How to move files into iTunes instead of copying

If you have Apple TV or iPad to watch movies, and you want to add movies from outside (perhaps downloaded by some way or another…), you quickly encounter one annoyance: it can be quite slow to copy a 1-2 GB movie file into iTunes. It is because iTunes often is setup to copy everything into its own organized folders (under ~/Music/iTunes/).

Even worse, if you have added it to iTunes, you will now have two copies, eating up double space on your drive until you delete the original.

There is however one very simple way to avoid this. Under the iTunes folder there is one called “Automatically add to iTunes”. If you are on a Mac, you can basically just drag that folder onto the Dock or in the “Places” part of the Finder sidebar. Next time you need to add any file to iTunes without wanting to wait for a copy – just drop the files on this folder shortcut, and the files will be moved and instantly added to iTunes.

Try it!