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how do i remove duplicate songs on my ipod and in my library

how do i remove duplicate songs on my ipod and in my library

iPod nano, iOS 8.2

Posted on Mar 26, 2015 4:59 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Mar 26, 2015 5:19 PM

Apple's official advice on duplicates is here: Find and remove duplicate items in your iTunes library. It is a manual process and the article fails to explain some of the potential pitfalls such as lost ratings and playlist membership, or that sometimes the same file can be represented by multiple entries in the library and that deleting one and recycling the file will break the other.


Use Shift > View > Show Exact Duplicate Items to display duplicates as this is normally a more useful selection. You need to manually select all but one of each group to remove. Sorting the list by Date Added may make it easier to select the appropriate tracks, however this works best when performed immediately after the dupes have been created. If you have multiple entries in iTunes connected to the same file on the hard drive then don't send to the recycle bin.


Use my DeDuper script if you're not sure, don't want to do it by hand, or want to preserve ratings, play counts and playlist membership. See this thread for background, this post for detailed instructions, and please take note of the warning to backup your library before deduping.

(If you don't see the menu bar press ALT to show it temporarily or CTRL+B to keep it displayed.)


The most recent version of the script can tidy dead links as long as there is at least one live duplicate to merge stats and playlist membership to and should cope sensibly when the same file has been added via multiple paths.

Fix the library, then syncing should fix the device.


tt2

3 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Mar 26, 2015 5:19 PM in response to SG MIMI

Apple's official advice on duplicates is here: Find and remove duplicate items in your iTunes library. It is a manual process and the article fails to explain some of the potential pitfalls such as lost ratings and playlist membership, or that sometimes the same file can be represented by multiple entries in the library and that deleting one and recycling the file will break the other.


Use Shift > View > Show Exact Duplicate Items to display duplicates as this is normally a more useful selection. You need to manually select all but one of each group to remove. Sorting the list by Date Added may make it easier to select the appropriate tracks, however this works best when performed immediately after the dupes have been created. If you have multiple entries in iTunes connected to the same file on the hard drive then don't send to the recycle bin.


Use my DeDuper script if you're not sure, don't want to do it by hand, or want to preserve ratings, play counts and playlist membership. See this thread for background, this post for detailed instructions, and please take note of the warning to backup your library before deduping.

(If you don't see the menu bar press ALT to show it temporarily or CTRL+B to keep it displayed.)


The most recent version of the script can tidy dead links as long as there is at least one live duplicate to merge stats and playlist membership to and should cope sensibly when the same file has been added via multiple paths.

Fix the library, then syncing should fix the device.


tt2

Oct 17, 2015 4:11 AM in response to BJ Mark

The tool I've created only works on the main library. Syncing with selected playlists gives just as much power to select what goes on to the device as manual management, with the advantage that you can organize content for the device even when it isn't connected to your library, and everything is in place if your device needs to be restored or replaced. If you have content on your device that isn't in your library see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.


tt2

how do i remove duplicate songs on my ipod and in my library

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