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I have a smaller iTunes library on an internal SSD and larger one on an external drive.

I have upgraded to macOS Catalina. The smaller music library has been upgraded, the larger one hasn't.

How can I force the second library to upgrade to Music.app library format too?

example of empty Music.app library

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  • What happens if you hold ⌥ opt while launching Music?
    – Sören Kuklau
    Commented Jan 2, 2020 at 16:04
  • Holding Option while launching Music.app shows the classic dialog for opening a library from filesystem (same as in iTunes), which is nice, this wasn't possible in macOS Catalina Beta (when I was trying this for the first time)
    – babca
    Commented Jan 2, 2020 at 16:29

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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  1. Quit Music.app by Cmd+Q
  2. Hold Option key and start Music.app
  3. Choose music library dialog opens. Click Choose library...
  4. Locate the old .itl file (e.g. Music/iTunes/iTunes Library.itl) and select it
  5. Input a name for a new library and click Save
  6. Music.app starts with original library contents within a few seconds. Only a few megabyte large library is created on the disk. Media files and iTunes files are left intact.
  7. Optional: go to Music.app preferences - Files tab and check the settings, so you know which location is currently used for media files.

Note: This didn't work in beta versions of macOS Catalina – first versions of Music.app didn't support multiple libraries or selecting a library.

Good to know to avoid confusion while working with multiple libraries: double-clicking on .itl file, or .musiclibrary library (folder) from Finder opens Music.app with the last used library. It does NOT switch the library.

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    This seems to not move any of the underlying music files. File > Library > Organize Library also does not appear to do anything. If I want to make a consolidated directory with everything in it, how can I do that?
    – Elliott Slaughter
    Commented Jun 13, 2020 at 15:12
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    In case this helps anyone: I had an iTunes Library file with no extention and one with a .xml extension. The right one to use in the conversion is the one without an extension (you have to manually rename it in Finder).
    – Elliott Slaughter
    Commented Jun 13, 2020 at 15:13
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    In order to actually move the library's files, you can change the location in the Music.app preferences Files tab. There, you can set a new location and Music.app will ask whether to move the files. Accepting, will not really move the files. But you can open File → Library → Organise Library… and check Consolidate files. This will actually copy (not move!) the files to the new location. (Tested on Big Sur)
    – Max
    Commented May 26, 2021 at 17:31

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