Deleting iTunes Duplicates

iTunes is sort of bloated and can be annoying sometimes. The biggest issue with iTunes has always been the inability or rather refusal to effectively monitor folders for new content either music, photos or videos.

Not everyone like managing the media catalog from inside iTunes. Actually many prefer managing the music library for themselves using the file systems directory structure. The problem with this approach is that it confuses iTunes. This is because iTunes does not know how to handle the fact that a file has been deleted, moved or replaced.

Another problem with iTunes Find Duplicates is that it does not detect when two entries point to the same file in the library. It will delete the file then you get the cannot get file error dialog the next time you try to play the song.

If you have a vast music collection in your iTunes, you may see copies of files or songs  displayed more than once in the iTunes library. To find and remove all duplicate copies of the songs that are repeated, in your iTunes library, the following steps can be followed to delete iTunes duplicates.

The steps affect the following versions of iTunes;  iTunes 8,  iTunes 9 for Mac, iTunes 9 for Windows, iTunes 7 for Windows, iTunes 7 for Mac OS X, iTunes 8 for Windows, iTunes 10 for Windows, iTunes 10 for Mac, iTunes 9 for Mac

1. On the tool bar, choose File > Display Duplicates to reveal the duplicate items (iTunes makes matches using the song name/ title/filename and artist). If you willingly have multiple versions of a song by the same artist, for example, one version performed live/ an accoustic version and the original studio versions, or alternatively versions from various albums) you  hold the Alt or Option key for Mac OS X or the Shift key for Windows and then on the tool bar choose File > Display Exact Duplicates. This will reveal only repeated songs having the same name/ artist/ file name/ song title, and album.
2. You can also sort by the date when you added the song to the iTunes library by clicking the Date Added column.
3. In order to delete the older items, select the item with the oldest date and click on it, hold down the Shift key or the Control key, and then click on the older item that is next to the most current date. After that is done, delete the duplicate items by choosing Edit > Delete from the tool bar.

It is important to know that if you have the same iTunes library synced with another or other computers, you will have to replace the older iTunes library with the newer items in your library.

There are a few problems associated with the manual method of deleting iTunes duplicates. The major one being that you are never sure you are going to delete the correct file. Many a time you will find that the iTunes duplicates differ in quality or length. Usually most of us will save the song with the longest length.