How to Delete Duplicates in iTunes

How to delete duplicates in iTunes is a fussy problem. Songs with missed or incorrect artists, duplicates crop up and you have to browse through multiple playlists to find the right one. It’s therefore a good idea to removing duplicate songs in itunes which are just clogging up your system, especially if you’re a bit low on disk space.

If you want to find and delete duplicates in iTunes the easy way, there’s no better tool for the job than duplicate file finder Mac.

Cisdem Duplicate file Finder Mac is the most efficient way to remove duplicates in iTunes. With this app, you can delete all duplicates from iTunes library in several clicks. Try it below and read on to find more information about how to remove duplicate songs in iTunes.

Mac also has limited ability to show duplicates in itunes, which is covered later in this tutorial.

Part 1. The efficient way to delete duplicates in iTunes
Part 2. How to show duplicates in iTunes manually
Part 3. Tips to Prevent iTunes Show Duplicates

The efficient way to delete duplicates in iTunes

If you want to find a much powerful and less time consuming option to find and remove duplicates from iTunes, you can use a third-party iTunes duplicate remover named Cisdem DuplicateFinder for Mac mentioned above.

Cisdem DuplicateFinder for Mac is one of the best duplicate file finders which can find duplicate musics, photos, videos, etc inside your internal and external file storage devices. I test-drove many iTunes duplicate removers for Mac, and I can say that it is the software you've been looking for if you’re serious about cleaning up your iTunes library.

Other features from Cisdem DuplicateFinder

Locate duplicate images, musics, documents, audio, video, archives, packages and more.
Built-in preview of the already categorized duplicates and show file metadata to decide which file to delete.
Fully support many storage devices like internal or external hard drives, cameras, iPods, USB flash drives, memory cards.
Hide files from scanning again, also support remove files from hidden list.
Auto removal of duplicates in one go or manual removal of duplicates after your final check.

Download free trial version of Cisdem DuplicateFinder for Mac>>

Instructions on how to remove duplicates in iTunes

Add iTunes folders. Download and install Cisdem DuplicateFinder on your Mac. Launch the application and you’ll see the interface below. Just drag and drop iTunes folders to scan for duplicates.If you just want to scan for certain kinds of file in the selected folder or have specific criteria about the scanning, please click the gear like icon on the right corner for advanced settings. This can help you find target duplicate files from iTunes library at ease.
Scan your iTunes folders and show results. Click “Scan” and this iTunes duplicate remover will start to scan your folders for duplicates. And it will show you the real-time scanning results. After scanning, click "Show Results". And you'll see all duplicate files listed on a colorful pie chart which spots the most problematic file type.
Delete duplicates in iTunes. Go to Musics category, and preview duplicate musics. At last, select duplicate songs you want to delete or select all duplicate songs by clicking “Select All” and click "Delete" button to remove all duplicate musics from iTunes on Mac.

How to show duplicates in iTunes manually

And you can find and show duplicates in iTunes library manually. This option is the most tedious and time consuming and I prefer not to count it as a viable method. But there are many users who want to know the steps out there. And the detailed steps on how to remove duplicates in iTunes manually are listed as follows.

Open the Music library in iTunes.
Press the Alt or Option key and click the View menu.
Select “Show Exact Duplicate Items”. This will change your list of songs to all of the duplicate tracks on your computer. These are duplicates that share the same song name, artist, and album.
Select the duplicate songs that you want to remove. From the menu bar at the top of your computer screen, choose Edit > Delete to remove duplicates in iTunes.

1. If you don't hold the Option key, you will get the standard "Display Duplicates" option. iTunes will show duplicates based on song name, but doesn't differentiate between albums. This means that recordings and liver versions often show up as duplicates even though they aren't.

2. Make sure you are using the newest version of iTunes on Mac. Older versions of iTunes may have the "Display Exact Duplicates" option in the File menu instead of the View menu.

Tips to Prevent iTunes Show Duplicates

1. When you manually copy a music folder, duplicates are created. One of the easiest ways to copy a music folder to iTunes without duplicates is by adding the folder to your library. And iTunes will add any new files you place in the folder automatically without creating duplicates.

2. You can change the iTunes settings to automatically import your music without causing duplicates. Open iTunes. Select iTunes and click Preferences. Select the Advanced tab. Uncheck the option: Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library.

3. The best way to prevent iTunes duplicates is to store all your music in the iTunes media folder by default. If you download music from websites other than iTunes, choose the iTunes folder as your default download folder.

4. Don’t regularly transferring purchased music from your iOS devices to iTunes.