Share Your Library with Your Other Computers

Tips

Password protect shared music

With iTunes, you can require other people on your home network to enter a password before they can to listen to your music. To do so, click the Sharing icon in iTunes Preferences. Then ensure the "Require password" option is checked and type a password. When you’re ready, click OK.

Authorize other computers to play your purchased music

You can play your iTunes Music Store purchases on up to five computers. To authorize one of your other computers to play your purchased music, go to a computer you want to authorize, open iTunes, and find your computer name in the iTunes Source list. Select an iTunes Music Store song, click the Play button, and then enter your Apple ID and password. Your other computer is now authorized to play all your iTunes Music Store purchases.

Purchase music others have shared

If you find a song you want to add to your own music collection while listening to someone else’s shared collection, simply click the arrow icon to the right of the song title. You will be taken to the iTunes Music Store where you can quickly find and buy the song for your own collection, if it’s available.

Disconnect from a shared music library

If you are listening to music from a shared music library, and decide you don’t want to anymore, click the eject button next to the name of the shared library. This will disconnect you from the other computer.

Maximum number of people that can connect to your shared iTunes music

iTunes allows you to have up to five other computers connected to yours to listen to your shared music. If you want to connect a new computer to listen to your shared music, you’ll have to disconnect one of the other five computers first.

If items appear dimmed in the list of shared music

To share music on a home network, every user on the network must be using iTunes 4.5 or later. Computers using older versions will appear dimmed. Likewise, if you are using an older version of iTunes, any computers using iTunes 4.5 or later will appear dimmed.

If you don’t see any shared music files

Check to make sure that iTunes is open, and that your home network computers have music sharing turned on. Sharing music libraries requires that all your computers sharing music are using Mac OS X version 10.2.4 or later, Windows 2000, or Windows XP.

Steps

Share music with other computers in your home

1. Open iTunes Preferences.
2. Make sure Share my music is checked, and then choose to share your entire library, or choose the playlists you want to share.
3. Note the default Shared name that is listed. You can change this name to anything you want.
4. In the window that appears, click the Sharing tab, and make sure Share my music is checked.
5. If you want to password protect your shared music, select the Require password option, and type a password.
6. Click OK.
7. Now go to another computer on your home network, open iTunes, and then open iTunes Preferences. Click the Sharing tab,and make sure Look for shared music is checked. Click OK.
8. Shared libraries or playlists appear in the iTunes Source list under the Shared name that you set. If more than one computer on your home network is sharing music, you’ll see a Shared Music icon with a disclosure triangle in the iTunes Source list. Click the disclosure triangle to reveal all the shared libraries on the local network.
9. Choose your computer to see your shared music in the iTunes window.
10. Select one of your songs, and click the Play button to listen.