Thursday, December 23, 2010

How to merge multiple user's iTunes libraries into one library (assuming their all the same iTunes User account)

Note these directions are for a Mac (but would only need slight modifications to work on a pc)
(These haven't been fully tested yet, please let me know if you find issues)

So you're a family of 6 and you each have a login on the same mac:

  1. Dad
  2. Mom
  3. Son1
  4. Son2
  5. Daughter1
First you need to decide which user will "own" the master library. So if we select "Dad", then Dad should log into the mac.

  1. Login to the user whose library you'll be working on 
  2. Launch iTunes
  3. Select iTunes -> Preferences (Or hit Splat-,)
  4. Click on the Advanced tab  (Make a note of the "iTunes Media folder location")
  5. Select "Keep iTunes Media folder organized"
  6. Select "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" 
  7. Click "OK" and close the preferences folder
  8. Select File->Library->Organize Library (This will copy all files into the directory specified in the advanced user preferences tab as the base directory, and organize them according to the wisdom of iTunes)
  9. At this point all Dad's music files should be organized.
  10. Repeat 1->7 for the rest of the users (Mom, Son1, Son2, Daughter1)
  11. Make a note of the location of the iTunes library for each user when you're in the advanced tab.
  12. Now log back into the Dad's account
  13. Start iTunes
  14. Click on File->Add to Library...
  15. Select the directory for the user's library you're consolidating into this library.
  16. Click OK
  17. Repeat 12->16 for the rest of the users you're consolidating into this library
And.. You're done.

One thing this won't do is migrate playlists into the master account.

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