Reset Itunes Library On Mac

04.04.2020by
Reset Itunes Library On Mac Rating: 3,7/5 2775 reviews

There are many reasons why your iTunes library may be lost. Perhaps you bought a new device and accidentally synced it with iTunes, and now you don’t know how to get your old music back. Perhaps you tried to transfer music that you didn’t buy from the official store and you lost your files. In any case, there are ways to restore your lost library, especially with third-party software.

  1. My Itunes Library
  2. Recover Lost Itunes Library
  3. Reset Itunes Library Mac
  4. Restore Itunes Library Windows 10
  5. How To Reset Itunes Library On Mac
  6. Itunes

4 Ways to Restore Lost iTunes Library

Shut down iTunes on your Mac computer. Click on 'Go Home'. Select the Music folder, and click the iTunes folder. You will see two files named 'iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Music Library.xml,' delete both. If you’ve completed the above steps, then open. Go through the simplest and most useful method to restore files from iTunes Library on Mac system. Restoring iTunes Library from External Hard Drive. You can easily restore lost or erased iTunes library stored on external hard drive by utilizing the best media recovery application. Step 1: In iTunes, go to where it says “Store,” then click “Turn on iTunes Match.”. Step 2: You will have to pay a fee every year: click “Subscribe for $24.99.”. Library not found in finder on mac sierra. Step 3: Sign in and Match will go through your library and scan the files. Step 4: Match will automatically store official music in your account.

If you also get into this kind of trouble, you may need to rebuild iTunes library to get back lost data in iTunes library. So here we offer you the tutorial about how to restore iTunes library on any PC and Mac. How to Rebuild iTunes Library on Windows/Mac Computer. Shut down iTunes. Go to iTunes folder.

There are different ways to address this problem. Here are 4 simple ways to restore your lost libraries:

  • Method 1: Recover Lost iTunes Library from Unlimited iDevices
  • Method 2: Recover Lost iTunes Library Using iTunes
  • Method 3: Restore iTunes Library Using iTunes Match- Paid Yearly
  • Method 4: Restore Lost iTunes Library Using iCloud - Only for Purchases

Recover Lost iTunes Library from Unlimited iDevices

Did you know that you can just use your iPhone or iPad to restore your lost iTunes library? You can transfer the data from there to your iTunes library. The problem is that Apple doesn’t really allow you to do this easily a lot of the time because they impose a limit on how many devices can share the same data.

Thankfully, with the third-party application iMyFone iOS Transfer, you can restore the library from unlimited iOS devices. Here is how you can do that:

My Itunes Library

Step 1: Download and install iMyFone iOS Transfer. Plug iPhone/iPad/iPod that you want to take the library from. This can be your old iPhone or anything else that has the library you want.
Step 2: Launch TunesMate. On the first screen, click “Transfer iDevice Media to iTunes.”
Step 3: A window will come up that says “Copy iPhone to iTunes.” Click “Start.”
Step 4: Check the boxes of what kind of media you want to transfer. Click “Start” again.
Step 5: Once the application lets you know that everything has been transferred, click “OK” and you are done.

There are several advantages to this method, including:

  • The fact that you can use more than one iDevice.
  • You don’t need to open up iTunes.
  • You can transfer files that you didn’t necessarily purchase.
  • It is fast and easy.
  • You can use any iOS device to do this.

Recover Lost iTunes Library Using iTunes

You can do the same thing with iTunes, but it has its limits. Here is how you do it:

Step 1: Close iTunes.
Step 2: Go to where your library file is. In Windows, this is Users[Username]MusiciTunes. For Mac, you go to Go > Home, and then click to open your Music folder, then the iTunes folder.
Step 3: Take the iTunes Library.itl file and drag it to your desktop.
Step 4: Find the Previous iTunes Libraries folder and go into that directory.
Step 5: There should be a file named “iTunes Library [DATE],” where [DATE] is the date of when you last updated your iTunes library. It should be in a year, month, and day format.
Step 6: Copy the file and paste it into your iTunes folder.
Step 7: Rename the file “iTunes Library.itl” (without the quotation marks).

