Itunes 11 duplicating songs

Since upgrading to version 11 my itunes keeps duplicating ablums that I have had in my library for years. I do not have match and these are not downloaded tracks. I have spent hours deleting these duplicate tracks only to find more popping up everytime that I start itunes. Any idea what is causing this and how to stop it?

This is still happening. Anyone have any advice out there?

Similar Messages

Itunes duplicating songs that are the same. Multiple computers.

On my ipod i have it set to manually update. I connect it to two computers, one is a G5, another is a custom PC.
Now here's the problem, i'll drag and drop all of the music from the PC onto the ipod, it updates it, and we're all good. Well when i get back to my mac (where the other 6k songs are) ill drag and drop the library and it'll start importing, only problem is that it is importing the *exact same files*. Certain artists (annihilator, necrophagist, etc.) are on both computers, but they are the *exact same files*. I imported them on the PC, sent them over my LAN to my mac, and imported them. Meaning they have the same file extensions, names, and are the *exact same files*.
Now itunes will duplicate these in it's own sense. It'll import them and basically duplicate about 3k songs. This is obviously something i dont want. Now i know that i can show duplicate songs in itunes, but i'm not about to go through 6k songs and delete 1/2 of them.
So here is my question, are there any apple scripts out there that will tell itunes to import aritsts/albums/genres that are not already on the ipod?
Before anyone answers with "well just drag and drop the artists/albums/genres that aren't on the ipod" well that's great, only i have 335 different artists, and 896 albums. If you have that kind of time, great, but i dont.
thanks for any help,
-TC

You could try this. I haven’t used it so not sure if it’s what you‘re looking for.
http://www.dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/scripts01.php?page=1#corralitunesdupes

How to stop iTunes duplicating songs on import?

Everytime I import songs into iTunes (usually by dragging songs onto the iTunes icon) it imports them, but for some odd reason also duplicates every track. Any ideas why it would do this?
I've tried creating a new library but it still does the same thing.

Are these files downloaded from the internet? Oftentimes these kinds of files will include a playlist file with extension .cue or .m3u that look like music files but will cause iTunes to import the list of tracks twice when dragged along with the audio files.

