Share Itunes Library with all users on same machine

file-sharinghome-sharingitunessharingxml

Looking to share my Itunes Library with my wife on same machine. SO for example, when I log off, and she logs in, I would like to be able to access my library in her ITunes.

I have spent countless hours combing the internet with no success and wondered if this is now even possible. I have read this THIS stack exchange thread about how to share but it seems this method doesnt work.
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When I open Itunes on my wifes account with OPTION key and choose the newly created Library from my existing account nothing gets imported.

Another method I tried and failed with is to simply export the the Library from my existing Itunes as XML. The result was that the playlists get loaded fine but all the songs are missing (except for 3 or 4 songs)!

It should be noted that all the Media for the playlists and libraries are in a shared folder that are accessible to my wife's account with read & write permissions turned on.

I also tried setting up Home Sharing, but this does not seem to work on the same machine.

Running Sierra 10.12.6 with Itunes version 12.7.2.60

At this point i have no clue what to do. Any help is appreciated.

Best Answer

The trick to doing this is to have your iTunes library stored in a location that is accessible to both accounts (i.e. both users have read/write access), and to then configure iTunes in both accounts to use the same library.

My recommended approach for doing this is to use an external drive connected to your Mac and then configure iTunes within each of your Mac accounts to use that library.

Follow these steps:

  1. Ensure iTunes is not running
  2. Within Finder, move your iTunes library folder (by default this folder is located within ~/Music/iTunes/) to a location accessible by all user accounts. As mentioned above, my personal preference is to store it on an external drive connected to your Mac.
  3. Hold down the option key and launch iTunes
  4. You should now see the Choose iTunes Library prompt (see below)

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  1. Click on the Choose Library... button
  2. Now navigate to the location you moved the library to at Step 2
  3. iTunes should now open up and work as it's always done previously
  4. Quit iTunes
  5. Now log into your wife's account
  6. Hold down the option key and launch iTunes
  7. Repeat Steps 3, 4, 5 and 6

After doing the above you'll be able to access the same iTunes library from either user account.

IMPORTANT NOTES

  1. If you don't already, ensure you have a backup regime in place (e.g. using Time Machine)
  2. If using an external drive (as per my recommended approach) ensure you include this new location with whatever backup software you use (so that it's getting backed up)
  3. There are a number of reasons why I prefer using an external drive for my iTunes library. Some include:
    • It frees up space on your main boot volume
    • It results in faster transfer rates (in the event your internal drive is not an SSD)
    • I like to keep all my digital media on the same drive (i.e. I also use the same drive for my Photos library)
    • It makes your iTunes library (and others if they're on the same drive) easy to physically transfer (in the event you need to)
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