"I want to free space on my hard drive by moving my iTunes library to an external hard drive any suggestions? Warnings? I have bought a Lacie 1TB portable for this."

If you have hundreds of songs, movies or TV shows in your iTunes library, you may find that your iTunes library is getting bigger and bigger, and filling up your computer's hard drive. It's a good idea to move them to an external hard drive. External hard drives have been necessary for people who frequently use computers for study or business in the daily life. Not only are they used to store files that might fill up their computer's hard drive too much, such as movies or music, they are often used to backup their important files originally stored on their computers. The post will introduce you how to transfer iTunes library to external hard drive. Besides, if you bought a new computer and want to transfer iTunes library to new computer, or your want to use your iPhone as a flash drive to store some files, the post can give you some safe and quick guidance to solve your problems.

Part 1. How to Transfer iTunes Library to External Hard Drive

Before you copy iTunes library to external hard drive, please keep in mind that you need to make sure the external drive has enough free space to store your entire iTunes library, then plug the external hard drive into the computer that has your iTunes library on it. Once the hard drive appears on your computer, you can begin to transfer iTunes library to external hard drive. The steps are as follows:

Find the iTunes Media folder

By default, your iTunes Media folder is in your iTunes folder:

Mac: Finder > username > Music
Windows Vista or later: \ Users \ username\ Music \
Windows XP: \ Documents and Settings \ username \ My Documents \ My Music\

If the folder isn't in its default location, you can find where it's located using these steps:

1. Open iTunes.
2. Mac: From the menu bar at the top of your computer screen, choose iTunes>Preferences. Windows: Open the iTunes menu bar, then choose Edit>Preferences.
3. Click the Advanced tab. Then look in the box under "iTunes Media folder location" for the location of your iTunes Media folder.

Consolidate your iTunes library

Before you transfer iTunes library to external hard drive, please consolidate all of your media into the iTunes Media folder:

1. Open iTunes.
2. Mac: From the menu bar at the top of your computer screen, choose File > Library > Organize Library. Windows: Open the iTunes menu bar, then choose File > Library > Organize Library.
3.Select "Consolidate files." Then click OK.

Backup iTunes library to external hard drive

1.Quit iTunes and open the iTunes folder that has been found in the step 1.
2.Drag the iTunes folder from its location to an external drive.

Part 2. How to Transfer iTunes Library to New Computer

Speaking of transferring iTunes library to new computer, many users of iOS devices will think it is just impossible, as the contents in the iTunes library is tied up with the computer hard drive. In fact, people are able to move the iTunes library to new computer manually. The music files in the iTunes library may be the largest part, so setting transferring iTunes music library to new computer as an example. The following guidance will show you how to do that.

Method 1. Using Home Sharing

1. Launch iTunes on the old computer, and then click "File > Home Sharing > Turn on Home Sharing".
2. Log in the Apple ID on the old computer.
3. Launch iTunes on the new computer and then authorize the computer. (Click Store > Authorize this Computer).
4. Log in the Apple ID when iTunes asks.
5. Select the Home Sharing icon in the left sidebar, and then you will see the library of your old computer. Click Select All to copy all the contents in the library to the new computer.

Method 2. Using External Hard Drive

1.Get the music folder into the external hard drive by following the part 1.
2.Connect your external hard drive to new computer and open it.
3.Drag the iTunes folder from your external drive to the Music folder (Mac) or My Music Folder (Windows) on your new computer. The transfer might take a while if you have a lot of content.

Method 3. Using iTunes Match

1. Launch iTunes on the old computer. Then click "Store > Turn on iTunes Match" on the old computer. You will get access to an ordering page.
2. iTunes will scan all the contents in your Music library, and then upload them to the cloud. Then you can download the songs to the iTunes library in the computer. Note that if you have a lot non-purchased music files, the scan will last a while.

With Home Sharing and iTunes Match of iTunes, users are able to move the large iTunes library to the new computer. If the users have external hard drives which have enough storage space to copy the iTunes library, they can transfer iTunes library to new computer much easier. However, the iTunes library on the old computer cannot be accessed, and the users only have the contents in their iOS devices, they will need to use a piece of iPhone transfer software.

Method 4. Using Leawo iTransfer

Among all the iPhone transfer programs, Leawo iTransfer can be regarded as one of the best. This software enables users to transfer files among iOS devices, iTunes and PCs, and it helps users to backup iPhone, iPad and iPod files to computer or iTunes library without the sync of iTunes. The following guidance will show you how to transfer iTunes library to new computer, and you are allowed to free download the software to have a try. Note that the trial version has limited transfer times.

Download Windows Version
Download Mac Version

1.Run Leawo iTransfer and connect iPhone to computer with the USB cable. The software will automatically detect the libraries of the iPhone, and then shows the libraries in the left sidebar.

2.Click the transfer button at the right bottom of the window to transfer all the contents from iPhone to iTunes library. Or hold "Ctrl" key and click to select certain files, and then right-click the chosen files to "Transfer to > iTunes"

3.After choosing files, you will see a pop-up dialog for transfer settings. Check "Transfer to List: iTunes", and then click "Transfer Now" at the right bottom of the dialog to start transferring files from iPhone to iTunes library. If you want to back up the files to computer, just check "Save to Folder" and click "Change" to choose a folder on your computer to save to the files.

4.The software shows users a progress bar which notices the percentage of the transfer process. When the transfer is ongoing, please don't disconnect the iPhone. After the transfer, you will get the files in the new iTunes library.

Part 3. Related Tip for Using iPhone as A Flash Drive

In addition to transferring files among iOS devices, iTunes and computers, Leawo iTransfer can make iPhone, iPad and iPod as flash drives. Taking iPhone as an example, you are able to use iPhone as a flash drive and put anything you want into the iOS devices, even if the files are not supported by the iOS devices.

1.Run Leawo iTransfer and connect your iPhone to computer. After the software detecting the iPhone, it will show the Library of iPhone in the left sidebar. At the bottom of the Library, you will find the column of "USB Storage".

2.In the column of "USB Storage", you can drag and drop any file into the software window without limits. The files in the "USB Storage" won't be shown in the Library of iPhone, but only saves in it.