Duplicates in iTunes folder on Finder?

So, yesterday, I reinstalled the OS because my computer was having problems and running out of space, transferring over nothing other than the iPhoto, iTunes, and a couple of other apps. I used an external drive to hold those files. Then, I moved the iTunes library to the right location under Users>Music. Before I reinstalled the OS, I consolidated the iTunes LIbrary so everything would be in one folder. This causes duplicates of many songs and files, as they all had to be duplicated and moved to the right folder in Finder, for an easier time moving the files to the drive. I didn't care about duplicates because I would be using a new machine. So, I let everything transfer. Everything went right. Except, now when I go to User>Music>iTunes, I have all my songs under iTunes Media folder which is User>Music>iTunes>iTunes Media, and all my songs also in the Music folder in User>Music>iTunes>Music. Are these all duplicates, and if so, which is safe to delete? Laslty, I have music in "All My Files" too and it has about 3,000 more files than the iTunes LIbrary does, so there are duplicates there. But I don't think those music files are even supposed to be in "All My Files," They should be in the iTunes folder. Can anyone help with getting rid of those duplicates? I'm on a mid-2010 13'' Macbook Pro running Mountain Lion.
Thank you very much for your help,
Phillip

Hello Phillip,
If you consolidated the files in iTunes, then yes, the location for all the music is iTunes Media folder. I would double check and get info on some of the files in iTunes to makes sure that is where the files are located.
iTunes: Understanding iTunes Media Organization
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847
Where are my iTunes files located?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1391
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Regards,
-Norm G.

Similar Messages

Duplicates in iTunes folder but not iTunes

Hi,
Through Spotify I figured out that my music library on my Mac contains duplicates of many of my songs. Since this is a problem in the User > Music > iTunes folder, the usual "Find duplicates" won't help. I have over 5,000 songs, so is there any way to isolate and remove duplicates within the folder?
Thanks!

Use File > Add Folder to Library to add the iTunes Media folder to the library.
Existing tracks will be ignored, new tracks will be added.
Use the Option+File > Show Exact Duplicates feature to show exact duplicates.
Sort the list on Date Added.
Delete the duplicates added today.
tt2

Deleted songs are still in my iTunes folder

Well, I've seen, when I used OmniDiskSweeper, that my iTunes folder in the Finder is about 1 GB bigger than my iTunes Library. Why is it so?
Are in the folder still songs that I deleted or what is the reason?
Do you guys know, if there is an application to compare the songs in iTunes and the songs in the iTunes Folder in Finder, and show them, so that you can delete the ones that aren't anymore in your library?
Thanks

Are in the folder still songs that I deleted or what is the reason?
Could be, or they just could be (former) duplicate files of which you deleted 1.
I don't know of an application, but you might find the script List Folder Files Not Added helpful. The 'readme' tells you how it works.
Hope this helps.
M
17' iMac 800 MHz, 768 MB RAM, 200 GB HD, DL burner Mac OS X (10.4.8) iTunes 7.0.2

How do I permanently delete itunes folder on mac hd ?

I want to use my external for library.

You have two alternatives:
1. Change the location of the library in the Advanced section of iTunes preferences.
2. Create an alias to the new iTunes folder's location and place the alias in the original locations. Then delete the newly made iTunes folder you find there and rename the alias to iTunes.

Duplicates in iTunes Media Folder

Okay, so first a little background. I had to reformat my Mac awhile back due to an issue with some beta software. Now, my Mac is back to working again... but since I had to redownload everything from iTunes Match to keep from having to redo the match/upload process and restart all that. But now, my iTunes Media folder has at least two of every file. (It's on my External Hard Drive, so I didn't lose my music with the reformat) I did this because I have movies, TV shows, and other content that I could not download from iCloud.
My question doesn't necessary apply to just iTunes Match though, just the duplicates. My iTunes Library has one copy of each, although Finder has two or more. I would like to erase the duplicates without messing with the songs currently in my library from iTunes Match. I would prefer to not need to delete it all and redownlad my thousands of songs from iCloud again. It seems like there would be some way to do this, and I would really appreciate any help I could get.

You could try using Robert Jacobson's script itunes_remove_notfound, or install iTunes Folder Watch and set its option to check for dead tracks on startup, or you can make a set of Lost & Found Playlists and delete what is in lost, assuming you're certain there is nothing in there that you want to repair.
I've also got a script for cleaning real duplicates. The current version just ignores missing tracks but I'm contemplating an update which would safely eliminate the broken link while preserving ratings, play counts, playlist membership etc, assuming a live duplicate to merge this data to has been found.
tt2

Automatically find duplicates in Itunes

Greetings,
I have a relatively large Itunes library of over 300gbs. I changed a band's album name and Itunes kept both folders in the Itunes folder while only displaying the updated name change. This modification created duplicate songs albeit the album names are different. Itunes kept both versions which leads me to think I may have many duplicate songs. The normal "display duplicates" methods on Itunes doesn't find them. Does anyone know a method to find duplicates other than manually viewing each file within the Itunes music folder? Thanks.

