Itunes duplicate folder

I did a scan on my computer to get rid of my duplicates. In my music folder, there is a file that says 'itunes duplicates'. Will it hurt to delete this folder?

See also this post on the theme of duplicates.
tt2

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ITunes adds duplicate songs when importing but not making copies in the iTunes Media folder?

This is an irregular problem and does not happen at every new import, but every now & again iTunes is creating duplicate files entries for the same song when I import my music folder.
Now I know many people post a similar problem, but before we start can I state that both the 'Keep iTunes Media folder organized AND "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library are turned off, and always have been.
Right clicking on duplicates of a particular song proves that iTunes is not copying the file into it's own media folder and adding that to the library.
All listed entries for a particular song iTunes direct you to the same file in the same location in the finder.
I am currently just having to delete the duplicates everytime it makes them, although this is VERY time consuming!
Any ideas on what is causing it or what will fix the problem would be great!

Nevermind...I figured out my issue. The problem is that I'm an idiot.
When dragging my folders in, they not only had MP3 files, but a M3U file as well. iTunes was importing the M3U playlist, then the MP3s...that's how I was getting my dups.
=\

Duplicates in iTunes Music Folder but not in iTunes

If this has been addressed already, please forgive me, but in my User>Music>iTunes Music Folder each of over 6000 songs has a duplicate.
They don't show up as duplicates in iTunes or under Show Duplicates.
Is there anyway I can get rid of the 6000+ extra tunes other than clicking on each duplicate and dragging it to the trash?
tia,
Bob

Steve,
I started over by trashing everything in my User > iTunes file and relaunched iTunes.
Then I went to iTunes Menu > File > Add to Library where I re-imported all of my tunes into iTunes from by backup file on my external hard drive.
I then Consolidated the library (whatever that means); now, I'm back in business.
Here is a link that might help indirectly: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1329
hth, Bob
p.s. If you don't have your music backed up externally, you can get the tunes into iTunes directly from you iPod using this: http://www.fadingred.com/senuti/

Duplicates in iTunes Music folder

I just noticed that all of the m4a music files stored in my iTunes music folder have duplicates. This does not seem to be the case for mp3 files. These are not duplicates in iTunes--when I show duplicates in iTunes, I don't have any, even though the files are all listed twice on my hard drive. Why did this happen?

You probably added the files to the iTunes library with the copy to iTunes library location.
This will leave the originals where they were and then make a copy in the iTunes library.

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

Duplicate files in itunes music folder with title 1.mp3

Can anyone tell me why there might be duplicate files with this number in my music folder? I'm interested to know what might cause this to happen.

Any help here? This question has been bugging me for some time. It's hard to believe that this seemingly simple task / question is so difficult to find a solution for. Please - if you know a way, I'd love to clear some space from my itunes music folder.

ITunes consolidation creates duplicate files in iTunes Media folder

Hi,
I recently downgraded from iTunes 11.0.2.26 to 10.7 to get around an AirPlay bug i see starting in 11.0.
As a result I need to rebuild part of my iTunes library and am seeing some strange behavior.
I have some Movie files currently in the iTunes Media folder (where iTunes is pointed for the media) -- when I drag and drop these into iTunes and do "Consolidate Library", iTunes creates 2 files (1 is a duplicate) in the Movie folder. For example, if I have a movie titled "HomeMovie" I see the following folders:
"Movies --> HomeMovie" and within the HomeMoview folder I see the following 2 files: HomeMovie.m4v, HomeMovie 1.m4v
There is only a single listing (HomeMovie) in the iTunes interface, pointing to HomeMovie 1.m4v.
Strange.
I can get around this by deleting HomeMovie 1.m4v. and pointing iTunes to HomeMovie.m4v, but this is not desirable.
"Copy files to iTunes Media Folder" is disabled.
I am also seeing this behavior when dragging and dropping files from an external Hard Drive.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Kevin

Hi,
I have been doing some testing on this subject and I agree that PSE does leave unwanted temporary files around.
I checked out PSE 9, PSE 10 and PSE 11 and they all leave the temporary files there. I'm assuming that the files are created as a safety measure for when the main file is updated but as you have found out, PSE doesn't remove them.
By reading other forum threads, I get the impression that Adobe aren't really interested in it as they feel we should tidy up our own file system. It's like taking a walk through the park and dropping some litter - do you pick it up or leave it for the park keeper to pick up. I was always told to pick it up.
I'm not sure whether you are aware, but there is another Adobe forum for bug reports and feeback. I think Adobe may look there more than they do on this forum. I searched that forum and found a similar question asked but nobody has answered. I have added my count and comments with a link to this thread. If you can, it might be good for you to add your count.
http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/photoshop_elements_organizer_leaves_ temporary_files
Sorry it's not an answer to your problem, but you are not alone.
Brian

Quick way to remove duplicate files in iTunes Library folder?