Duplicated songs in iTunes

Running 12.1.0.71 - 64 bit iTunes on a Windows7 ASUS PC I have discovered that most of the songs have been duplicated.
1) The problem seems to affect mainly, but not only, songs that were purchased from the iTunes Store, (while only a few of the songs imported to iTunes from CD are duplicated)
2) The dates of the duplicated songs goes from december, 14th 2014 (which seems to be the key-date) to february 2nd 2015. As if it took sometimes to the source of the error to create all those duplicates.
3) I suspect that iCloud is part of the error because months ago all of the songs were "automatically" (phantomly) moved to the cloud and it took a while to me to download all of the items to the PC, so that I can hear the music even when I'm off grid.
4) Browsing c:\Users\User\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music a few of the Artist folders (directories) show creation date dec 14 or 15, 2014 as if recreated on that date, but why? (eg. the U2 folder)
25/12/2012 18:47    <DIR>          The Strokes
17/08/2012 00:23    <DIR>          The Walkmen
16/08/2012 22:21    <DIR>          Thom Yorke
14/12/2014 01:09    <DIR>          U2
5) In other cases, such as the Strokes folder, the creation date of the artist folder is 2012, but the date of creation of all of the album folders inside the artist folder is dec 14 or 15, 2014
14/12/2014 01:21    <DIR>          Angles
14/12/2014 01:18    <DIR>          First Impressions of Earth
15/12/2014 17:48    <DIR>          Is This It
15/12/2014 22:16    <DIR>          Room On Fire
6) Browsing any of them you find the original songs AND the duplicates
06/02/2015 16:46    <DIR>          .
06/02/2015 16:46    <DIR>          ..
14/12/2014 01:19         7.490.291 01 Machu Picchu 1.m4a
06/11/2014 23:42         7.490.291 01 Machu Picchu.m4a
29/12/2014 03:34         8.346.500 02 Under Cover of Darkness 1.m4a
06/09/2014 22:56         8.346.500 02 Under Cover of Darkness.m4a
28/12/2014 21:16         8.253.849 03 Two Kinds of Happiness 1.m4a
11/09/2014 15:06         8.253.849 03 Two Kinds of Happiness.m4a
14/12/2014 01:19         5.786.105 04 You're So Right 1.m4a
25/12/2012 18:47         5.786.105 04 You're So Right.m4a
14/12/2014 01:20         7.588.588 05 Taken for a Fool 1.m4a
25/12/2012 18:47         7.588.588 05 Taken for a Fool.m4a
29/12/2014 01:06         9.025.391 06 Games 1.m4a
20/09/2014 00:36         9.025.391 06 Games.m4a
14/12/2014 01:20         6.537.187 07 Call Me Back 1.m4a
25/12/2012 18:47         6.537.187 07 Call Me Back.m4a
14/12/2014 01:20         6.720.300 08 Gratisfaction 1.m4a
25/12/2012 18:47         6.720.300 08 Gratisfaction.m4a
14/12/2014 01:20         6.513.520 09 Metabolism 1.m4a
25/12/2012 18:47         6.513.520 09 Metabolism.m4a
14/12/2014 01:21         9.676.006 10 Life Is Simple In the Moonlight 1.m4a
01/10/2014 15:42         9.676.006 10 Life Is Simple In the Moonlight.m4a
14/12/2014 01:21    <DIR>          Angles - iTunes LP (v2.0).itlp
06/01/2013 00:50    <DIR>          Angles - iTunes LP.itlp
7) In the case above (The Strokes-Angles) the original song and the duplicate have the same size. In other cases the size is different:
Directory di C:\Users\Utente\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music\Radiohead\The Bends
06/02/2015 16:50    <DIR>          .
06/02/2015 16:50    <DIR>          ..
15/12/2014 18:09         4.398.458 01 Planet Telex 1.m4p
19/09/2014 22:07         4.450.978 01 Planet Telex.m4p
15/12/2014 18:10         4.082.607 02 The Bends 1.m4p
19/09/2014 18:05         4.135.130 02 The Bends.m4p
15/12/2014 18:10         4.429.392 03 High and Dry 1.m4p
03/09/2014 21:45         4.481.912 03 High and Dry.m4p
15/12/2014 18:10         4.898.487 04 Fake Plastic Trees 1.m4p
28/06/2014 08:51         4.951.001 04 Fake Plastic Trees.m4p
15/12/2014 18:10         3.181.388 05 Bones 1.m4p
24/09/2014 18:05         3.233.915 05 Bones.m4p
23/10/2014 21:11         3.956.505 06 Nice Dream.m4p
15/12/2014 18:10         3.920.394 07 Just 1.m4p
18/09/2014 21:36         3.972.922 07 Just.m4p
15/12/2014 18:10         4.648.505 08 My Iron Lung 1.m4p
23/10/2014 21:18         4.701.025 08 My Iron Lung.m4p
21/06/2014 11:45         3.758.558 09 Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was.m4p
15/12/2014 18:11         4.194.131 10 Black Star 1.m4p
21/06/2014 08:42         4.246.653 10 Black Star.m4p
15/12/2014 18:11         3.852.079 11 Sulk 1.m4p
02/08/2014 14:15         3.904.607 11 Sulk.m4p
15/12/2014 18:11         4.396.904 12 Street Spirit (Fade Out) 1.m4p
31/07/2014 19:21         4.449.412 12 Street Spirit (Fade Out).m4p
So that you don't know which one is to delete. Also details of the song may change: the Title of the album can be shown in all capitals in the original and not in the duplicate or viceversa. So: which is the correct one?
8) I know that I can delete the duplicated songs one by one via "show duplicates" from view but in such cases which one to keep and which one to delete? But first of all: what is the source of the error? Why did this happen (and as I see, it happened to other users too)?
Thank you for your support and advice.
5

