Bomiboll

Q: iTunes number of files is incorrect?

The number of files displayed in my iTunes window is 451 and no duplicates.
The number of files in iTunes Media is 679, many are duplicates
Why this discrepency ?

Mac mini, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4), Maverick man

Posted on Aug 16, 2014 2:40 PM

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Q: iTunes number of files is incorrect?

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  • by ed2345,

    ed2345 ed2345 Aug 16, 2014 4:13 PM in response to Bomiboll
    Level 7 (24,801 points)
    Aug 16, 2014 4:13 PM in response to Bomiboll

    Bomiboll,

     

    It is possible to have song files in your iTunes Media folder that have not been added to your library.  They will sit there indefinitely, until you add them using Add File (or Folder) to Library, or delete them.

  • by Bomiboll,

    Bomiboll Bomiboll Aug 17, 2014 1:35 AM in response to ed2345
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 17, 2014 1:35 AM in response to ed2345

    Then I have a hard manual work to do, so I can be certain that all my sound files appear in iTunes
    Is there no command that collects all soundfiles from my Finder into iTunes ??
    I think iPhoto has such a command

  • by ed2345,

    ed2345 ed2345 Aug 17, 2014 4:54 AM in response to Bomiboll
    Level 7 (24,801 points)
    Aug 17, 2014 4:54 AM in response to Bomiboll

    Bomiboll wrote:

     

    Then I have a hard manual work to do, so I can be certain that all my sound files appear in iTunes
    Is there no command that collects all soundfiles from my Finder into iTunes ??
    I think iPhoto has such a command

     

    Just use the command Add Folder to Library.  It will add the ones it doesn't already have, and will skip the ones that it already has.

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Aug 21, 2014 1:09 PM in response to Bomiboll
    Level 10 (85,833 points)
    iPod
    Aug 21, 2014 1:09 PM in response to Bomiboll

    Bomiboll wrote:


    The number of files displayed in my iTunes window is 451 and no duplicates.

    The number of files in iTunes Media is 679, many are duplicates

    Why this discrepency ?

     

    Perhaps you removed some duplicates from the iTunes interface in the past without deleting the underlying source files at the same time?

     

    Your iTunes Media folder may contain files that are not music, but some other media kind. Even if added to the library these may show up in different places within the library, or you may have added music items that are located outside of the media folder, so it may often be the case that the two values don't agree.

     

    In addition to the method ed has suggested see http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=musicfolderfilesnotadded2 in case you want to review what would be added first.

     

    tt2

  • by Bomiboll,

    Bomiboll Bomiboll Aug 21, 2014 1:33 PM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 21, 2014 1:33 PM in response to turingtest2

    My iTunes library contains only sound files

    Your link seems unintelligible.

    I have transformed iTunes Media so that it is a long list of files only, i e no folders.

    The folders were of no use to me.

    But having a list of soundfiles (nothing else) allows me to check if the number files is the same as
    the number of displayed items in iTunes window
    Now they are the same but I have lots of duplicates

    How do I remove the duplicates ??

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Aug 21, 2014 1:41 PM in response to Bomiboll
    Level 10 (85,833 points)
    iPod
    Aug 21, 2014 1:41 PM in response to Bomiboll

    Bomiboll wrote:

     

    How do I remove the duplicates ??

     

    1. In iTunes use the Song list view
    2. Hold down option and use the menu item View > Show Exact Duplicate Items
    3. Sort the resulting list on Date Added
    4. Select all of the files you just added
    5. Delete them, send to the trash when prompted

     

    tt2

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Aug 21, 2014 1:39 PM in response to Bomiboll
    Level 9 (50,417 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 21, 2014 1:39 PM in response to Bomiboll

    The link works correctly for me, using Safari.

  • by Bomiboll,

    Bomiboll Bomiboll Aug 21, 2014 1:54 PM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 21, 2014 1:54 PM in response to turingtest2

    Here is my date column, sorted. But I would not delete all files from 20 aug.iTunes sorted on Date Added.png

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Aug 21, 2014 2:43 PM in response to Bomiboll
    Level 10 (85,833 points)
    iPod
    Aug 21, 2014 2:43 PM in response to Bomiboll

    There should be 228 files that you added within the last hour or so. (Perhaps earlier if you'd already followed ed's suggestion when he made it, but you should know the time frame.) If you sort the duplicates list on date added (which includes time) you should be able to find the first of these that also show as an exact duplicate in your library. Having selected the first you can then scroll to reveal the last. Shift-clicking this file should select the range which you can then delete.

     

    You can click show all to reveal all files again. You may want to review the other recently added files in case there is anything here you had intentionally discarded in the past and you now want to delete again. Similarly you may want to give the trash one last visual check in case there Is anything that was duplicated in the folder but neither copy was connected to the library before the recent import, and that you deem worthy of rescue.

     

    tt2

  • by Bomiboll,

    Bomiboll Bomiboll Aug 22, 2014 11:59 PM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 22, 2014 11:59 PM in response to turingtest2

    tt2:  228 ??  no kidding ?

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Aug 23, 2014 2:09 AM in response to Bomiboll
    Level 9 (50,417 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 23, 2014 2:09 AM in response to Bomiboll

    679 - 451

     

    That's what you said earlier.

  • by Bomiboll,

    Bomiboll Bomiboll Sep 2, 2014 1:22 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 2, 2014 1:22 AM in response to Csound1

    tt2 mentioned the command "Show Exact Duplicates"
    What is the difference to "Show Duplicates" ?
    That command is very unreliable. Nor would I use the app (not free) of your suggested site (dougscripts)
    I have Gemini. But not even that finds all duplicates, although it is better than iTunes

    Then I use other file seekers (Finder is no good either) such as Easy Find (who suggested that here on the Forum ?) or Find Any File

    So it is no easy thing to find the duplicates in iTunes.
    If you think it shows the duplicates, double check with other methods and you may discover oddities with iTunes

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 2, 2014 1:24 AM in response to Bomiboll
    Level 9 (50,417 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 2, 2014 1:24 AM in response to Bomiboll

    Thank you for delineating your problems.

     

    Good luck.

  • by Bomiboll,

    Bomiboll Bomiboll Sep 2, 2014 1:32 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 2, 2014 1:32 AM in response to Csound1

    And the solution ? mr Csound missed my solution ? maybe he should take his spectacles on.

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