Thanks. Shortly afterwards, I tested my theory and it won't well. I simply opened my Itunes music folder and choose the bands folder with the duplicates. I dragged them into my library and Itunes listing them as duplicates so I deleted the songs with the old album title.

Find files in itunes folder no longer indexed by library

Howdie y'all,
well in the past I used to say Keep Files when deleting files from itunes and not
move to recycle bin. I as well once by mistake restored a big chunk of recycle binned mp3s by accident.
Now my itunes music folder is roughly 6 gigs larger than my itunes library and has
a few hundreds files more than the library has songs. Seeing space on my laptop drive is getting low I would like to find the files that are in my itunes folder
(I let itunes organize my files and have copy to itunes folder enabled as well)
but no longer indexed by my itunes library.
Anyone know of a way to do this easily?
BTW I used a couple of duplicate finder programs and just half a dozen show up
so I am pretty confident that it's not a duplicates issue but a no longer indexed
issue!
any help really greatly appreciated!
remosito

looks like itunes is not readding as duplicates anymore in 7.5.
Just tried
your method with a couple of artist subfolders and itunes must have
realized they already existed in the library because nothing happened.
Once my current itms purchased AAC->MP3 conversion is done I will try
with the whole itunes folder!
it would be sooo nice if it would be so simple!
thanks again a ton
remosito
PS did itunes do duplicate stuff like that in earlier versions? I am pretty
sure I read about this problem. And I think I ran into it a couple of years
ago too when I misclicked the folder and picked the itunes folder instead of
my EAC ripping folder...
too

Open itunes get error message, can't find iTunes folder! & doesn't open!

Hi, I have Downloaded iTunes but it some how has installed itself onto a USB pen drive that I had connected at the time. I have unplugged this and downloaded iTunes again...which seemed to go ok but when I click the iTunes icon an error message appears ' Cannot find iTunes folder, this is normally located in the My Music Folder' and will not open iTunes. I plug the USB pen in and it works fine! I have tried to copy & paste the files on the USB pen but it doesn't copy them properly...can anyone help?

Hello mvguillet,
Thank you for the details of the issue you are experiencing with installing the latest iTunes update. I recommend following the steps below:
Resolution
Follow these steps to resolve the issue:
Check for .dll files
Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\iTunes and C:\Program Files\iTunes and look for .dll files.
If you find QTMovie.DLL, or any other .dll files, move them to the desktop.
Reboot your computer.
Note: Depending on your operating system, you may only have one of the listed paths.
Uninstall and reinstall iTunes
Uninstall iTunes and all of its related components.
Reboot your computer. If you can't uninstall a piece of Apple software, try using the Microsoft Program Install and Uninstall Utility.
Re-download and reinstall iTunes 11.1.4.
I understand that you have already uninstalled iTunes, but when you get to this step, it is important to uninstall iTunes and the related components in the order listed in the link for that step.
You can find the full article here:
iTunes 11.1.4 for Windows: Unable to install or open
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5376
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Sheila M.

ITunes doesn't/slowly add music to libary (can't find it by artist or album), but does add it to iTunes folder and playlists

When I drag and drop music to my iTunes, it starts copying files to the iTunes folder. Afterwards it scan's for loudness and artwork. That's all correct.
But after this I can't find the music in my Library, while it is resulted as search results. Also the songs are in different playlists (newly added and never played).
Only after about 45 min-1 hour the files áre in my library, without me doing or changing anything...
I use iTunes 11, never had this problem with iTunes 10.
Someone got any suggestions? Restarting iTunes won't work...

Do you use iTunes Match? People have reported this can slow the process down.
To turn offiTunes MAtch
Store > Turn off iTunes Match.
Import your music
Store > Turn on iTunes Match

I backup my iphone on my pc and copy backup file into drive D then i setup new OS on my pc. after that i copy the backup file into itunes backup folder but itunes can't find the backup file to restore my iphone. how can i restore my iphone?

i backup my iphone on my pc and copy backup file into drive D then i setup new OS on my pc. after that i copy the backup file into itunes backup folder but itunes can't find the backup file to restore my iphone. how can i restore my iphone?

Don't you just love changes in interfaces?
I found the answer to my question.
When you attach a device (iPhone, iPad) to your Mac, in iTunes 12 in appears as a tiny icon in the second "row" of the iTunes display. Click the icon and the familiar iTunes display for the device appears. From there, on the Summary screen, you can see the dates of the backups of the device (iCloud and backup to the computer). You can also use the button to backup to the computer.

Moved my music folder, iTunes can't find it

My music is there, but iTunes can't find it. I created a new music folder on an external HD because of space issues. I have set the preferences to find the music folder at the new location, then consolidated the library.
I deleted the original music folder in it's entirety. Apparently, that's bad. Is there a way to re-create that folder? Or is there another way to make iTunes find the music in it's new location?
Any help much appreciated.

If you deleted the original iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Library.xml files, you may need to re-load all the music. You should be able to go to File-Add Folder to Library, select the folder that holds all your music and have it re-loaded.

