round you have to remove the suffix, I presume..
March 13th, 2008 at 9:45 am
What about purchased songs? Does the move work for those too?
Has anybody tried that?
Do I need to deauthorize the pc and authorise the mac to make it work? Maybe transfer licenses with the ipod? What if the music library can’t fit on the ipod? (as is the case for me)
tunequest Reply:
March 13th, 2008 at 10:41 am
If you will no longer be using the PC, then it is a good idea to de-authorize it. Otherwise, unless you’ve met your max 5 computers, it is not necessary to do so.
The Mac will ask for authorization the first time you try to play a Fairplay-purchased song, but you can authorize it before hand if you wish. Once your Mac is authorized for your account, you shouldn’t have to use the iPod’s “Transfer Purchased Music” function.
As for the library size issue, just make multiple trips. Copy half of your collection in one trip then do the rest in another. Just make sure your folder structure remains intact.
gterez Reply:
March 13th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Thanks so much for the swift reply, as I was planning to do it today
And thanks for posting this procedure in the first place.
I won’t be using the pc for itunes, so after I’m done transfering I guess I’ll deauthorize it…
Do you know if I’ll need to reformat my ipod to use with the mac? (it’s in windows format now, as bought). If not, is there anything to gain by changing it to mac format?
Thanks again!
tunequest Reply:
March 13th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Windows can’t recognize a Mac-formatted iPod, but the Mac does recognize a Windows formatted one, so you shouldn’t have any problem transferring the files.
Apple doesn’t officially support Windows-iPod-on-Mac, so once your files are copied, you might as well restore it to Mac format.
gterez Reply:
March 13th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Thanks again!
lisagardelle Reply:
March 19th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Sorry for maybe a dumb questions, but how do you change the ipod from windows format to mac format?
I licensed TuneJack for Mac to move all my songs and playlists off the ipod and onto the Mac and I think the format of the ipod could be why I’m not able to get the tunes off.
Thoughts?
gterez Reply:
March 19th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
You’ll have to use iTunes to reset it to factory defaults ON THE MAC. When the ipod comes back again it will be mac fomatted. But I guess in your case, you can’t do that…
lisagardelle Reply:
March 19th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Thanks Gterez. I have the library still on the PC so maybe I could move the library per above instructions and reformat the ipod and then sync the mac with the ipod?? Sure sounds easier than I think it will be. Anyone interested in $$ to do this for me in the East Bay (SF) area?
March 25th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I noticed the strangest thing after transfering from the pc to the mac & changed the ipod to mac format: some of the artwork is not displayed on the ipod!
It does happen on a number of albums and it’s not that the ipod treats the songs like they have no artwork: the titles etc. appear left aligned, not centered, but there is no artwork visible. The artwork “page” is also available, but blank. So it’s like it recognises that there’s some artwork but it’s “blank”.
Needless to say, the albums I’m talking about have artwork that was transferred from the pc, shows up correctly in iTunes, and is applied to all songs in them. The same artwork did show up in the ipod while it was windows formatted and synced with the pc.
Any clues anyone?
tunequest Reply:
March 25th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I’ve seen this happen on my iPod, which has never been used on Windows. I have a handful of songs on one album where the iPod doesn’t show the art and aligns the text to the left. The rest of the album works fine and I haven’t figured out the difference between the files.
I tried replicating the behavior but couldn’t get anywhere. I didn’t put too much effort into it though because i actually liked the flush-left display.
gterez Reply:
March 25th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I like it too tunequest! But I prefer the artwork better
Alas, it seems the mac has its peculiarities too
Another issue, there’s one specific track that the mac refuses to “handle”. I thought it was lost in the transfer, and I do have it on another compilation, so I copied it, selected it when itunes said it couldn’t find the file and then proceeded to change the file info through iTunes to reflect its new place. The actual audio & track name & artist remained identical to those of the other file. I consolidated the library, checked the folder and everything was there.
The file disappeared again, when I restarted iTunes. it’s gone from the folder, not in the trash! Just this one track!
Anyway, I don’t really mind about these minor issues… I just thought I could post them here to bounce some ideas off others that have had similar experiences. iTunes on the pc had much more problems, the mac version is very stable and blazingly fast. I guess what I want to say is that it’s worth it to go mac
June 1st, 2008 at 10:25 am
Thanks! Your method worked like a charm, playlists, ratings, playcounts all restored!
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:53 pm
ok, have read all the comments above and have a question. I have an fat 32 usb external drive that can be plugged into either windows pc or mac (when virgin?).my question is when i plug this into my mac, will the mymusic folder (which i assume is windows format) be readable/openable? (my itunes folder resides within a backup of my my music folder on the external)
June 10th, 2008 at 1:20 am
Worked great for me on a new mac install.
Thanks alot
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:23 am
Just what I needed. Worked great. Thanks.
July 4th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
So I have about 16GB of data to transfer, when I copy the iTunes folder to my Mac, will I have to use a drive that is large enough? I don’t want to spend money on an external for ONE copy & paste.
July 4th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Nevermind, just figured out that I could just use my 30GB iPod.
July 10th, 2008 at 2:58 am
Thanks for the instruction. But: If I don’t have my music organized by iTunes in the Music folder, but on an external drive — what can I do? I tried to copy the whole iTunes folder, delete the library file, import the whole stuff, but there is always something missing (like the ratings, play counts or album artwork). Any ideas? I’d be most happy!
tunequest Reply:
July 12th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
It’s a little trickier to make the switch when your music in on an external drive because of the different ways that the the Windows and Mac operating systems keep track of where files are located.
I’ve never tried it myself, but there are some instructions here.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:52 am
HELP: I did the steps exactly (there also on the apple support website) except when I open up iTunes on my new MacBook the music library is still empty! I’m running leopard btw instead of my old PC running XP.
Andy Reply:
July 17th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Hi Jim!
(I assume you exported the library on your Windows XP machine for the next steps)
Did you reimport the previously exported library on your MacBook?
If you haven’t done so, the files won’t show up in your library at all.
Something else to consider might be different paths where your music is located, for example when your Windows iTunes Music folder was located on another drive. The exported library XML file then contains the Windows-type paths like file://localhost/C:/MyMusic whereas the location of the file has to be altered to make it usable for a Mac to read, like changing the location with TextEdit to file://localhost// .
I hope this might help.
Andy
Andy Reply:
July 17th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
The last line should read:
…whereas the location of the file has to be altered to make it usable for a Mac to read, like changing the location with TextEdit to file://localhost/mynewdrive/mynewfolder .
tunequest Reply:
July 17th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Hi Jim, you may also want to try manually selecting your transfered library file. If you hold down the Option key when starting iTunes, you can select the library file you want to open. iTunes will continue to use that library until you select a different one using the same method.
July 26th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
I’m new at all this how does one copy the music file from the windows to the mac desktop?
August 7th, 2008 at 2:31 am
I have gotten all my metadata (playcount, date added, rating, playlists) into my new macbook from my old pc, however the sons will not play and each of them has a small icon that looks like an airport or wireless icon in front of them. any suggestions?