In macOS Catalina or later, your previous iTunes media library is now available in the Apple Music app, Apple TV app, Apple Podcasts app, and Apple Books app. And when you back up your Mac, your media library is automatically included in that backup. Download macOS Catalina for an all‑new entertainment experience. Your music, TV shows, movies, podcasts, and audiobooks will transfer automatically to the Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Podcasts, and Apple Books apps where you’ll still have access to your favorite iTunes features, including purchases, rentals, and imports.

Find backups stored on your Mac or PC

The latest entertainment apps now come installed with macOS Catalina. Upgrade today to get your favorite music, movies, TV shows, and podcasts. You can join Apple Music and stream — or download and play offline — over 70 million songs, ad‑free. Download iTunes 12.8.2 for Mac This update resolves an issue that may prevent iTunes from playing media to third-party AirPlay speakers. It also includes minor app and performance improvements.

To avoid ruining any of your backup files, here's what you should know:

• The Finder and iTunes save backups to a Backup folder. The location of the Backup folder varies by operating system. Though you can copy the Backup folder, you should never move it to a different folder, external drive, or network drive.
• Don't edit, relocate, rename, or extract content from your backup files, because these actions might ruin the files. For example, to restore from a relocated backup file, you need to move it back or the file won't work. Backups serve as a safe copy of your entire device. So while you might be able to view or access a backup file's contents, the contents usually aren't stored in a format that you can read.

Search for the backup folder on your Mac

To find a list of your backups:

Apple has issued a new support document clarifying that in macOS Catalina, ‘ all your favorite iTunes features, including the iTunes Store, will soon be available in three new and more focused apps.

1. Click the magnifier icon in the menu bar.
2. Type or copy and paste this: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/
3. Press Return.

Itunes Catalina Apple Support

To find a specific backup:

1. On a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, open the Finder. On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier, or on a PC, open iTunes. Click your device.
2. In the Finder, under the General tab, click Manage Backups to see a list of your backups. From here, you can right-click on the backup that you want, then choose Show in Finder, or you can select Delete or Archive. In iTunes, choose Preferences, then click Devices. From here, you can right-click on the backup that you want, then choose Show in Finder, or you can select Delete or Archive.
   
3. Click OK when you're finished.
   

Search for the backup folder on Windows 7, 8, or 10

1. Find the Search bar:
   • In Windows 7, click Start.
   • In Windows 8, click the magnifying glass in the upper-right corner.
   • In Windows 10, click the Search bar next to the Start button.
     
2. In the Search bar, enter %appdata%. If you don’t see your backups, enter %USERPROFILE%.
   
3. Press Return.
   
4. Double-click these folders: 'Apple' or 'Apple Computer' > MobileSync > Backup.

Delete or copy backups on your Mac or PC

Don't edit, relocate, rename, or extract content from your backup files, because these actions might ruin the files. Use the following sections to make copies of your backups or delete backups that you no longer need.

Copy backups to another location

If you need copies of your backups, you can find the Backup folder and copy the entire folder (not just part of it) to another place, like an external drive or network-storage location.

When you use Time Machine, it automatically copies your Backup folder when you back up the Home folder on your Mac.

Delete backups

1. On a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, open the Finder. On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier, or on a PC, open iTunes. Click your device.
2. In the Finder, under the General tab, click Manage Backups to see a list of your backups. From here, you can right-click on the backup that you want, then select Delete or Archive. In iTunes, choose Preferences, then click Devices. From here, you can right-click on the backup that you want, then choose Delete or Archive. Click OK when you're finished.
3. Click Delete Backup, then confirm.
   

Locate and manage backups stored in iCloud

Catalina Itunes Library

If you use iCloud Backup, you won't find a list of your backups on iCloud.com. Here's how to find your iCloud backups on your iOS or iPadOS device, Mac, or PC.

On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:

• Using iOS 11 or later and iPadOS, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups.
• Using iOS 10.3, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud. Tap the graph that shows your iCloud usage, then tap Manage Storage.

