As a great music lover you are, you have numerous songs from your favorite singers and bands on your computer. To better organize your collection, you have decided to rely on iTunes , the famous multimedia software developed by Apple. Once you have finished importing the songs of your interest into the program library, you have noticed that you have added several songs several times that, now, you would like to delete. Unfortunately, however, you were unable to locate the files in question and, for this reason, you would like my help to succeed in your intent. That’s the way it is, right? Then let me tell you that today is your lucky day!
With this guide, in fact, I will explain how to delete iTunes duplicates by indicating the detailed procedure to identify and delete all duplicate files. In addition to the guidance needed to remove both duplicate songs and playlists, you will also find some useful tips to avoid importing the same file into your iTunes library multiple times. In addition, for information, I will also suggest some programs that allow you to scan individual folders on your computer for duplicate files. Interesting, right?
If you can’t wait to find out more, do not delay and find out more about the topic right away! Courage: make yourself comfortable, take all the time you see fit and dedicate yourself to reading the next paragraphs. By doing so, I assure you that you will be able to find and delete all duplicate songs and playlists and organize your iTunes library in the best possible way. That said, all that’s left for me is to wish you a good read and a big good luck for everything!
Index
- Preliminary information
- How to delete duplicate iTunes
- How to delete duplicate iTunes songs
- How to delete duplicate iTunes playlists
- How to delete duplicate iTunes automatically
- Program to delete iTunes duplicates
- Duplicate Cleaner (Windows)
- Duplicates Cleaner (macOS)
Preliminary information
Before going into the details of this tutorial and explaining, in detail, how to delete duplicates from iTunes , it is necessary to make a necessary premise.
In fact, it will be useful to know that the indications you will find in the next paragraphs are valid for both Windows PCs and macOS since the procedure for removing duplicate iTunes files is identical on both operating systems.
Also, if your intention is to delete iTunes duplicates on Mac , you should know that if you use macOS Catalina (which, at the time of writing this guide, is the latest operating system from Apple), iTunes has been replaced by the Music application . However, its graphic interface is almost identical to its predecessor and therefore the indications I will give you will be equally valid.
How to delete duplicate iTunes
After the necessary initial premise, you are ready to delete duplicates on iTunes . All you have to do is open the program in question, start scanning for duplicate files and manually delete each duplicate item. How to do? I’ll explain it to you right away!
How to delete duplicate iTunes songs
If your intention is to delete duplicate songs on iTunes , start the famous multimedia software developed by Apple, locate the Library section in the left sidebar and select the Songs item . Once this is done, click on the File option located in the top menu, select the Library item from the menu that opens and press on the Show duplicate items option .
By doing so, you will be able to view a list of songs by the same artist from any album in the library: this means that two different songs but with the same title, could be proposed as duplicate songs.
If you have a Mac, you will be pleased to know that it is possible to find exact duplicates (i.e. two identical files in all respects). To do this, simply repeat the operation described above and press the Option key on the keyboard. Then click on the File item , at the top, select the Library option from the menu that appears and press the Option key , to view and press on the item Show actual duplicate items .
Now, regardless of the operating system installed on your computer, to delete duplicate songs, click on the file you want to remove, press on the relative icon of the three dots and choose the item Delete from the library . Then click on the Delete Song button and that’s it.
On Mac, if your intention is to remove the file in question also from the Media folder of Music, in which all the songs imported into the program’s library are collected, also press the Move option , to move the selected file to the Mac Trash .
How to delete duplicate iTunes playlists
Deleting duplicate iTunes playlists is a simple and fast procedure, almost identical to the one to delete duplicate songs that I indicated in the previous lines.
To proceed, start iTunes / Music, locate the Music Playlist item (on Mac it is only Playlist ) visible in the left sidebar and select the playlist of your interest from those available.
Now, click on the File item located in the top menu, select the Library option from the menu that appears and choose the item Show duplicate items . Again, if you have a Mac, you can press the Option key on your keyboard to view the actual duplicate items.
