How To Open A Previous Itunes Library Mac

iTunes is a powerhouse when it comes to organizing your iPhone media (music, movies, podcasts, audiobooks, etc.) on your Windows PC or Mac. However, the software isn’t perfect and iOS users may experience some issues from time to time. One of such issues is the automatic creation of a folder known as ‘previous iTunes libraries’.

Itunes Won T Open On Mac
Restore Itunes Library Mac
Restore Previous Itunes Library

What Are Previous iTunes Libraries?

The ‘Previous iTunes Libraries’ is a folder located in the Music folder on your computer that contains backup files of your iTunes library. Usually, there is at least one backup of your iTunes library present on your computer, however multiple ‘previous’ versions may be created due to some reasons.

Oct 07, 2019 Go to the location on your computer where you want your iTunes library, then right-click and choose Paste. Hold down the Shift key while opening iTunes. When you see a message that asks you to Choose iTunes Library, click Choose Library. Choose the location where you copied your iTunes folder. Choose the iTunes Library.itl file inside. A user has raised a question: How do I reset iTunes to look at a library of music as if it was new for the first time? There are many users, who want to do this for uncountable reasons; some want to change their Apple ID, others just want to start afresh. How to Reset iTunes Library on Mac. Feb 01, 2018 Here’s how to move iTunes Library to a New Computer including Windows and macOS. In the first method, users will need a USB drive to copy the data from the old computer while the later method requires an internet connection to transfer the data.

Part 1: When Will Previous iTunes Libraries Be Created
Part 2: Can I Delete Previous iTunes Library
Part 3: How to Avoid the Issue of Previous iTunes Library

How To Open A Previous Itunes Library Mac

When Will Previous iTunes Libraries Be Created

Previous iTunes Libraries are created when you upgrade your iTunes software. It’s not the case when there are minor updates, but when you jump from an old version to a new version of iTunes (for example from iTunes 11 to iTunes 12), there may be significant changes in databases that would be incompatible with previous version. That’s why new library is created and the previous one is saved in ‘Previous iTunes Libraries’ folder.

Can I Delete Previous iTunes Library

While you can delete your previous iTunes library, it is not always recommended. This is because, the folder is created as a backup of your entire library so that you can easily restore it in case there are problems in the update or the new library gets damaged/corrupted. However, as mentioned before these files are merely backups and are not used by the upgraded version of iTunes.

So, if you are satisfied with the updated version of iTunes as well as your new iTunes Library and find no bugs in it, you can delete your previous library:

1. On Mac

If you are on Mac, then navigate to your Home, then select Music folder. You will see Previous iTunes Library folder there. Drag and drop that folder to the Trash, then empty it.

2. On Windows

Simply navigate to your Music folder on your computer and find iTunes folder, it will contain several subfolders. Now right click on the Previous iTunes Libraries folder and Delete them.

How to Avoid the Issue of Previous iTunes Library

There are many third-party iOS file management and file transfer tools that you can use to avoid all the hassles of iTunes. iMyFone TunesMate is a recommended option. It has received many positive reviews from Getintopc, Geekreply, etc.

iMyFone TunesMate iPhone Data Manager

iMyFone TunesMate is one of the best iPhone file transfer tools available for both Mac and Windows users. You can use it to replace your iTunes software as a primary file transfer and file management tool because it does not require iTunes to work. iMyFone TunesMate not only has relatively faster file transfer capabilities, but also offers tons of useful features.

Key Features:

File transfer support for more than 10 types of files.
Faster transfer speeds than iTunes.
No need to launch iTunes to transfer iPhone media files.
No crashes or other errors which iTunes is notorious for.
Backup and restore options, including backup music option so that you can create your own personal music library and restore it easily whenever needed.

Steps to Back Up iPhone Music to Computer

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your computer via USB cable and launch iMyFone TunesMate.
Step 2: Once your iPhone is recognized by the software, click on Music tab and then select the music files you wish to back up.

Step 3: After the selection, use Export>Export to PC option available at the top and then select desired folder for your backup files. Your backup process will start and all your selected music files will be copied to your computer’s hard disk.