Tap a backup to see more details about it, choose which information to back up, or delete the backup.

You can choose which content to back up only from the Settings menu of the device that stores that content. For example, while you can view your iPad backup from your iPhone, you can choose which iPad content to back up only from the Settings menu of your iPad.

On a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15 or later:

1. Choose Apple () menu > System Preferences.
2. Click Apple ID.
3. Click iCloud.
4. Click Manage.
5. Select Backups.

On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier:

1. Choose Apple () menu > System Preferences.
2. Click iCloud.
3. Click Manage.
4. Select Backups.

On your PC:

1. Open iCloud for Windows
2. Click Storage.
3. Select Backup.

Learn more about how to delete or manage iCloud backups from your Mac or PC.

Learn more

• Learn the difference between iCloud and iTunes backups.
• Follow steps to back up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
• Learn about encrypted backups in iTunes.

Now there's an app for every media type

With macOS Catalina, your music, videos, podcasts and audiobooks are organised in to their own dedicated apps — the Apple Music app, Apple TV app, Apple Podcasts app and Apple Books app. You can also access your iTunes Store purchases in these apps.

If you have a PC, you can continue to use iTunes for Windows to manage your media library, make purchases and manually sync and manage your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Use Finder to sync and manage your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

Finder is the new place to back up, update or restore your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Just connect your device to your Mac and it appears in the Finder sidebar. And you can easily drag and drop files to your device.

Use Finder to manage your devices.

Upgrade your iTunes library

After you update to macOS Catalina, just open the Apple Music app or Apple TV app to use your iTunes library in the new apps. Have multiple iTunes libraries? Learn how to switch between them in macOS Catalina.

If you open the Apple Podcasts app or Apple Books app first, you won't see any of your media until you open the Apple Music app or Apple TV app.

Here are some things to know

• The Apple Music app and Apple TV app read the contents of your iTunes library — so don't delete your iTunes library.
• If you open the Apple Music app and don't see all of your album artwork, leave the Apple Music app open so your album artwork can finish downloading.
• If you previously used multiple iTunes libraries, your audiobooks are imported in to the Apple Books library and podcasts are imported in to the Apple Podcasts library on your computer.

Where's my media?

Here's where you can find your entire media collection, access your iTunes Store purchases, and synced libraries.

All of your music is now in the Apple Music app

The Apple Music app is where you can find all of your music, including music that you imported in to iTunes, purchased from the iTunes Store and playlists and smart playlists that you created in iTunes. And if you subscribe to Apple Music, you can stream and download millions of songs, and access your entire music library across all of your devices.

Explore the Apple Music app.

Looking for the iTunes Store?

If you don't see the iTunes Store in the sidebar, here's how to find it:

1. Open the Apple Music app.
2. In the menu bar, choose Music > Preferences.
3. Go to the General tab and select iTunes Store.
4. Click OK.

Everything you watch is now in the Apple TV app

The Apple TV app is the new home for all of your films, TV shows and home videos — including your purchases from iTunes. Browse films and TV shows that you can buy, rent films and subscribe to just the channels that you want to watch. And soon you can discover new favourites with Apple TV+.

Discover the Apple TV app.

Find podcasts in the Apple Podcasts app

Find all of the shows that you’ve subscribed to or added to iTunes in the Apple Podcasts app. Continue listening to your favourite podcast episodes. And discover new shows that you might like based on the ones that you’re already listening to.

Listen with the Apple Podcasts app.

Itunes Mac Catalina

Listen to audiobooks in the Apple Books app

Find your audiobooks, including the ones that you purchased from iTunes, in the Apple Books app. Discover new books to read in the Book Store. Or buy audiobooks from the new Audiobook Store so you can listen on the go.

Check out the Apple Books app.

Catalina Import Old Itunes Library

The Apple Music app, Apple TV app, Apple Podcast app and Apple Books app aren’t available in all countries and regions.Learn what’s available in your country or region.