how to delete duplicated songs all at one time?

Clear your browser's cache and try again. It should be labelled Version 1.0.2.6 - October 7th 2014.

Processing order in my scripts is normally in reverse order of the tracks as shown in the display (this prevents certain kinds of errors) but one should not assume that iTunes will give them to the script in precisely that order.

tt2

Had the same problem as tomQA. Fixed permissions and unchecked read-only boxes and it worked perfectly!
You sir are my hero! thank you very much. I made an an account for apple support just to tell you how grateful I am 🙂 quest

just one question (I had 2 but already forgot the details of one)

During the deletion process it asked me around 5 times or so whether I would like to delete a song permanently, not sure why it did, but it didn't make a difference for me.

Thanks again for you're great work!

Hi tt2,

I'm not sure if you remember me from a few months back, but would like to seek your help again.

I downloaded the latest version of DeDuper and changed the line "UseTrash=True" to "UseTrash=False" to avoid having to click "ok" for each deletion request. However, I received the following runtime error during the scripts deletion phase.

---------------------------
Windows Script Host
---------------------------
Script: C:\Users\johng_000\Downloads\DeDuper (1).vbs
Line: 687
Char: 5
Error: File not found
Code: 800A0035
Source: Microsoft VBScript runtime error

---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

Can you help?

There is an existence check earlier in the same routine so it seems odd that a file not found error could be generated. Anyway I've added in some additional error handling so that it will now tell you which item it was trying to delete and you can decide whether to abort or continue.

I'd be interested to see if there is any pattern. I still worry about the same file appearing on multiple paths when NAS drives are involved because I'm not certain my detection mechanism for those will always work. It currently relies on the archive attribute which I've read isn't always supported. Backup first just in case.

tt2

I just wanted to say, this post -- and the detailed instructions on using the script -- were awesome! Have never tried using a script before. You also responded to a post of mine on importing playlists -- unfortunately I didn't see that answer soon enough (caught in spam filter) but managed to find it and with your script sorted it out! Thanks so much!!

OK, then I'm not sure why the error. Does it happen if you run the script on a small sample, e.g. one albums worth of tracks and their duplicates? Bit hectic at work for the next couple of days but I'll try and work out what is triggering it, or how to safely ignore it. Give me a nudge in a few days if I haven't come back to you.

tt2

Hi Dan,

Sorry for the delay. I've uploaded a new build that should tell you which file it had trouble deleting. Perhaps there is some kind of permissions problem with them. Could you post an error message if/when it shows again?

tt2

After searching the forums I think DeDuper may be the answer I am looking for but does it recognize if the file link exists or not before deleting the duplicate meaning will it delete the missing link one before the other?

jcs

protect02476 wrote:

Hi tt2,

That worked, but then received another error when clicking "yes" to delete:

Hi there,

I appear to have overlooked this post until now. Did you work around the problem?

tt2

Hi tt2,

Yes it worked, but DeDuper is now asking me to confirm each deletion. There was line you told me to edit previously from "true" to "false" or visa versa to prevent this from happening. Could you let me know what this is again?

Thanks!

Had to go back a few pages to find it.

protect02476 wrote:

Hi tt2,

I'm not sure if you remember me from a few months back, but would like to seek your help again.

I downloaded the latest version of DeDuper and changed the line "UseTrash=True" to "UseTrash=False" to avoid having to click "ok" for each deletion request.

Currently line 138.

tt2

The following helped me weed out about 1500 duplicate titles and delete them from my library in about 10 minutes. Credit goes to the people who developed the scrip etc.

Unlike other Deupper scripts or whatever is out there, someone developed a script on this forum that is only a couple paragraphs long.

http://forum.maccast.com/index.php?/topic/1172-select-every-other-item/

Run Script Editor from the utilites folder and copy the script using copy and paste, and then press play. Make sure you are viewing the list of duplicates or exact duplicates when running the script and NOT your whole library. I think itunes has to be running.

The short of the long: The script adds "duplicate" in the comments section for one of the two duplicate files in the library. For my library, it took a little while for the script to run. If you view all of your duplicate songs, and then sort them by "comment" you will see the screen move as script adds the comments...ie, once a blank comments cell is filled with the word "duplicate", the file gets moved up in the sort field, causing the list order to adjust about every second.

Lastly, sory your whole library by "comments" and then scroll down to the d's where the word duplicate appears. Select all of the adjacent duplicates using shift, and then delete.

Hope this helps!!

Looks like a clever solution. Worth noting that you ought to start with a playlist of exact duplicates sorted in such a way to ensure the duplicates are listed in pairs. It also doesn't address any of the other issues that my Windows script is able to address, such as merging ratings, play counts, and playlist membership, or preserving the original file when two entires point to the same file, or when one entry is broken, or making a choice when the files are of different size or format. It may also fail when there are three or more copies of some of the tracks.

tt2

Hi!

Is this still a solution in 2015? Finally in iTunes 12.2.1.16, Apple has fixed the bug that since iTunes 11ish forgot libraries that weren't on your hard disk - fab but now I have copies of every track on my Time Capsule from every time that I set it up the library pointing to it.

Also, read further on and \\ works equivalently on Windows, Mac and Linux I think.

Thnx, great post regardless.

prudenc3 wrote:

Is this still a solution in 2015?

It depends on which bits you are referring to. The fundamentals of iTunes file storage and the reasons for duplicates haven't changed despite the visual changes to the front end.

tt2