Trouble moving iTunes to new computer?



New member
Jun 19, 2016
Scenario: Windows 10 laptop and now have NEW Windows 10 laptop, both with the latest iTunes for Windows (v12.4.1.6) and I want to transfer Itunes from the old to the new. Seemingly simple right? But seemingly is the keyword here, as it is far from simple and I am hoping somewhere here can help.

I occasionally sync with my iPhone 6 Plus but 90% of the time I am syncing with my iPad Air. There is some music on the iPad, some TV shows, but more than anything else, there are MOVIES, or actually a ton of MP4 files that I use for training and reference.

I've watched a dozen YouTube videos on how to do this but my end result is never the same. One of the problems is that to save disk space, I have deleted some of the MP4 files from iTunes although they still exist on the iPad. Probably a dumb move on my part.

I *DID* turn on consolidate files so allegedly everything should be in my iTunes library on the old computer. I saw one YouTube video where the guy was showing how to organize the iTunes library with difference folders under MUSIC for movies, ringtones, books (I also have a fair amount of "books" or PDF files, again for training and reference) but my iTunes is not showing the same things on my system that he showed on his video (where he was doing it on a Mac).

So I simply copy the iTunes folder en masse from the old computer onto an external drive, then copy it onto the new computer. Then fire up iTunes on the new computer but that is just the start of problems.

1. Only files that were added to the old library AFTER I had clicked the consolidate files tickbox are transferred. Since the files still exist on the iPad, isn't there a way to just sync with the new iTunes, saying to COPY all the stuff on the iPad to iTunes as they exist on the iPad right now?

2. When I go to sync the iPad with the new iTunes (after I "authorize" the new computer with the iTunes store), it tells me that this iPad is synced with another computer, and do I want to *ERASE* it? Absolutely not, I have years of work there!!!

I would certainly appreciate some guidance or pointers on this?



Staff member
Apr 26, 2006
First off, yes it was a mistake to delete the MP4 files from iTunes that are on your iPad.
The only way to retrieve them is to buy software like CopyTrans to get them off back to your PC.

When you Consolidated your files, WHERE did you Consolidate them to?
Typically this feature is used to copy your library to a new location. The new location may be in Edit->Preferences, Advanced tab, iTunes Media Folder location.

If you Consolidated outside of the iTunes folder, then your copy is not going to work. I suspect this is the case since your iPad is not recognizing the library on the new laptop.

1. You can copy the files from the iPad to your new PC with 3rd party software like CopyTrans.

2. If you had copied the correct iTunes Library.itl or whatever you named it, then your iPad would have recognized the library and not asked to erase. But you would have lost the videos you deleted from iTunes if it had succeeded.

You'll need to find your files from the old PC and be sure you get them all including the ITL library file.

One suggestion is to Consolidate to the external drive.
Then on the new computer, open the library on the external drive (Hold SHIFT while starting iTunes)
Then Consolidate it to your iTunes folder on the new computer.

You'll still lose those videos that are on the iPad that you removed from iTunes, unless you just deleted them using Windows Explorer but left them in the library. You could also restore them from a backup.