Clear or Reset iTunes Library
Depending on the size, you can either manually clear unwanted items from iTunes Library or totally Reset iTunes Library and start from scratch. Manually removing items from iTunes Music Library will not remove the actual songs from iTunes, it only removes unwanted items from your Music Library. When you go for a Reset, your iTunes Music Library will be Reset to Factory default state and you will also end up losing all your Playlists, Ratings and Lists.
1. Manually Clear iTunes Library
If the size of your Music Library is not large, you may like the idea of manually clearing unwanted items from iTunes Library.
- Open iTunes on your Mac or Windows computer.
- Select the Media Type that you want to edit (Music, Movies, Podcasts, etc.)
- Select Items that you want to remove and press the Delete key.
- Repeat above steps for other music lists (if required). On Mac: Hold Command key and Press A to select all items within a Folder. On Windows Computer: Hold the CTRL key and press A to select all songs in the list. As mentioned above, this method only deletes items from the list and does not delete the actual music files.
2. Reset iTunes Library on Mac
On a MacBook, make sure you close iTunes and open Finder Windows, before following the steps below to Reset iTunes Music Library.
Clock on the Finder Icon to bring up the Go option in top-menu bar.
Select the Go tab in top-menu bar and click on Home in the drop-down menu.
From Home Directory, navigate to Music > iTunes > right-click on iTunes Library.itl File and Rename the File as iTunes Library.old.
Similarly, Rename iTunes Music Library.xml File as iTunes Music Library.old. Now, when you open iTunes, New iTunes Music Library.itl and iTunes Music Library.xml files will be created. You will find your iTunes Music Library blank, which allows you to start building your Music Library from scratch.
3. Reset iTunes Library on Windows Computer
On a Windows computer, you can follow the steps below to Reset iTunes Music Library.
Open File Explorer on your computer.
On File Explorer screen, navigate to C:\Users\Music\iTunes Folder and Rename iTunes Library.itl File to iTunes Library.old.
Similarly, Rename iTunes Music Library.xml File as iTunes Music Library.old.
Restart iTunes on your computer. When iTunes re-opens, it will clear all the Playlists and create New iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Music Library.xml files.
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