While iTunes Library is still a mess, it has gotten a lot better over the years. While it is still far from being a perfect music player on Mac, it is one of the best music managers that helps you sync your music between your devices. However, there is one problem that still plagues iTunes users, which is the persistent presence of duplicate audio files. Duplicate files not only consume your precious iTunes storage, they also ruin the music listening experience by playing the same song over and over again. They also make it harder to search for the song you’re looking for. If you are suffering from the same issue, we will fix it for you today. So, this How to find and remove duplicates in iTunes:
note: I tried the following methods to remove duplicate songs in iTunes on my macOS High Sierra MacBook Pro and they worked fine, so they should work fine for you too. These methods should also work on macOS Sierra and older.
Delete Duplicates in iTunes Using iTunes Settings
Not many people know, but iTunes provides a built-in way to find and remove duplicate songs from your library:
1. To find duplicate songs in your library File->Library->Show Duplicate Items. This will show you all the duplicate songs in your library.
2. When you find all the duplicate songs, right click on the duplicates and delete from the library. Note that you may have kept different versions of the songs (regular, remastered, live), so give them a listen before deleting them.
Disable Importing Duplicate Songs
iTunes no longer supports importing the same music twice until you force it, which essentially solves the automatic file duplication issue. However, it’s best to check if settings are enabled in your iTunes preferences.
1. Open iTunes to check. Preferences and go to “Developed” tab.
2. Make sure that: “Keep iTunes Media folder organized” and “Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library” option checked. If not, click the checkbox to enable it and then click “Reset warnings” to save the settings.
Find Duplicate Songs in iTunes Using iTunes Duplicate Remover
If you prefer to use a third-party software that makes things easy, there are a few options out there. The name I used in the past “Tune Sweeper 4” ($12.99).
It not only allows you to check duplicate songs, but also find any missing artwork in your songs and fix it for you. You can also search your Mac to see it. songs that are on your hard drive but not synced on iTunes. There is so much more you can do with the app.
See Also: How to Set Up and Use iTunes Home Sharing
Delete Duplicate Songs from iTunes Library
You can use the above methods to get rid of duplicate audio files in your iTunes library forever. Now you don’t have to worry about duplicate songs ruining your listening experience and clogging up your iTunes storage. If you decide to go the third-party app route, let us know how it worked for you in the comments section below.
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