- Mar 11, 2020 How to delete songs from iTunes on Mac. When you delete songs from iTunes on Mac, next time you restore iPhone with iTunes, the songs won’t be synced to your iOS device. Run iTunes on your Mac, and open your music library by clicking the Songs or Library in the middle-left panel.
- How to Consolidate, Find and Backup iTunes Library. It would have been appropriate to first discuss how to consolidate iTunes library, find the iTunes media folder, and backup iTunes library and media files, before discussing how to reset iTunes Library on Mac or Windows PC. However, we let the first come last for a genuine reason.
Dec 09, 2019 Tap or click Library. To delete an item from your Mac, hover your pointer over the item, click the More options button, then click Remove Download. To delete an item on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, tap Downloaded, swipe left on the item, tap Delete, then Delete Download. Now, delete these files – 'iTunes Library.itl', 'iTunes Library Genius.itdb', 'sentinel' (ensure that the hidden files are displaying in Finder) and 'iTunes Library Extras.itdb' If iCloud Music Library is enabled when opening iTunes, hit on 'File' and choose 'Add to Library'. Sep 03, 2008 Apple Footer. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided; every potential issue may involve several factors not detailed in the conversations captured in an electronic forum and Apple can therefore provide no guarantee as to the. How to delete iOS apps in iTunes for Mac to free up storage. Select all and then Control-click to select the option to delete. In iTunes, switch to the Apps view under Library in the sidebar.
“I'm running iTunes 11 for Windows and JAWS 14 on an XP SP2 machine. I need to delete my current iTunes library and start a new one. I want to keep all my media files and just delete the library files. How do I do this? – applevis.com”
If after updating iTunes you started looking for your music files, videos or podcasts, then you need to learn how iTunes library files can be deleted while keeping all other media files at the same time. But most iTunes users just like our clients (Applevis.com) don’t know this trick. So, we shall be discussing ways/tricks to clear iTunes library and start over.
- Part 1: How to Clear iTunes Library and Start over
- Part 2: How to Rebuild iTunes Library
- Part 3: How to Clean iTunes Duplicates
How to Clear iTunes Library and Start over
#1. How to Clear iTunes Library and Start Over – on Windows
1.1 Easiest and Best Way
We’ve done much research on the issues faced by users of iTunes for Windows PC, and we found that many of them go through rigorous processes and yet never achieve their aim which is clearing iTunes library in order to start a fresh. However, we finally found this software: iMyFone TunesFix can clear iTunes library in just 1-click. Even you are poor with computer technology, you can use the software without any difficult.
Here are the steps to clear iTunes library and start over via TunesFix:
Step 1: Open iMyFone TunesFix, go to home interface, select 'Quick Clean' mode.
Step 2: Click 'Scan' to let the software scans your iTunes library. When the scan is done, your iTunes library will be showed by list.
Step 3: Check 'iTunes Media Files' and click 'Clean'.
Step 4: When the clean is done, your iTunes library will be cleared. Open your iTunes, it will automatically create new library.
Some key features of TuneFix:
- Selectively clean your iTunes library and much other data.
- Success rate up to 98%.
- Easy to use, even the beginners can handle it.
- 4 repair modes to fix lots of iTunes error issues.
1.2 Free Way
besides the way using iMyFone TunesFix, there is another ways to clear iTunes library, follow these steps mentioned below:
Step 1: Launch Windows Explorer, click on Music Folder, and then iTunes Folder. You will see two files: iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Music Library.xml.
Step 2: Delete both files from iTunes folder.
Step 3: Restart iTunes, and it will automatically create new library.
#2. How to Clear iTunes Library and Start over – on Mac
If you always use your MacBook to play audio files, podcasts, videos, and other iTunes library files, but unfortunately, your iTunes library got corrupted, you may have to clear iTunes library and start over again.
To delete iTunes library on Mac, follow these steps:
Step 2: From the Finder menu, click Go > Home; your MacBook home directory will be displayed.
