iTunes: Before You Delete Files

Sometimes it is a bit confusing where iTunes deals with the files you added into the Library and put into Albums or Playlist. We are probably shock that the space on your mac is getting less and less very quick. The reason of that is the duplicates made by iTunes or also iPhoto. This post should give some tips on how to delete files and using external drive.

Add files to the iTunes Library

First you need to know how iTunes deals with the files once you import files. The imported files can have different sources such as CD, hard drive, Internet, external hard drive, etc. The method i’m using in this post is importing files from hard drive internel or external. This is how it goes:

• Using menu: File » Add File to Library, and then choose the files you want to import
• Drag a file, some files or a folder to the iTunes icon on the Dock or into the iTunes window

What happen next is similar to the iPhoto workflow, iTunes will store the whole files in its own directory which is iTunes » iTunes Music » ArtistName » AlbumName. If the file does not have information about the artist or album, iTunes will store the file under Unknown Artist or Unknown Album.

Deleting Files

Now deleting files can have two different meanings. First, it removes the files from the Playlist. Second it removes the files from the Library which also enable you to remove the files completly from the iTunes directory scheme. The second option do not remove the files from the original directory, since the files were copied from their original folders to iTunes specific folders when you were adding them to the Library.

So the proper workflow to remove a file is first remove it from a Playlist, because if are wrong you still have it in the Library, after that if you are sure about the remove, you can delete it from the Library.

So if you have your files outside the iTunes folders, you don’t have to worry about the original files. They will stay in the original folders. After remove files from Library, you don’t have any duplicate of that files anymore.

Never remove the music files from the iTunes folders directly in Finder, which will confuse iTunes.

External Hard Disk

Most of you probably have an external hard disk or more to store files as a back-up. I use Lacie 250 GB. Using external hard disk, or in general also internal hard disk, you can avoid having duplicates by telling iTunes not to copy any added files into iTunes folders. Do this from the menu: iTunes » Preferences, click the Advanced tab, and turn off “Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library”. From now on, iTunes will merely note the original locations of any music files you introduce, rather than making copies. If you move or delete those files, iTunes will no longer be able to track or play them. Just make sure that you have your external drive on and mounted everytime you want to play the files.