How to Delete Duplicates in iTunes Library All at Once

One of the frequently asked questions asked by iTunes users is how to delete duplicates in iTunes all at once. Duplicate songs and duplicate playlists are among the most common iTunes problems. It can be rather annoying if every song plays twice before it gets to the next song. iTunes’ Show Duplicate Items feature is of little help when it comes to a large number of duplicates. The good news is you can easily find and mass delete duplicates in iTunes in one go. This article will show you how.

How to delete duplicates in iTunes all at once automatically

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 Duplicate Finder for Mac mentioned above. 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 delete duplicates in iTunes. Mac also has limited ability to show duplicates in iTunes, which is covered later in this tutorial.

Cisdem Duplicate Finder for Mac is one of the best duplicate file finders which can find and delete duplicate songs, 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 of Cisdem Duplicate Finder

Download a free trial version of Cisdem Duplicate Finder for Mac now

Instructions on how to delete duplicate songs in iTunes

Step 1. Add iTunes folders. Download and install Cisdem Duplicate Finder 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.

Step 2. 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.

 

Step 3. 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 delete duplicate songs in iTunes on Mac.

 

If you use Windows PC and are wondering how to delete duplicates in iTunes all at once, you can use Ashisoft iTunes Duplicate Finder. It can quickly locate and get rid of duplicates in iTunes library on your computer and help keep your music collection organized.

Step 1. Launch the app on your computer. Click on Look For Duplicates Files.

Step 2. In the Select the Search criteria dialog box, select Byte by Byte.

Step 3. The Easy Marking feature will select the duplicate iTunes songs for you to delete.

Step 4. Click on Delete Tracks to mass delete the unwanted duplicates in iTunes.

How to show duplicates in iTunes manually

And you can find and delete 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 iTunes remove duplicates are listed as follows.

Step 1. Open the Music library in iTunes.

Step 2. Press the Alt or Option key and click the View menu.

Step 3. 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.

Step 4. Select the duplicate songs that you want to remove. From the menu bar at the top of your computer screen, choose Edit > Delete to delete duplicate songs in iTunes.

Tips to stop iTunes creating 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.

What to do when you find duplicate songs on iPhone but not in iTunes

Another common iTunes problem is that songs are listed twice on iPhone but only once in iTunes. The following steps should fix the issue.

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to a computer with iTunes installed. Back up your iPhone. Alternatively, you can do it via iCloud. Eject your phone from iTunes.

Step 2. Go to Settings on your iPhone. Select General > Usage > Storage > Music > Edit. Tap on Delete.

Step 3. Restart your iPhone and connect it to iTunes again. Sync your iTunes playlist manually.

Conclusion

If you have many duplicate songs in iTunes, try the two methods recommended in this article to delete duplicates in iTunes.In addition to duplicate iTunes songs, there can also be duplicate playlists. To fix this problem, check out this guide to removing iTunes duplicate playlists with ease.