Moved iTunes music folder to HDD, Now iTunes Can't Find it--Help :-)

I finally was able to get an HDD that actually mounted and now I have moved my iTunes music folder based on the instructions here: iTunes: Moving your iTunes Music folder. I printed them out and followed them step-by-step.
Before moving the folder iTunes Music from my internal HD (~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music) to the trash, I played random tracks with no problem. So I moved the folder to the trashcan, then emptied the trash as instructed. Went back to iTunes to play some music, and now all of my tracks have the dreaded exclamation point in the first column. When I click on a track to play it, I get the message "The song 'blah blah blah' could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"
Of course, I can select 'Yes' and go through the steps and locate the files on my HDD. This, however, is not an optimal process with over 2400 songs. Does anyone know what went wrong with my relocation?
Melissa
PowerBook G4 PowerPC Mac OS X (10.4.8) iPod 30G, MyBook 250GB HDD, iTunes 7.1.1

I've used that method to transfer music from one drive to another literally dozens of times and never seen it fail in the way you experienced. I'm at a loss to explain how you could have followed the instructions, successfully transfer the music to the new drive, and yet have the iTunes database still think the music should be on the original drive.
What I can suggest are two solutions: One for it you don't care about keeping your playlists, rankings, and playcounts intact. The other for if you do care.
Fast fix but loses the meta data: Quit iTunes. Open your home directory, find the music folder and open it. Trash everything you see in your music folder and restart iTunes. All your music and playlists will be gone. Open your new drive on the desktop, find the folder with your music, and drag it into your iTunes window. Your music will be imported into a new iTunes catalog and then you can create your playlists.
Keeping the metadata: After quitting iTunes, move the music back to its original location by dragging the music folder(s). Unmount the new drive and play some music. Remember the songs you clicked on and showed iTunes how to find? Do those songs all over again and once you've verified the iTunes library now points to all the songs properly, delete the songs from the new drive and repeat the steps to move them again.

Move all my music to another folder but Itunes can't find the files!

I have all my music on my desktop in small folders for each artist.
But now i don't have room anymore, because i have to much music.
So i want to move it all in to a folder called "Music". But when i do that
Itunes can't find the files, and i have to search for each file, to find the new location instead of the desktop. How do i move my music more easily? So i don't have to synchronize it all in again, with the right album covers and that..
Please, need some help here!

You need to open your preferences file in iTunes and click on advance then select the location of where you put the folder. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527

Error Message: Can't Find iTunes Folder, Can't Create It

All was well until suddenly iTunes (9.02) won't open...and earlier versions won't let themselves be
installed (OS 10.4.11 on G4).
I used Norton to unerase any folder with a name like Music or iTunes...to no avail.
I'd hate to think I have to reinstall my OS. The trouble began shortly after I accidentally disconnected
my iPod Touch without ejecting its icon in iTunes.
Can anyone offer a solution? Thanks!

You don't need to reinstall the OS to reinstall iTunes.
Go to HD>Library>Receipts - remove the iTunesX.pkg to the trash.
Drag your iTunes app to the trash. B/U your iTunes Library and .xml files. B/U your iTS purchases.
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/ipod_itunes/itunes802formac.html
Find the folder - Previous iTunes Libraries in the iTunes folder - in there is a copy of your previous libraries files- select the one that is the date of your upgrade to iTunes 9. Make a copy and rename it - iTunes Library - replace the file named the same in the iTunes Folder. Any additions to iTunes under iTunes 9 will not be in the data base so you will have to add them back once iTunes is open again.
When iTunes upgrades your iTunes it creates a copy of the original Library file before updating - that way if there is a problem you have a Library file to revert to - however when it upgrades it changes something so the older version will not work with the new version. Before launching the downgraded version of iTunes you need to copy/rename/replace the iTunes Library file that is created when you install the downgraded version of iTunes.
Repair permissions with Disk Utility.
Open iTunes - if all is well you can empty the trash.
MJ

ITunes refuses to start. Can´t find iTunes folder!?!?!!

I recently tried to move all my iTunes media content to an external HDD.
Now i can´t get iTunes to boot up! It gives me this error msg.: The "iTunes folder" an not be found or created, and is essential. The default location is in the music folder. (written in Danish) I tried to move the folder back. But that didn´t help. I tried moving the library file somewhere else (to see if iTunes would start from fresh) This didn´t help either!
I have even tried to uninstall iTunes then reboot then redownload and install then reboot. STILL nothing!
Please help!
Bo Holbo Rasmussen

The video is detected just fine and the driver gives no errors. It does check all connections and - as you note - indicated some are not connected, but then it does connect on DVI-0.
The end shows that it exited normally. Something is wrong with your xinitrc and/or lxde is not starting. The latter should give an error, so I suspect the former is the issue.
When you say you executed "#startx" does that mean you did it as root? If so that is both a bad idea in general, and a reason why this specific case fails. Your xinitrc is not read, instead X looks for /root/.xinitrc and if it doesn't find it uses the systemwide xinitrc.

Duplicates in iTunes folder on Finder?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for