Two (or more) mp3 files for one song? can I delete one of them?

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Level 1

27 points

Two (or more) mp3 files for one song? can I delete one of them?

Hi everyone,

I am using iTunes 12.4.3.1 on iMac with OS X El Capitan.

I recently created for a playlist with about 100 titles a "parallel playlist" in mp3 format, because I needed to burn it on CD. so far so good. Probably I made some kind of manipulation error and now I have discovered that for every mp3 title have have two or more files. They are NOT shown under duplicates. Duplicates show me two versions of the song, one as AAC and the other as mp3. Like in the following screenshot.

but if I select the mp3 song (the one with 160 kbit/s) and click "show in finder" I get the following THREE files:

The "right" one is the one with the later time, and the "1" in the name, as I can determine using the "information" option on the song.

so now the questions are:

a) how did it happen?

b) is there some way to find ALL these duplicates and to delete them?

c) if not, can I delete them manually with no risk for my music library?

I am relatively new to Apple, I will be grateful for every advice

Best regards

Claudio

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013)

Posted on Aug 17, 2016 10:58 AM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

278,187 points

Aug 17, 2016 12:04 PM in response to Claudio P.

a) Only you can know for sure, but my guess would be that you've done a conversion like this before, then deleted the new tracks from the library after use, without deleting the corresponding files from the media folder at the same time. When iTunes tries to make a new copy using the standard file naming scheme there is already a file there so it appends " 1" or " 2" etc. to the filename as required until it can make a new file. (In some other scenarios it starts with " 2" but I can no longer recall which.)

b) Use File > Add to Library and select the iTunes Media folder. Anything not currently connected to iTunes will be added to the library. Use File > Library > Show Duplicate Items > Same Album to list exact duplicates. Sort the list on Date Added. Delete the duplicates added today only. Send the deleted items to the trash.

c) See b). Deleting manually is usually difficult and prone to error. You need to be sure the file you're deleting isn't the one that the library is connected to. It may not always be apparent from the name or date.

There is a set of circumstances in which multiple entries in the library can be connected to a single file. If there is a risk of this then some additional care needs to be taken when deleting, however that won't be a problem in the scenario outlined, and the solution given only deals with physical dupes that are in the media folder and not currently connected to iTunes.

tt2

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