Seperate iTunes libraries?

So a few months ago, my iTunes library went beyond the 80GB mark, meaning it will no longer all fit on my iPod, and keeping it on my Macbook takes up over half the hard drive. So since it happened, i have been keeping all my music on an external HD, and just transferring music as i please to and from my iPod.

But having all the music on my external HD can be annoying, especially if i want to sit on my bed with my macbook, and have to run a wire across the room, to be able to listen to music. So what im wondering is, can i run seperate iTunes libraries?

For example, when i have my external connected my iTunes library runs to that, but if i disconnect it, it reverts to the defualt HD/users/music or whatever it is.

So would it be as simple as to have everything on the external, and just keep a selection of music in the default? Will that confuse iTunes? Can anyone suggest a better way around it?

My iTunes library isn't as large as yours so I have never tried what you have suggested but if you really like the convenience of having your whole library on your computer then you should think about upgrading the hard drive. It's pretty easy to do or you can pay Apple to do it for you.

I was thinking of that, but if i upgrade the HD, im possibly going to upgrade to a SSD (assuming its compatible), and tbh, havent got the money for a particularly big one, so i'd probably be downgrading from 160GB to 128GB. While it is a lot of space, i use my laptop in a band situation too, so with stored recordings and ableton etc, i havent really got a whole lot of space left over for just iTunes

Unless you really need the faster SSD then I think a 500 GB 7200 RPM drive will be fast enough for you. I noticed a difference compared to the stock 5400 RPM drives Apple comes with. I'm assuming you got the stock drive.

In your situation it sounds like internal space is more important than all out speed. I know that you can link your external drive to iTunes but I don't know if it's possible to do what you are asking. If you have an external hard drive with some free space then you might want to just try it out. You can always put your songs back if it doesn't work. You might want to try only a few songs though.

I personally would just go with a 500 GB 7200 RPM drive. I also prefer to have all my iTunes library in my computer. I use my laptop as a portable often enough that it's kind of a annoying to bring along an external especially when I'm not using it on a table.

You can have separate libraries in iTunes. If you hold down the option key while launching iTunes you will be given the option to create a library, choose a library, or quit the program. I don't remember for sure but I think it has to take a moment and read the files each time you switch libraries.

One thing occurred to me while writing this post that might make it convenient. I have not sorted out the details but it should be possible to launch iTunes from a script. The script would attempt to mount the external drive. If that step fails the library on the inertial drive would be loaded.

^ I just did that, and it works a treat. Thank you!


That script you mention would be better, but i'm not gonna go messing around with scripts . Feel free to write and test one for me, then send it on

You're welcome. Glad that worked. I'll see what I can do about that. I have been putting off building a similar script for a while. I'll keep you posted.

If we are lucky my buddy McYukon will figure this out before I do and pass it on to both of us.