Why, hard to tell, but if a part of your library was corrupted leaving some tracks unlisted but still in the media folder then redownloading from iTunes in the Cloud would have created duplicates in the folder, with a single copy in the library. Later adding the media folder to the library would have added in the originals resulting in visible duplicates in iTunes. When the the "phantom cloud" error happened you should have restored your library using a backup or the method in Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash.
Apple's official advice on duplicates is here Find and remove duplicate items in your iTunes library. It is a manual process and the article fails to explain some of the potential pitfalls such as lost ratings and playlist membership, or that sometimes the same file can be represented by multiple entries in the library and that deleting one and recycling the file will break the other.
Use Shift > View > Show Exact Duplicate Items to display duplicates as this is normally a more useful selection. You need to manually select all but one of each group to remove. Sorting the list by Date Added may make it easier to select the appropriate tracks, however this works best when performed immediately after the dupes have been created. If you have multiple entries in iTunes connected to the same file on the hard drive then don't send to the recycle bin.
Use my DeDuper script if you're not sure, don't want to do it by hand, or want to preserve ratings, play counts and playlist membership. See this thread for background, this post for detailed instructions, and please take note of the warning to backup your library before deduping.
(If you don't see the menu bar press ALT to show it temporarily or CTRL+B to keep it displayed.)
The most recent version of the script can tidy dead links as long as there is at least one live duplicate to merge stats and playlist membership to and should cope sensibly when the same file has been added via multiple paths.
tt2

How To Delete "Duplicated Songs Names" in iTunes Interface

Hi,
I have ripped and stored some songs in Apple Lossless on an external hdd.
I tried to transfer the songs from the ext. hdd, which is in Apple Lossless, to AAC iTunes and store them on my MacBook Pro, which has smaller hdd.
Without knowing what went wrong, now my "iTunes interface shows each of the songs that's on my ext. hdd(Apple Lossless) TWICE, but with only ONE copy of the actual songs(Apple Lossless)".
I was instructed to remove the "duplicated songs names from the inteface" and let the iTunes Library update itself.
But 5282 songs to "select & delect" the duplicated names in the interface is too "tedious".
So, is there any FASTER ways that can let me make my iTunes Library back to what it should be?
Thanks.
Ed
ps. I'm not sure, but can I create a NEW iTunes Library, and let it scan and add the songs(in Apple Lossless format and on an external hdd), so that the songs will only show ONCE in my iTunes interface?

JhnD wrote:
I have ripped and stored some songs in Apple Lossless on an external hdd.
I tried to transfer the songs from the ext. hdd, which is in Apple Lossless, to AAC iTunes and store them on my MacBook Pro, which has smaller hdd.
Without knowing what went wrong, now my "iTunes interface shows each of the songs that's on my ext. hdd(Apple Lossless) TWICE, but with only ONE copy of the actual songs(Apple Lossless)".
let me start by saying that i let iTunes manage my library, i.e. i have +keep iTunes media folder organized+ and +copy files to ... when adding to library+ checked in preferences > advanced. all that follows below is based on those settings being enabled !
i'm doing something similar. my Apple lossless files are stored on an external HD. i add these files to my library by *option dragging* them from the external into an open iTunes window. iTunes will index the path to the original's location (the external), but not physically add the files to the main library's drive.
with the external connected, i then have iTunes convert the lossless files to AAC 256, which are thus added to the main library.
i, too, have duplicate entries for those files: one being the lossless, the other being the AAC version.
there is no way around that, unless you manually remove the entries for the lossless files after the conversion.
I was instructed to remove the "duplicated songs names from the inteface" and let the iTunes Library update itself.
But 5282 songs to "select & delect" the duplicated names in the interface is too "tedious".
So, is there any FASTER ways that can let me make my iTunes Library back to what it should be?
i am quite happy with having duplicate, even triplicate entries in my library - i know how and why they are there. so, *... my iTunes Library back to what it should be* may be really quite different from one user to the next.
there are some tools to help you with the task of removing dupes, one of which is included in iTunes:
_*How to find and remove duplicate items in your iTunes library*_
_*http://www.araxis.com/find-duplicate-files/ (free trial)*_
_*http://dougscripts.com/itunes/itinfo/dupin.php (commercial)*_
ps. I'm not sure, but can I create a NEW iTunes Library, and let it scan and add the songs(in Apple Lossless format and on an external hdd), so that the songs will only show ONCE in my iTunes interface?
yes. again, you can *option drag* content from any location into iTunes without copying the actual files. since iTunes 9, there is also the +automatically add to iTunes+ folder - just drop content there and it will be added to the library. and there is alway the good old +add to library+ command under the file menu.
to start with a clean slate, launch iTunes while pressing option. @ the prompt, choose to +create new library+ and start populating the empty new library by whichever way you like. obviously, creating a new library means all your playlists, playcounts, and ratings will be gone.
JGG