I "consolidated my iTunes Library", which caused iTunes to place duplicate mp3/mp4 files in my iTunes library folder (I assume it copied them all over from my backup drive) which has doubled the size of my iTunes Library folder.
Keep in mind, that iTunes actually shows only one copy of each song/video within the app. It's only that the actual files have been doubled on my hard drive. iTunes is only using half of those files.
Is there a way to quickly identify and delete the duplicated files on my hard drive that aren't being used by iTunes?

This information from Doug should help you decide what you can use.
http://dougscripts.com/itunes/itinfo/duplicates.php

Restored my Macbook Pro but my iTunes content was saved on a separate partition. When I re-setup iTunes the status bar reports 30gb less content than my iTunes Music folder. How can I find what is 'missing'?

My Macbook Pro software was failing and the Apple Store was able to restore it without removing the partition on my hard drive that contained most of my files including all my iTunes content. Initially when I re-setup my library I simply went to file--> add to library. Shortly after I realized that was essentially copying the library to the other portion of the partition because I forgot to change the location of the library. So I deleted the content already copied & then I re-setup the library, by asking it to be pulled from the previous location using this pages advice: iTunes: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
It appeared to work & everything I thought was imported. But on closer inspection, it appears that I have 30gbs less appearing on the status bar in the iTunes app than I do when I pull up the info on the iTunes Music folder in my finder. I'm not sure if this means somehow I have 30gbs of duplicates in my finder folder or if (most likely) I somehow didn't fully import the library from that file. Any advice? Is there a way to restore iTunes to factory settings again & set it up correctly this time?
Also I never actually trashed the original content I accidentally transferred to the other drive but when i skimmed those in my trash bin it appears they ARE indeed in iTunes, so I have no clue what didn't actually import. Any ideas?! I'd greatly appreciate it!

You could have all the computers point to the same library but it can't be opened by more than one at any time.
No answer for knowing which library is in use other than selecting it at startup. This question gets asked here occasionally but I don't think it is a high-demand feature since most people have just one library. I guess you could put in an empty playlist with the library name so you have an identifier.

How can I add songs to itunes music folder without them being duplicated within the folder (not on my hard drive)?

I have music files all over the place and want to put them all in itunes with no duplicates and get rid of all the rest. how can I do that? Some of my playlists are missing songs. I would like to move the playlist back to itunes from my ipod without having to put the songs in my media folder yet again! I have wasted so much time fooling with this. Really what I am trying to get at through all of this is to run the songs on the ipod through ivolume so they play equally.
Can anyone make sense of this for me?

It sounds like you have a few different problems.
To find all your music, try using a spotlight search. Type "kind:music" in the spotlight search (the magnifying glass in the far upper-right corner ) then choose "show all in finder". You'll end up with a window that shows all your music files, regardless of where they are on your hard drive. But don't move any files, because that may confuse iTunes (it won't be able to find files that you move, because - d'oh! - you moved them and now they're not where iTunes left them. That's usually how people end up in the kind of situation that you're in.)
If you want to let iTunes organize your music for you, make sure those options are turned on in the iTunes preferences (in the "advanced" section), then go to the "File" menu, choose "Library" and then choose "Organize library". That will put all your music in the iTunes Library folder (but leave copies of the originals wherever they were, all over your hard drive).
To find duplicates in your iTunes Library, choose "display duplicates" (or hold down the option key and it changes to "display exact duplicates" which might help in some cases). You'll still have to manually go through them to delete one of each duplicate.
Now you can start combining those three techniques - if you consolidate your music and let iTunes copy everything into the music folder, you'll know that iTunes safely has a copy of all your music in the iTunes Library folder. So you can do the spotlight search, and delete any duplicate files that are not in your iTunes library folder. Anything that's left over (that is, it's not a duplicate and it's not in the itunes music folder), you'll need to add to iTunes (try using the "automatically add to itunes" folder - spotlight search to find it - anything you drop in there will get added to iTunes without leaving a duplicate file). Then you can use the itunes "duplicates" feature to find the duplicates in iTunes and fix those.

HT1364 If I already moved Itunes media folder to external drive and now music is not matching up in iTunes?

Dear Itunes Community~
This is my first time using glad you are here, but all the passwords!!
Question/Quandry:
If I already moved Itunes media folder to my external drive and now my music is not matching up in iTunes, what should I do? I have tried my solution !?, and now I have 17,000 songs, instead of 9,000!
Should I just uninstall Itunes, and then reinstall Itunes, and let it do it's thing, and then figure out how to move to the external hard drive later?
Help, I screwed it up all on my own!
Any/all help and Itunes educated suggestions appreciated!
Thank you very much,
Doris =:o
PS ~~ Is there anyway to easily delete duplicates?? Seems not?