Step 3: Double click Music > iTunes to open the iTunes folder.
Step 4: Drag the “iTunes Library.itl” file to the trashcan. Hold “Ctrl” and click the trashcan to empty it. This implies that your iTunes library files have been erased but your media files are still intact.
Step 5: Restart iTunes, and it will automatically create new library.
How to Rebuild iTunes Library
Easiest Way – iMyFone TunesMate
iMyFone TunesMate is the easiest way for iTunes clearing library and start over again, or rebuild your damaged iTunes library in 1-click. TunesMate is an iOS media file transfer tool that functions perfectly as an iTunes alternative. It has been used by iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users to transfer, clear and rebuild iTunes media library on Windows and Mac PCs.
Key Features:
- Easily bypass iTunes restrictions and unknown iTunes errors.
- Share iTunes music with family or friends, even with different Apple IDs.
- Restore lost, damaged or corrupted iTunes library by copying media files from your iPhone, iPad, iPod… up to unlimited devices.
- Transfer files including music, movies, playlists, podcasts, audiobooks, TV shows, iTunes U, photos, and 10+ more.
- Receives lots of positive reviews from Getintopc, Geekreply, etc.
The Steps to rebuild iTunes library:
Step 1: Run TunesMate on your computer, and connect your iOS device.
Step 2: Click “Transfer iDevice Media to iTunes” from the Home interface. TunesMate will scan all the media file in your iDevice and display them for you to preview.
Step 3: After previewing the files, you can unselect the files you don’t want to transfer by unchecking the boxes. Then click on “Start” to start transferring your files. Click the “Complete” button to complete the process.
Free Way - iTunes
Missing songs, changed playlists and disappeared songs in iTunes Library is a common problem, but you can still track such songs or files because they are still in your iTunes Media folder. Rebuilding iTunes library is a simple process, but it may take a while to complete especially if you have thousands of songs on your iTunes.
Step 1: Before rebuilding your iTunes library we advise you first backup your iTunes Media folder, just to be safe.
Step 2: Close iTunes, then find your iTunes Media folder.
- Mac: Click on Finder > Home > Double click the Music folder.
- Windows: Click on User > Username > My Music > iTunes
Step 3: Find iTunes Library.xml or iTunes Library.itl. Move the files to another folder.
Step 4: Launch iTunes and navigate to the folder where you moved the file by choosing File > Library > Import Playlist > iTunes Library.xml or iTunes Library.itl folder. Click on Choose (for Mac) or Open (for Windows).
Step 5: iTunes will find all your files, tracks, and playlists, and add them to your new iTunes Library.itl file. This may take over an hour to process.
How to Clean iTunes Duplicates
Having duplicate songs in iTunes is annoying problem, but there is a way to erase, stop and prevent duplicates in iTunes in the future. If you are having the new version of iTunes, here are the steps for iTunes clean duplicates.
Step 1: Launch iTunes App.
Step 2: Click File > My Library > Show Duplicates
Step 3: Click “All” to view duplicates. Then arrange Names, Artists, and Albums so you can view them well in iTunes Music column. To do this, hold down the Control Key and click the iTunes column.
Step 4: Click the Name column to view duplicates files. Highlight the duplicate files and erase them by clicking Delete button on your keyboard.
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Normally, you can drag and drop an app to Trash to remove the app from Mac. However, when dragging and dropping iTunes to Trash, a message will pop up: 'iTunes can't be modified or deleted because it's required by macOS'.
This can be really annoying if you want to uninstall iTunes on Mac for good or reinstall iTunes to get things fixed. Fortunately, iTunes can be uninstalled on Mac, only that you can't uninstall it by the simple drag-and-drop method as it is an official application from Apple.
This post will give you 2 ways to uninstall iTunes on iMac, MacBook, Mac Mini. And if you would like to completely remove the iTunes leftover from your Mac, a trick to clean iTunes junk files is covered below. Also, you can learn how to reinstall iTunes if you still need the application to sync data between your Mac and iOS devices.