I have problem syncing my music to ipad. Most of the songs are duplicated but only in ipad. I checked the music library in itunes and there didn't have the duplicated songs like in the ipad. I can not delete the duplicated songs inmy ipad.

I have problem syncing my music to ipad. Most of the songs are duplicated but only in ipad. I checked the music library in itunes and there didn't have the duplicated songs like in the ipad. I can not delete the duplicated songs inmy ipad.

Hi, Abril_Perez17.
This may be related to a new feature embedded in iOS7 that shows all purchased music by default. Go to Settings > Music, then turn off Show All Music. See if the issue ceases once the feature has been disabled. This information is located on page 63 of the user guide below.
iPhone User Guide
Regards,
Jason H.

I converted some songs in iTunes to work with an eMusic device. I'd like to delete them, but I'm not sure which of the duplicated songs to delete. Some titles are black and some are gray.

I converted some songs in iTunes to work with an eMusic device. I'd like to delete them, but I'm not sure which of the duplicated songs to delete. Some titles are black and some are gray.

let's just doublecheck some things quickly. do any of the affected songs play in itunes at the moment? if so, when you play them, do they ask to be authorised?
if so, does the authorisation go through successfully, or do you get an error message? (if you get an error message, let us know what it says. include error message numbers if you're getting any.)
if the authorisation seems to go through successfully, with the authorised songs sync to the ipod?

When ITunes changed their format it duplicated songs in my library. How do I get rid of the duplicates without having to indivdually delete them.

When ITunes changed their format it duplicated songs in my library. How do I get rid of the duplicates without having to indivdually delete them?

Go to view➡show duplicates then select all to delete

HT2905 how to delete duplicated songs in itunes library

How to delete duplicated songs from itunes library

Apple removed that option. You need to wait for them to release an update which returns it(if they do) or delete them manually.
(72732)

Get rid of duplicated songs in iTunes playlists

Ive downloaded loads of songs in my iPod playlist and now im planning to transfer all of em to my PC.I figured out how to transfer songs but now i have another problem.Apparantly when u update songs in a playlist in iPod, if u add same files to the playlist more than once, they will be added once to the iPod itself and it wont update the same song more than once.However, in the playlist it will show it more than once and so u can have duplicated (or more!) songs in the playlist. I want to see the playlist without duplicated songs so that i could download ONLY the songs in my playlist to my PC and not all of them.
has neone got a clue how to do that!?
tnx
Sony Vaio Windows XP

You cannot edit the playlist while it is on the iPod.
You have to edit the plalist in iTunes and then resync it to the iPod.

Clean up duplicated songs in itunes library

my external harddisk was dead 2 weeks ago , together with my thousands of songs . i ripped some hundred songs from 2 ipods back to my macbook . now , i have problem .
i found duplicated songs , one is real but the other with "!" sign and is only a dead link . how can i clean up all the useless names ?
moreover , i want to clean up my itunes library , kill all duplacted files and all those "hollow names with no songs " . any simple way ?
please help . thanks
PS : the macbook i am using is with latest itunes and OS

Hi,
You need Doug's applescript - "Super Remove Dead Tracks" You can get it here - http://dougscripts.com/itunes/ixarch/arch.php?my=2007-03#032007a
Regards

HT201812 How do I get iTunes to stop duplicating songs?

