Murphy Mac

Most people probably have iTunes keep their music folder organized, allowing the application to copy files to a predetermined location when adding to the library.

But there might be instances when you want files to remain where they are. Movies, television shows - whatever files you’ve stored in a special location. A good example would be videos stored on an external drive.

You can still add those files to your library with a drag and drop. Simply holding the option button on the keyboard while you drag will ignore the setting in your preferences, and the files won’t be copied to your Music Folder.

Murphy heard this tip on an episode of Mac Geek Gab, after Mac Core called it in. The caller went on to point out how useful this can be for users with an Apple TV. If you add media to your library this way, and then disconnect the external drive the shows are stored on, the Apple TV will still hold on to the synced content. Here’s a quote from The Mac Core’s Apple TV review:

The TV shows on my Apple TV don’t disappear the next time it sync with my MacBook, even if the external drive isn’t attached, because the shows are still linked (although not accessible) through my iTunes library.

That might be exactly what some users are looking for.