Copy Music into Roon

The simplest way to add music is to copy it into Roon. Drag and drop your files anywhere onto the Roon window, then press Yes, Copy! You can do this from a remote, too. Roon copies the files into its music folder and imports them.

Add a Watched Folder on Your Server

If your music lives in a folder on the device running Roon Server, set it up as a Watched Folder. Roon watches the folder and imports anything you add to it.

1. Open Settings, then select Storage.
2. Click + Add folder under the Folders section.
3. In the Choose music storage folder browser, select the drive and folder where your music lives, then click Select this folder.
4. In the Add storage location dialog, confirm the folder shown is correct, or click Browse... to choose a different one. You can also turn on Import iTunes playlists (from an iTunes XML in the folder) and Import other playlists (M3U files), or skip folders using Ignored paths.
5. Press Add. Your import begins.

If you're having trouble finding your folder in the browser, see Finding Your Music Folder in Roon's Storage Settings for a guide to navigating it.

Add Music from a NAS or Another Computer

If your music lives on a NAS, or in a folder on a different computer than your Roon Server, add it as a network share.

Before you start: the folder must be shared on your network over SMB with the right permissions. On macOS, network folders must be shared using SMB, not AFP. If you're sharing a folder from a Mac or Windows PC, please enable file sharing for that folder first (see sharing a folder on Windows or sharing a folder on macOS).

1. In the Choose music storage folder browser, click + Add network share at the bottom.
2. Enter the network path to your shared folder. The path must include the share name, not just the address. For example:

   smb://MyNASDrive/Multimedia/Music
   \\192.168.1.120\Multimedia\Music

3. Enter your username and password for the share, if required. Depending on your configuration, you may also need to enter "workgroup" in the Workgroup field.
4. Press Add network share, then Select this folder. Your import begins.

If you see "Invalid Network Path," the most common cause is a missing share name. Enter the full path to the shared folder, not just the IP address.

We recommend using your NAS drive's hostname (like smb://MyNASDrive) rather than its IP address. IP addresses can change depending on your network settings, and Roon loses the share when they do.

If You See "Unauthorized" or "Unexpected Error"

These two messages are the most common network share problems, and they usually come from the share configuration rather than from Roon. Please check the following:

1. The folder is shared over SMB, and SMB is enabled on the device.
2. The username and password are correct, and contain no special characters.
3. If a Mac is the storage device, Windows File Sharing is enabled under System Settings, Sharing, File Sharing, Options.
4. You're using SMB version 3 where possible. SMB version 2 also works, but not with a large MTU.

Confirm It Worked

Once the folder is added, it appears in the Storage tab and Roon begins importing. The track count climbs as it scans, and your music starts showing up in your library. A large library can take a while to finish analyzing.

Running Roon Server on a Nucleus and want to store music on its internal drive? See Nucleus internal storage.

Manage Your Storage Folders

Click the ellipsis next to any folder in Settings, Storage to manage it:

• Disable: the folder stays listed, but its music is no longer accessible in Roon.
• Remove: the folder no longer appears in Roon. Your files stay intact.
• Edit: change the folder's settings or credentials. If your NAS password changes, use Edit to re-enter it.
• Rescan: check the folder for new or changed files now.

If the music you added isn't appearing, please see why some files may not show up. If your music still isn't importing after following these steps, please get in touch with our Technical Support team here.