I have used a Windows computer with iTunes for years with no issues. I switched to a Mac in January and now my library keeps on duplicating songs. I tried removing all of my music and fixing it in an external hard drive, manually deleted all of the duplicates, etc. I have unchecked the "copy to iTunes folder" box in iTunes and moved my library from a separate music folder into the iTunes folder.
I am unsure of what else to do. I have done many searches but am not seeing any advice beyond what I have tried to correct this problem. I can't stand the idea of once again having to manually delete all the duplicates.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

Thanks for the response!
I do not have iTunes Match.
I used the external hard drive just to clean things up. Transferred all my songs there, cleaned them up, emptied iTunes, and moved my songs back in. It was fine, until I added new songs to my library. It seems like somewhere in the process of adding files, some of the files in my iTunes are being duplicated.
They are duplicated both in iTunes, and in the folder (there are additional copies with a 1, 2, etc. tacked on to the end).
Also, it's happening to a mix of songs purchased through iTunes, and songs that are added directly to my library from other sources.

Duplicated songs on the iTunes

Hi, maybe someone can help me out over here, I’m kind of new with this iPod iTunes etc stuff, and I’ve tried already to solved out myself but with no results.
the problem is that I have all my music stored in the hard drive and, when importing it to the iTunes everything goes perfectly, the thing is that, after the process is done I realized that 80% of all my music appear duplicated and sometimes 3 times the same music.
I went to the drive itself to check if in fact the song is actually duplicate, and I’m 100% sure that is note I only have it 1 time on the hard drive.
why is it iTunes duplicating the song and sometimes copying it 3 times, and how can i solve this problem..?
Thanks in advance
Regards

The same way they would be deleted in any other version of iTunes.
Find the duplicate entries and delete them.

HT2905 how do i delete duplicated songs on the new version of itunes?

somehow the new itunes version managed to duplicate ALL my songs.. and i need an easier way to delete all the duplicated songs.. i now have 3,204 songs and most are duplicated three or four times.. i need some help.
AN EASIER WAY TO DELETE DUPLICATED SONGS ON THE NEW VERSION OF ITUNES

Select a song. Hit command-I (Mac) or Ctrl-I (Windows). In the pane which opens select the 'Artwork' tab. Drag an image to the space.
Or, select an album: same keystroke. In the pane which opens is a space labelled 'Artwork' - drag an image there.

Is there a way to prevent iCloud from duplicating songs downloaded if I manually sync my iPhone with my PC?

Is there a way to prevent iCloud from duplicating songs downloaded if I manually sync my iPhone with my PC?

You can avoid duplicates by only syncing with iCloud (Wi-Fi) or iTunes but not both.

Albums in library have duplicated songs. How do I remove duplicated songs?

The albums in my library now have duplicated songs. I do not want to sync my itunes form my computer to the IPod classis but do not want duplicated songs. Is there a way to do this without having to manually delete the duplicated songs?

Apple's official advice on duplicates is here Find and remove duplicate items in your iTunes library. It is a manual process and the article fails to explain some of the potential pitfalls such as lost ratings and playlist membership, or that sometimes the same file can be represented by multiple entries in the library and that deleting one and recycling the file will break the other.
Use Shift > View > Show Exact Duplicate Items to display duplicates as this is normally a more useful selection. You need to manually select all but one of each group to remove. Sorting the list by Date Added may make it easier to select the appropriate tracks, however this works best when performed immediately after the dupes have been created. If you have multiple entries in iTunes connected to the same file on the hard drive then don't send to the recycle bin.
Use my DeDuper script if you're not sure, don't want to do it by hand, or want to preserve ratings, play counts and playlist membership. See this thread for background, this post for detailed instructions, and please take note of the warning to backup your library before deduping.
(If you don't see the menu bar press ALT to show it temporarily or CTRL+B to keep it displayed.)
The most recent version of the script can tidy dead links as long as there is at least one live duplicate to merge stats and playlist membership to and should cope sensibly when the same file has been added via multiple paths.
tt2

Itunes 11 duplicating songs

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for