At this point, select any duplicate files, click on the relative icon of the three dots , choose the Remove from playlist option and click on the Remove song button , to delete the song in question from the previously selected playlist. If, on the other hand, you want to permanently remove the file as it is also duplicated in the iTunes library, choose the Delete from library option and click the Delete song button .
How to delete duplicate iTunes automatically
If you’re wondering how to delete duplicate iTunes automatically , I’m sorry to tell you that this feature isn’t available yet. However, by acting on the iTunes / Music settings, you can prevent the addition of duplicate songs and playlists.
To do this, start iTunes , click on the Edit item located in the top menu and select the Preferences option from the menu that opens. In the new window that appears, select the Advanced tab , put the check mark next to the items Keep iTunes Media folder organized and Copy files to iTunes Media folder while adding to the library and press the OK button to save the changes made.
If, on the other hand, you are using the Music application on Mac, click on the Music item visible in the menu bar at the top and select the Preferences option from the menu that opens. In the General section , click on the File item , put the check mark next to the options Keep the Music Media folder organized and Copy the files to the Music Media folder when they are added to the library and click the OK button to save the changes.
By doing so, if you add songs already present in the iTunes / Music library, the program will automatically avoid importing a duplicate.
Program to delete iTunes duplicates
How do you say? Do you prefer to use an iTunes duplicate delete program ? In that case, you can consider one of the software that allows you to scan your computer’s folders for duplicate files. Here are some that might be right for you.
Duplicate Cleaner (Windows)
Duplicate Cleaner is a Windows program that allows you to search for duplicate files on your computer, also specifying the folder in which to search. It is available both in a free version for personal use and in a Pro version, also for commercial use, which increases its functionality.
To download the free version of Duplicate Cleaner on your computer, connected to the official website of the program , locate the item Duplicate Cleaner Free 4 (Limited version) and click on the Download button [local] , to start the download. Alternatively, you can also download the program from the Windows 10 Microsoft Store .
Once the download is complete, double-click on the DuplicateCleaner [version] _setup.exe file , click on the Yes button , to allow the program to make changes to your computer, click on the OK , Next and Accept buttons and click on the Next and Install options , to start installation. Wait, then, for the progress bar to reach 100% and click on the Close button , to close the window and start Duplicate Cleaner.
At the first start, select the language of your interest (Italian is also available) using the appropriate drop-down menu and press the OK and Close buttons , then select the New search option and set the search criteria you prefer. Once this is done, select the Scan Location tab visible at the top, select the iTunes Media folder of iTunes and press the arrow icon pointing to the right , to search for duplicate files only in the folder in question.
At this point, click on the Scan Now button ! and wait for the progress bar to reach 100%, to view the scan results. Then press the Close button , put the check mark next to the duplicate files you want to remove, click on the Remove files button and you’re done.
Duplicates Cleaner (masOS)
If you have a Mac, the program I suggest you rely on to remove iTunes duplicates is Duplicates Cleaner . It is a free application that allows you to scan every folder on your Mac and identify any duplicate files.
To download and install Duplicates Cleaner on your computer, start the Mac App Store , type “ Duplicates Cleaner ” in the Search field , top left, and press the Enter key on your keyboard to view the search results. Then locate the application in question (it should be the first result) and click on the Get and Install buttons to start the download and installation. You may be prompted to enter your Apple ID password or use Touch ID (if your Mac has one).
Once the download and installation of Duplicates Cleaner is complete , press the Open button to start the program, click on the Select folder item and select the folder in which the Music tracks are collected, to automatically start scanning the folder in question. Alternatively, you can drag the folder containing the Music library files into the Duplicates Cleaner window.
If you do not know the location of the Music Media folder, start the application in question, select the Music and Preferences items in the top menu and, in the new open window, press the File item to view the complete path.
When the scan is complete, if you see Congratulations, no duplicate found , it means that no duplicate files were found. Otherwise, click on the View duplicates button , to view the duplicated songs, put the check mark next to one of the files and press the Clean duplicates and Yes buttons , to delete the selected item.