I have a very similar problem. Hope I don't confuse people trying to help us since the solutions may be different.
I had my iTunes path directed to a 2nd internal hard drive. Everything was working fine - except I found that purchased Apps were still being downloaded to the Mobile Applications folder on my main hard drive instead of the 2nd internal drive. I decided to retry directing the iTunes path to my 2nd internal drive, hoping that might get iTunes to save my Apps there. Big Mistake. Suddenly, there were no Apps showing in my iTunes Library Apps window at all. I verified the downloaded apps are still in my main hard drive's Mobile Applications folder, but I cannot get iTunes to display them in my Apps Library window anymore.
I decided to try downloading a new app and, sure enough, iTunes once again downloaded it into the very same Mobile Applications folder on my main hard drive, where all my (now orphaned) original apps are, but the only one iTunes will only display in my Apps window is the new one. I read you can redownload purchased apps, but my apps are not missing. iTunes just won't display them in the Apps window anymore.

Moving my itunes media folder back to my computer from external hard drive

Hope someone can help me here as I've gotten myself confused.
A couple years ago I moved my Media Folder to an external hard drive. I now want to move it back but I'm doing something wrong.
Here's what I did.
Copied the Media Folder from external to computer desktop.
Moved Media Folder into the Computer's iTunes Media folder.
Changed the folder location in Preferences of iTunes to the computer's Media Folder.
It didn't work. It is still looking for songs on the external hard drive.
Thoughts?
Do I need to follow the same tutorial for moving the media folder backwards?
Why can't I just move the media files to where I want them on the computer and then change the media folder location in itunes?
Do i need to create a new folder for it to work?

Jason R. McCarty wrote:
So I don't need to follow this tutorial and create a new folder? http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
Correct, you don't need to create anew folder.
You may want to do that if you are putting the media elsewhere and don't want to simply have a folder named iTunes media floating around.
If there is already a Media folder in Music/iTunes will it make another or use that one?
It will use the one already there.
Also, what if there are duplicate files in the computer location?
After you consolidate, you will need to delete them from iTunes (if they actually show up in iTunes).
If they don't show up in Tunes, either add them to iTunes (if they are not duplicates) or delete them from the iTunes media folder.
I suggest first dumping them into a folder on your desktop before you actually trash them (in case they are not duplicates).

Does iTunes duplicate mp3 files I import, thus doubling space used on mac?

Hello.
May be a silly question, but here goes:
When I import mp3's onto my mac (from my old computer), i put them all into one folder..
when i double click to play, they automatically play through itunes.. now i've noticed that itunes NOW ALSO creates a duplicate folder/file of those tunes that I have now played through iTunes, (in "user" > Music > iTunes > iTunes Music)...
does this mean that there are now 2 copies of the mp3 on my hardrive, therefore taking up space?? I'm not entirely sure - but would not be happy if every song actually takes up twice the amount of space...
Any help??
Thanks everyone!
Johnny

I'm having a similar problem. Just installed iTunes, first iPod product, and my file usage has dwindled by the size of the music files. They've all been doubled, it looks like. Where is this located, and how can I be sure not to move/delete the wrong ones?
Or, where is the setting to stop this, and if I change the setting do I need to re-install iTunes to get rid of the wasted file space?
Thanks.

ITunes duplicates all of the songs in my library when I try to import it

I haven't used iTunes for years. I've just installed the latest iTunes on my computer and am trying to add songs from a previous library by dragging into iTunes. Problem is, it carries out some sort of conversion on the files and, in the process, duplicates every song into the iTunes library. Anybody know why, please?

Dragging over the old files if they are outside the designated iTunes Media folder is usually seen as a request to make local copies inside the iTunes Media folder.
Make sure you have updated to iTunes 11.0.1 (or later).
Enable the menu bar with ctrl-b if needed
Use Edit > Preferences > General > Show list views for all media
In Music use the Songs view, or select the List view for other media/playlists
Use View > Display Duplicates or, more usefully, hold Shift and use View > Display Exact Duplicates.
Keep one of each repeated group of files and don't send to the recycle bin unless you are sure that there are multiple files on the disc as opposed to multiple entries to the same file.
There is also my DeDuper script if you don't want to do it by hand. This can preserve ratings, play counts, playlist membership, etc. which are lost in a manual clean up. Please take note of the warning to backup your library before deduping. See this thread for background on deduping and the script.
tt2

Duplications during itunes music folder transfer

I followed the steps detailed on this Web site for the transfer of the iTunes music folder from my laptop to an external hard drive. I then moved all my music files from another location into the folder, then did the "add folder to library" command. But during that final step, every song on my hard drive, now in the newly created iTunes music folder, was duplicated, and the duplicates showed up in the iTunes panel. I had the box marked "copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library" unchecked. I've since reloaded iTunes and am beginning with a clean slate. Any ideas how to avoid the duplication problem during the next attempt?

Hey cheekycherub,
These instructions may be of assistance:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93063
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93366
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301748
Hope this helps,
Generik
PowerMac G4/Dell Precision WS 370, XP Pro Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Itunes duplicate folder

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