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How to automatically sync the music folder I added to iTunes?

Hello, i have 2 questions;


1-) if I'm adding my music as a folder to iTunes, shouldn't it recognize that folder and only see the songs in that folder? For example, I downloaded a song to the desktop, opened it and deleted it without putting it in the music folder, but that song appears in iTunes as an exclamation point. I have to manually remove it from there. For example, when you add the music folder in groove music, the music you opened on the desktop will not be added to the groove program unless you add something to that folder, because it recognizes the folder you added and syncs it all the time, logically. How can I make iTunes only see the songs that I have added in the music folder I have added, that is, the songs that I have opened outside the folder are not added?


You can say use groove music then, but due to another problem I had with it, I switched to iTunes.


2-) is there a way to pull the top player bar, song title, etc. to the bottom?


Windows, Windows 10

Posted on Sep 8, 2021 6:33 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 9, 2021 3:18 AM

Whether you continue to use Groove Music or not, you will need to understand that iTunes has a different way of working, so you will need to learn how to get the best out of iTunes, rather than trying to do things in the same way as in Groove Music. Until you do, you will run into tiny problems.


Wanted1243 wrote:

1-) if I'm adding my music as a folder to iTunes, shouldn't it recognize that folder and only see the songs in that folder?

You can read that question in two ways: having re-read it, I think what you mean is that iTunes should not see any song that isn't in the Music folder.


The answer is no, that's not the case.


iTunes is a database, it remembers what you've added to it and where it was when you added it. (Note the part I've underlined, we'll come back to that in a minute.) What this means is that a music file can be anywhere. It can be in the Music folder, the Pictures or Documents folder, on a different drive on your computer or even on an external drive. These last two places are important, because you may need to use them out of necessity.


Modern desktop PCs, such as mine, have a small inbuilt C: drive. Mine is just 237GB, which you may think is massive. However, my iTunes library reports that it is 162GB, leaving just 75GB for everything else. In fact, Windows File Manager reports that the folder I use for all my music, which contains the iTunes control file, as well as other music related files, is 229GB in size. Can you see the problem?


Consequently, I have an additional hard drive in my computer, where all my music is stored. I've read many posts here from users who use an external drive for their music. This also means that some users may more than one folder containing music, and not all those folders may be in the parent Music folder.


I downloaded a song to the desktop, opened it and deleted it without putting it in the music folder, but that song appears in iTunes as an exclamation point.

By "opening it", you either:

    • double-clicked on it and iTunes played it (because that is what it will do if you have iTunes as your default music player). But in the course of this, iTunes added that file to its database; in other words, it now lists that file as "a song in your iTunes library"
    • used iTunes' menu to File/Add File to Library, which would have added the song to your iTunes Library. Even if you didn't play the song in iTunes, you've told iTunes where to find the file for that song
  • as a result, in either case, when you deleted the file from your desktop, iTunes could no longer find the file you added, hence the exclamation mark.


So, three golden rules:

    1. once you add files to your iTunes library, do not move, rename, or delete the source file that you've told iTunes to use
    2. put the file in its final location before adding it to your iTunes library
    3. if an external programme, such as Groove Music, changes the source file, iTunes may (probably will) lose track of it. If this causes you too much trouble, you may have to choose between the two applications


By the way, you can use iTunes to re-title a song, or edit things such as the album title, artist name or genre, although I'm not sure what Groove Music will make of it. I've just (this morning, to test what I'm telling you) added all my music to Groove Music and then used Groove Music to edit the song title of one song. Groove Music lost immediately track of it! Not a good start.


How can I make iTunes only see the songs that I have added in the music folder I have added, that is, the songs that I have opened outside the folder are not added?

Don't add the song to iTunes. It will only list songs that you've added to it or to the Automatically Add to iTunes folder, which is located in the iTunes folder.


2-) is there a way to pull the top player bar, song title, etc. to the bottom?

You mean like Groove Music? No. (See my first paragraph.)

Similar questions

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 9, 2021 3:18 AM in response to Wanted1243

Whether you continue to use Groove Music or not, you will need to understand that iTunes has a different way of working, so you will need to learn how to get the best out of iTunes, rather than trying to do things in the same way as in Groove Music. Until you do, you will run into tiny problems.


Wanted1243 wrote:

1-) if I'm adding my music as a folder to iTunes, shouldn't it recognize that folder and only see the songs in that folder?

You can read that question in two ways: having re-read it, I think what you mean is that iTunes should not see any song that isn't in the Music folder.


The answer is no, that's not the case.


iTunes is a database, it remembers what you've added to it and where it was when you added it. (Note the part I've underlined, we'll come back to that in a minute.) What this means is that a music file can be anywhere. It can be in the Music folder, the Pictures or Documents folder, on a different drive on your computer or even on an external drive. These last two places are important, because you may need to use them out of necessity.


Modern desktop PCs, such as mine, have a small inbuilt C: drive. Mine is just 237GB, which you may think is massive. However, my iTunes library reports that it is 162GB, leaving just 75GB for everything else. In fact, Windows File Manager reports that the folder I use for all my music, which contains the iTunes control file, as well as other music related files, is 229GB in size. Can you see the problem?


Consequently, I have an additional hard drive in my computer, where all my music is stored. I've read many posts here from users who use an external drive for their music. This also means that some users may more than one folder containing music, and not all those folders may be in the parent Music folder.


I downloaded a song to the desktop, opened it and deleted it without putting it in the music folder, but that song appears in iTunes as an exclamation point.

By "opening it", you either:

    • double-clicked on it and iTunes played it (because that is what it will do if you have iTunes as your default music player). But in the course of this, iTunes added that file to its database; in other words, it now lists that file as "a song in your iTunes library"
    • used iTunes' menu to File/Add File to Library, which would have added the song to your iTunes Library. Even if you didn't play the song in iTunes, you've told iTunes where to find the file for that song
  • as a result, in either case, when you deleted the file from your desktop, iTunes could no longer find the file you added, hence the exclamation mark.


So, three golden rules:

    1. once you add files to your iTunes library, do not move, rename, or delete the source file that you've told iTunes to use
    2. put the file in its final location before adding it to your iTunes library
    3. if an external programme, such as Groove Music, changes the source file, iTunes may (probably will) lose track of it. If this causes you too much trouble, you may have to choose between the two applications


By the way, you can use iTunes to re-title a song, or edit things such as the album title, artist name or genre, although I'm not sure what Groove Music will make of it. I've just (this morning, to test what I'm telling you) added all my music to Groove Music and then used Groove Music to edit the song title of one song. Groove Music lost immediately track of it! Not a good start.


How can I make iTunes only see the songs that I have added in the music folder I have added, that is, the songs that I have opened outside the folder are not added?

Don't add the song to iTunes. It will only list songs that you've added to it or to the Automatically Add to iTunes folder, which is located in the iTunes folder.


2-) is there a way to pull the top player bar, song title, etc. to the bottom?

You mean like Groove Music? No. (See my first paragraph.)

How to automatically sync the music folder I added to iTunes?

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