1. Uninstall iTunes on Mac with Permission
The reason why you can't uninstall iTunes by simply dragging the app icon to Trash is that you don't have the proper permission of the app. Here are what you should do.
Step 1: In the Finder, open Applications folder.
Step 2: Find the iTunes.app file and right click on it.
Step 3: Select Get Info and click the lock icon to enter the Admin password of your Mac.
Step 4: Under Sharing & Permissions, select 'everyone' for the Read & Write permission.
After you have removed the protection restrictions on iTunes, you can uninstall iTunes on Mac by dragging the iTunes icon to Trash. You won't get the 'iTunes can't be modified or deleted' error this time. Empty the trash to completely remove iTunes from your Mac.
Restart your Mac and you should see that iTunes is gone.
2. Uninstall iTunes on Mac with Terminal
You can also uninstall iTunes via Terminal command.
Step 1: Open the Terminal app. You have two ways to launch the Terminal app:
Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
Press Shift and Space on the keyboard and open Spotlight. Key in 'terminal' on Spotlight and click the one that shows up.
Step 2: Type cd /Applications/ and press Enter. This will open the Applications folder.
Step 3: Type sudo rm -rf iTunes.app/ and press Enter. This will delete iTunes from Mac.
Step 4: You'll be asked to enter the admin password. Key in the admin password and confirm to remove iTunes.
3. Delete iTunes Junk Completely
Following the above method, you can uninstall iTunes on your Mac. But there may be a lot of redundant iTunes files taking up your memory space, such as iOS backup files, cache files, iOS software update, etc.
Delete Itunes And Reinstall
It is troublesome to delete these iTunes leftover files one by one. A clever way to clean iTunes junks is using MacMaster, a Mac cleaner that can remove iTunes junk files, system caches, system logs, duplicate files and more.
Step 1: Click the download button below to download MacMaster. After downloading, double click the dmg file to install the application.
Step 2: You can find all categories of data on the left list. Select iTunes Junk, which enables you to clean up the iTunes' trash or backup. Click the 'Scan' button.
Step 3: After the scan finishes, select the iTunes files you want to delete. You can choose iTunes Backup, iTunes Cache, iOS Software Updates and iTunes Broken Downloads. Click the 'Clean' button at the bottom.
Step 4: Once you finish the cleanup, you will see Zero KB on the right of the iTunes files.
4. Reinstall iTunes on Mac
If you uninstall iTunes on Mac to fix things, you may need to re-install iTunes back. Here are 2 ways to re-install iTunes to Mac computer.
The first method is to download iTunes form App Store. Open the launch pad, and select App Store. Key in 'iTunes' in the search bar. And you can download iTunes in the newest version.
The second method is to download iTunes from Apple official website. Visit iTunes page on Apple website. Click 'Download Now' and follow the onscreen instruction to reinstall iTunes back to your Mac.
How To Delete Movies From Itunes Library On Mac
5. Reinstall iTunes of an Earlier Version
You may want to go back to the earlier version of iTunes. Here is a method to reinstall iTunes of an earlier version on Mac. The method only works if you have used Time Machine for backing up your Mac regularly.
Note: Make a Time Machine backup of your Mac before starting so that you can restore your Mac to the current status if anything goes wrong.
Step 1: Open Spotlight. Enter 'Activity Monitor' in the search bar to launch the application.
Step 2: Find iTunes Helper in the Activity Monitor and kill the process.
Step 3: Open Terminal(You can search the app in the Spotlight). Type sudo rm -r /Applications/iTunes.app and press Return.
Step 4: Launch Time Machine and find the required iTunes version from the Time Machine backups and restore it.
Step 5: Restore the following files from the ~/ Music / iTunes folder:
iTunes Library Extras.itdb
iTunes Library Genius.itdb
iTunes Library.itl
iTunes Music Library.xml
Your iTunes should now be successfully restored to the older version.
If you have more question in uninstalling or re-installing iTunes on Mac, leave your question below.
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