Some Other Unfriendly Features of iTunes

iTunes users often experience a new issue with every major update in iTunes software. These issues make iTunes a hassle to use and the added features are labeled ‘annoying’ by most of its users. Following are some of the most common issues you may experience when using iTunes:

iPhone Not Showing in iTunes: Regardless of how perfectly the iTunes software has been installed, you may face this issue. There may be various glitches that may be preventing your iPhone from showing up in iTunes and fixing this problem can be a real hassle.
System Hogging: iTunes is resource-intensive software that takes relatively more resources as compared to most other programs. You can use a third-party tool (such as iMyFone TunesMate) to tackle this issue as they take a lot less system resources to operate.
A Hassle to Use: There are no 1-Click operations or solutions in iTunes so performing even the most basic tasks may be a hassle for new iOS users.
Music Files Duplication Issue: Many iOS users have reported duplicated music files issue with the new version of iTunes. While there is a way to prevent this via iTunes itself, it is not a permanent solution as every time your files are synced there is a probability that the issue will reappear.

Method 1: Restore from the Previous iTunes Library Folder

During every update, iTunes modifies its library to make it compatible with the newer version. The good news is, before doing any major changes iTunes works hard and creates a backup of your library in “Previous iTunes Libraries” subfolder. You can then use these backups to revert to any previous version of iTunes library you wish. To do so follow the following steps:

Step 1: Go to the iTunes library folder.
- For Mac OS X: go to Users > Username > Music >iTunes
- For Windows 10/8/7/Vista: go to C:/Users > User Name >My Music > iTunes
- For Windows XP: Documents and Settings > User Name > My Documents > My Music > iTunes

Step 2: Locate the “iTunes Library.itl” and then move it to the desktop. Instead of moving it to the desktop you can also choose to rename it to something like “Damaged iTunes Library.itl”.

Step 3: In the iTunes folder locate a subfolder “Previous iTunes Libraries” and open it.

Step 4: There you will find all the versions of iTunes libraries that have ever been backed up with their dates “iTunes Library YYYY-MM-DD.itl.” Find the most recent file and copy it then move back to the iTunes folder and paste it there.

Step 5: Rename the newly copied file to iTunes Library.itl.

Once you do that, you will have restored a previous version of your iTunes Library, and now iTunes now should launch without any issues. If it does not work still, repeat the process with the other previous libraries until you find one that works.

Method 2: Restore Your Previous iTunes Library without iTunes

Rebuilding your iTunes library from an older one manually, despite being effective way, has some few flaws. Any changes that you had updated after the library was created might be missing entirely. Now how do you avoid this? Well, iMyFone TunesMate iPhone Transfer. It is a third-party iTunes library management tool that is highly spoken of by users and well-known media. You can use to get back your damaged/missing iTunes library ensuring no loss of data, backup media files from any device to your iTunes library, restore your previous iTunes library with the backup on any device and at any time.

Key Features:

Can restore lost, damaged or corrupt iTunes library by copying media files from your iPhone/iPad/iPod.
Can enrich your iTunes library and music collection from an extensive number of iDevices and computers without any device limit.
Can quickly add music to your iDevice from PC directly without even having to open the iTunes application.
Can easily sync all iTunes songs to any iDevice with just a click using its 1-click transfer feature.
Can easily preview and select what to transfer to your iPhone and copy it without even deleting the old data and media content.

2 Ways to Restore a Previous Version of Your iTunes library

WAY 1: Steps to Restore a Previous Version of iTunes Library From iDevice to iTunes

Itunes Won T Open On Mac

Step 1: Launch TunesMate on your computer and plug in your iDevice via a USB cable.

Step 2: From the home interface click “Transfer iDevice Media to iTunes”, select the entire library to retransfer it back to iTunes and then click “Transfer” button to start the process.

Step 3: Once the process finishes click “Complete.” Once done this will effectively restore a previous version of your iTunes Library.

Restore Itunes Library Mac

WAY 2: Steps to Restore a Previous Version of iTunes Library without Losing any Previous Data