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every single song in my iTunes library has been duplicated.

i've tried sorting the duplicated files by date and then trying to delete them from there but it was too complicated. i have a little over 3000 songs. this is so frustrating! someone please help.

MacBook Pro

Posted on Apr 12, 2015 10:46 AM

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7 replies

Apr 12, 2015 11:39 AM in response to kaitlin.hilli

How did you accomplish this in the first place?


First, make a backup of your computer. Dealing with duplicates is dangerous and you want to make sure you have a backup so if something happens you don't like you can rescue tracks from your backup. Next, see if the duplicates really point to the same file, or if the media files themselves have been duplicated, or (worst case) a mixture of both. If either one or the other, use iTunes to show duplicates, sort by date added and get rid of everything that occurs on the date when this occurred. If media files were duplicated you can choose to get rid of them when iTunes asks. If both tracks point to the same file on your computer don't get rid of the media file or it will be gone for both duplicate entries.


How to find and remove duplicate items in your iTunes library - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2905


Posts by turingtest2 about different types of duplicates and techniques - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3555601 and https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3293239?answerId=16042406022#16042406022 (Note: The DeDuper script is for Windows).


May 2014 post on iCloud duplicates - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6253706?answerId=25867873022#25867873022


Show exact duplicates (Mac and Windows) - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3555601?answerId=16951281022#16951281022


http://dougscripts.com/itunes/itinfo/dupin.php (commercial)

Apr 13, 2015 10:38 AM in response to Limnos

I don't know when this happened. There's been a few albums in my library that have been duplicated for a long time, but something happened and yesterday everything was duplicated. I have most, hopefully all, of my songs on my iPod classic. It hasn't been synched since this happened so everything should be there. Can I delete my whole library and then import everything back from my iPod? I don't see any other way. It's really messy.

Apr 13, 2015 11:02 AM in response to kaitlin.hilli

i-devices are not designed to be backups. You can only import items purchased from Apple from an iOS device without buying additional software from third party sources. I also do not know how easy it is to import playlists that give your iTunes library structure. Generally you use a proper computer backup to do all that.


If you can tie all this down to a particular time window you can do as I suggested in my earlier post.

Apr 13, 2015 1:24 PM in response to kaitlin.hilli

Deduping 3,000 tracks by hand wouldn't actually take that long, particularly once you know whether or not the tracks are doubled up in Finder or only in the iTunes interface. Alternatively Dupin-Lite from the Mac App store might help you do it more efficently and isn't that expensive. Deleting everything from the library and then reimporting from the iPod is likely to make matters worse. Depending on the tools you use you will lose ratings, playlists, play counts, and still have to work out what media files might be in your library that aren't on the device so that you can rescue them.


Don't worry about the duplicates that have been there for ages to start with. What about all those that were created yesterday? Select a typical track and use Get Info then look at the file tab for the two copies of it. Are both copies pointed at exatcly the same path, or different ones?


tt2

every single song in my iTunes library has been duplicated.

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