How Do I Merge iTunes and iPhoto Libraries? [Ask MacRx]

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Many Mac users have multiple systems of varying ages, and often several different copies of their iTunes and iPhoto libraries. Here’s how to get them all in one place:

Your post today about sharing libraries made me wonder whether you have addressed importing/merging libraries across two Macs. My wife has a desktop PowerMac G4 Cube and a newer MacBook. She wants to import both her iPhoto and iTunes libraries to the MacBook, but I’m not sure how to accomplish this. Also, because the Cube has slow USB and the MacBook has no Firewire, I’m not even sure how to get the data over to the MacBook without it taking eons. Any thoughts would help.

Thanks! Rik

Hi Rik,

I’ll take your second issue first: get an external hard drive with both FireWire and USB2 ports. Connect to the Cube via FireWire, copy the iTunes and iPhoto libraries, then connect to the MacBook via USB. Or, you could enable File Sharing on one system and copy items over the network.

Once you have them both accessible to the MacBook, for iTunes go to File –> Add to Library, and select the iTunes Media Folder (or iTunes Music Folder, if appropriate) from the Cube. Make sure the preference “Copy Files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library” is checked in iTunes Prefeences –> Advance Tab. This will import and merge the iTunes data.

For iPhoto I recommend using iPhoto Library Manager, this utility will allow you to merge some or all of two libraries into one. Once you’ve merged you may have duplicate photos, here are some additional tips:

How To Consolidate Your iPhoto Library and Remove Duplicates [MacRx]

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