Step 8: Hold down the “Option” key (Mac) or “Shift” key (Windows) while opening iTunes.
Step 9: A dialog box should pop up asking you to choose a library. Click “Choose Library” and browse for the your new iTunes Library.itl file.

After that, iTunes should now be using your previous library. There are some limitations to this of course. For one, it takes a lot of time compared to using software like iMyFone iOS Transfer. Also, if none of your old libraries on you computer are satisfactory, then you’re out of luck.

Restore iTunes Library Using iTunes Match - Paid Yearly

iTunes Match is a nice service that will automatically back up your library to the cloud. Here is how you can use it to restore your library:

Step 1: In iTunes, go to where it says “Store,” then click “Turn on iTunes Match.”
Step 2: You will have to pay a fee every year: click “Subscribe for $24.99.
Step 3: Sign in and Match will go through your library and scan the files.
Step 4: Match will automatically store official music in your account. The rest of your files will need to be uploaded to the service; this will take a moment, depending on how many files you have.
Step 5: After it’s done, click “OK.”

Now you can use this backup to restore your library in the future, but of course this won’t do you much good after you’ve already lost your library. This is why preventative measures are important.

The main problem with iTunes Match is that it costs money. It’s fairly inexpensive, but if you don’t want to pay a recurring yearly fee, then try something else.

Restore Lost iTunes Library Using iCloud - Only for Purchases

You can also use iCloud, but this only works for purchases.

Step 1: Launch iTunes and go to iTunes Store.
Step 2: Under “Quick Links” at the right-side of the screen, click where it says “Purchased.”
Step 3: Choose the type of media you want to download. You can do this by clicking buttons next to the listen types of media.
Step 4: After your purchases are listed, click on the download icon next to the music / media that you want to download. This should download the files to your iTunes library.

The main limitation of this method is of course that you can only transfer data that you purchased without losing it. All you can really do is just re-download your purchases. If you have a lot of files that you didn’t buy from the official store, then you won’t be able to get those back using iCloud.

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Recover Lost Itunes Library

Home > AnyTrans > iPhone Transfer >How to Delete iTunes Library on Windows/Mac

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“How To Clear existing iTunes Library and Start Over? I have removed all my files on my hard drive and moved them to an external drive which I have cleaned up. How can I clear what is in my iTunes and start over? Thanks.”

A user from Apple Community

Just like this user, you may also want to delete your iTunes library on Windows or Mac computer of you are reading this page. By deleting iTunes library, all your music, playlists and apps will be removed from your iTunes library. But you’d better make a backup for your iTunes Library content to external hard drive for safekeeping before the start.

Part 1. How to Delete iTunes Libray on Windows

Step 1. Shut down iTunes and launch Windows Explorer.

Step 2. Click on Music folder > Choose iTunes.

Step 3. Delete these two files: iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Music Library.xml

Mac

Part 2: How to Delete iTunes Libray on Mac

Step 1. Turn off iTunes on Mac and run Finder on Mac.

Step 2. Click on Go > Now click on Home.

Step 3. Browse Music folder and click on iTunes.

Step 4. Find and delete these files: iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Music Library.xml

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How to Delete iTunes Libray on Mac

Part 3: How to Back Up Music in iTunes Library Selectively

If you want to backup some music in iTunes library to computer or iPhone before deleting the whole iTunes library, AnyTrans for iOS is exactly what you need to transfer music from iTunes library to computer or iOS device within steps. In addition, it can also help you manage other iOS data like photos, contacts, messages, videos, call log, apps and more. Now let’s follow the steps below to backup music in iTunes library:

Step 1: Free download and install AnyTrans for iOS to your computer and run it. Connect your iPhone to computer if you want to backup music to iPhone. Click on iTunes Library.

How to Back Up Music in iTunes Library Selectively – Step 1

Step 2: Click on Music and select the music you want to backup > click To Computer or To Device button to backup music from iTunes library.

How To Reset Itunes Library On Mac

How to Back Up Music in iTunes Library Selectively – Step 2

The Bottom Line

Itunes

That’s all for how to delete iTunes library on Windows or Mac computer, and AnyTrans will be your great helper to backup music in iTunes libray. What’s more, it also supports transferring data from iPhone to iPhone, iPhone to computer and from computer to iPhone. Just get it to your computer and have a free trial now >

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