This guide will show you how to transfer music from external hard drive to iTunes. In addition, you will also know how to transfer music from external hard drive to Apple Music.
How Do I Transfer Music from External Hard Drive to iTunes?
Hi, when I try to put music into iTunes from an external hard drive it copies it & when I disconnect the external hard drive although it is showing in the iTunes music library it says it cannot find the files. What's the correct way to import iTunes library from external hard drive?
- Question from Apple Community
Transferring songs from external hard drive to iTunes is not a weird need. Due to limited computer storage space, many users choose to save songs, photos, and videos on external hard drives. When you get a new computer, you will want to add music to iTunes from external hard drive, so you can enjoy music on the computer or add music to iPhone.
When it comes to adding files to iTunes, you know that you can take advantage of the “Add File to Library...” function to import songs to iTunes, and you did. However, the problem is that when you disconnect the external hard drive, iTunes says it cannot find the file. That's why you're on this page, right?
Well, it seems that you have missed a step, so you cannot accurately transfer music from external hard drive to iTunes. Don't worry! This guide will show you all the steps to help you successfully import music into iTunes.
βΊ If you want to transfer songs from external hard drive to iPhone, you may refer to the Part 2 to get an easier way. It lets you transfer purchased or non-purchased music to iPhone without annoying sync.
Part 1. How to Transfer Music from External Hard Drive to iTunes
Part 2. An Easy Way to Transfer Songs from External Hard Drive to iPhone
Generally, when you click “Add File to Library...”, iTunes just saves the location of the files. So you will find that the files are not available if the external hard drive is not plugged in. You need to adjust settings to let it copy files to iTunes Media Folder - copy the files to your computer. If you are trying to move iTunes library to new computer, you can go to this How to Transfer iTunes Library to Another Computer guide to get more info.
We can add music to iTunes from external hard drive via Add File to Library but before that, we should adjust a setting to make sure the songs can be moved to iTunes.
1. Run iTunes and plug in your external hard drive to computer.
2. Click the Edit menu in iTunes > Choose Preferences...
3. Click Advanced tab > Check the box beside "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" > Click OK to confirm.
4. Then click the File menu > Choose Add File to Library... to select the songs you want to add to iTunes. And that’s it.
Although iTunes is the official tool for managing iOS data, it is not that easy to use. It allows you to sync files from iTunes to iPhone at the cost of losing existing files on the iPhone. Besides, you don’t know whether the syncing is successful or not because there will be no notification. What’s worse, various errors happen now and then.
To make things simple, you may rely on one professional iOS data backup & transfer tool and AOMEI FoneBackup is recommended here. It helps you easily transfer music from external hard drive to iPhone and vice versa.
Outstanding features on computer to iPhone transfer: β Easy and Fast. With the clear and user-friendly design, you can complete the transfer in only a few clicks. β Transfer Selected Songs. It lets you preview and select the songs that you want to add to your device. β No Data Erasing. It will only put songs on iPhone/iPad and all content on your device will remain 100% safe.
It is only a matter of making a few clicks of the mouse to transfer music from external hard drive to iPhone. Download the tool on your PC and start transferring right now!
How to Transfer Music from External Hard Drive to Apple Music
1. Launch AOMEI FoneBackup > Plug in your external hard drive and iPhone to computer. (Enter the passcode on iPhone so that the software can access your device.)
2. On the Home screen, click Phone Transfer > Get to PC to iPhone option and click Start Transfer.
3. Click the “+” icon > Choose the songs you’d like to add to iPhone > Click Open to continue.
4. Click Start Transfer to transfer music from computer to iPhone.
5. Click OK when the transfer is completed.
Note: AOMEI FoneBackup also supports iPhone to iPhone transfer. You can transfer non-purchased music from old iPhone to new iPhone without effort.
That’s all about how to transfer music from external hard drive to iTunes. You should first set it to copy files to iTunes Media folder and then continue to the next step. Did the transfer succeed? Leave a comment to let us know.