As your iTunes Library grows, you will probably lose track of exactly what media you have already imported and eventually you will end up with duplicate songs and videos. For example, you might accidentally import a CD twice or add files from Limewire or BitTorrent. Or maybe a friend with a big Terabyte hard drive loaded you up with a lot of music recently.

Here are a few tips and techniques on how to get rid of duplicate songs in your iTunes Library as well as some precautions you should take before deleting duplicate tracks.

Requirements:

• any computer with iTunes 4.7 or higher installed (Mac or PC)
• duplicate songs in your iTunes Library

Deleting Duplicate Songs - Using iTunes

Whether you've downloaded music or imported songs from CDs, you may have a few duplicate tracks causing clutter in your iTunes collection. Here's how to find and get rid of any duplicate songs in iTunes:

1. Open iTunes
   
   
   
2. Select "Show Duplicates" from the File menu (File > Show Duplicate Songs)
   or the Edit or View menu if you have an older version of iTunes (Edit > Show Duplicate Songs) or (View > Show Duplicate Songs).
   
   
   
   
   
3. Analyze the meta data of your duplicates. You will now see all the media that you have doubles for in your iTunes Library. For example, take a look at the image below. I have two copies of the Alice Cooper song "School's Out ." Should I delete one of them? Not so fast. Take a closer look at the Album column.
   
   
   
   These two tracks may be the same song, but they are from two different albums; the Dazed And Confused movie soundtrack and a compilation called Mullets Rock. If you were in my situation, should you delete one of them? This entirely depends on you. If you are short on hard drive space, you might want to delete one of the tracks. Personally, I have a 2TB Lacie drive with plenty of hard drive space for my music and will keep both songs. But if I had two songs from the same album, I would probably delete one of them.
   
   
   
4. Before deleting a duplicate song, there are several things you should take into consideration.
   
   
   • Play each song to make sure it imported properly and sounds good. You don't want to delete a good version of a song and keep a bad one.
     
     
   • View a track summary of your duplicate tracks before deleting them. You can right-click on any song in iTunes or select "Get Info" from the File menu (File > Get Info). You might have two versions of he same song, but are they really the same? Were the songs imported at the same bit rate? Are they the same file size? Do they both have artwork?
     
     Here's a good example of why you should check all duplicate tracks before deleting them. My friend gave me a bunch of songs and I imported all of them into my iTunes Library. I already had a few of the songs he gave me and I ended up with some duplicates which I quickly deleted. I later realized that many of the songs he gave me were purchased using his iTunes Music Store account and I couldn't play them without his password. I screwed up. I deleted many of my songs and got stuck with his songs which I couldn't use. I ended up having to reimport several CDs and even repurchasing some songs from the iTunes Music Store.
     
     
   • Consider making a backup of your duplicate songs before deleting them for good (see example above). You can make a new Playlist in iTunes and drag these duplicate songs into this playlist. Then burn them to CD/DVD-ROM in case you need them in the future.
     
     
     
5. You can now manually delete these songs but be careful! These duplicates might be from Live albums, soundtracks or even from a "Greatest Hits" CD. Take a look at the image below. I have three copies of the Alice In Chains song "A Little Bitter." Two of them look like they are from the same album. The third track is a remix version of "A Little Bitter" from the Alice In Chains box set.
   
   
   
   
   
6. To "Show All Songs" again you can select "Show All Songs" from the File, Edit or View menu (depends on what version iTunes you are using) or click on the button that says "Show All Songs" at the bottom of your iTunes window (File > Show All Songs).
   
   

Deleting Duplicate Songs - Using VBScript

This next method uses VBScript and will only work for Windows users. If you are unfamiliar with VBScript, it's a coding language that allows you to make your own custom program for your PC. To run the duplicate song killer VBScript below, just follow these steps:

• Click here to open the VBScript in a new browser window.
• Copy and paste the script into a new Notepad document (Start > All Programs > Accessories > Notepad).
• Edit line #2 and replace "DaCeige" with your username. DaCeige is the methodshop.com reader who wrote the script.
  • C:\Users\DaCeige\Music\iTunes\iTunes Music
• Save the Notepad file using a file name like "DupKiller.vbs" Notepad will automatically try to add ".txt" to your text files. You MUST add the file extension ".vbs" to your file.
• Double click on the file called "DupKiller.vbs" on your desktop. This will make a shortcut to the script.
• That's it. Just double click on the shortcut for now on to run the script.
• You may see a warning window from Norton AntiVirus when trying to run this script. Just select the option that allows this script to run. But always be cautious before running a VBScript. Never run a VBScript without inspecting it first. Many times people will try to hide viruses in VBScripts.

Here's the script below if you want to inspect it. Don't copy and paste this script immediately below. It won't work, it's just for display. Use the link above:

Alternate Ways to Manage Duplicate Songs in iTunes

Several third party software companies and programmers have developed ways to help manage duplicate songs in iTunes. Here is a short list you might find useful:

• Corral All Dupes (Doug's AppleScripts)
• iTunes Dupes Barrier (Hyperbolic Software)
• iTunes VBScript Dupe Killer (Josh G.)

Final Thoughts

Duplicate songs in your iTunes Library can be a pain in the ass, but they can be taken care of with a little patience and know-how. Whether or not you use iTunes to manage your duplicates or an alternate option, you should always exercise caution before deleting your music.

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