Duplicate Files

Question

luckymeowcat Author

Level 1

4 points

Duplicate Files

So, I don't know where to begin. I know duplicate music

files in iTunes is talked about a lot. My question has to do with duplicate

files that keep on duplicating, sometimes in triplicate. I spent several hours

going through my music folder deleting hundreds of gigabytes of files only to

come back to my PC and there they are again, the same files, re-duplicated in

my music folder with no effort on my part. I felt like crying. All that work

for nothing. I started the process all over and I'm still working on them but

here is what I did. I deleted a series of mp3's that duplicated a second time

and then I uninstalled iTunes. Would you believe the files duplicated again?

So, I found, and also deleted the iTunes/music folder (why

this folder didn't delete when I removed iTunes, I don't know, but it's gone

now.)

I am now working on deleting duplicate files in the only

music folder on my HD. (local disc/users/luckymeowcat/music.

In this folder are about 8,300 songs, about a quarter of

which are iTunes purchases. The rest are music files ripped from cd's.

I am terrified that once I reinstall iTunes, duplicates will

appear again. For example, once I install iTunes and sign in, will iTunes

duplicate all of my purchased music? As a side note, I do notice that many of

the duplicates are ripped files.

Also, should there be two music folders on my HD, an iTunes

music folder and a user's music folder? Are they supposed to contain the same

files? Why doesn't iTunes just use the user's folder?

Please help, I'm going crazy spending hours upon hours

deleting files. I can't imagine what this is doing to my SSD.

Windows, Windows 6

Posted on Jul 24, 2022 9:32 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

turingtest2

Level 10

278,091 points

Jul 25, 2022 7:20 AM in response to luckymeowcat

When you install iTunes for the first time it may offer to scan your Music folder for files to add to its library. With the default options in force this can cause duplication of any content inside <User's Music> that is outside <User's Music>\iTunes\iTunes Media. If you decline that scan you're good to make your own choices about what happens next. Uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes won't normally reset the library, so you may need to clean that out manually to get a clean start.

It is a bit dated now, but see Getting iTunes & Windows Media Player to play nicely - Apple Community for thoughts on sharing a common library between iTunes and other media players. Given the way iTunes works it is generally easier to use its media folder layout. I.e. I would suggest if you have music files in <User's Music> you move them into <User's Music>\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music before adding them to iTunes. Windows Media Player or Groove should be able to keep track of relocated content.

tt2

Reply

Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

278,091 points

Jul 25, 2022 6:02 AM in response to luckymeowcat

See Duplicate songs in iTunes - Apple Community for general advice on duplicates. A common cause of duplicates is repeatedly importing media from a location outside the media folder. Another potential issue could be importing folders that contain .mu3 files that reference content outside the media folder. It is also possible that various permissions issues or security software might interfere with the way that iTunes manages files in the iTunes media folder.

See also Make a split library portable - Apple Community for background on library layout. By default iTunes sets things up such that the media folder is C:\Users\<User>\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media, but with a small SSD it will be better to use a layout which places the media folder at <DriveLetter>:\iTunes\iTunes Media, with the library files in the <DriveLetter>:\iTunes folder.

tt2

Reply

Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

278,091 points

Jul 25, 2022 10:29 AM in response to luckymeowcat

When you sign into your Apple ID in iTunes the library should list your unhidden purchase history in the cloud. Nothing is downloaded automatically. If you import existing copies of those files that you already have iTunes should work out that they are the same thing and stop showing the copy in the cloud. You can add the files you have to your iTunes library either by moving them into the Automatically Add to iTunes folder, or moving them somewhere inside the media folder, and then use File > Add Folder to Library and selecting the media folder to import any new. content that it contains. There is no need to go picking through things one at a time.

tt2

Reply

Answer 4

luckymeowcat Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 25, 2022 7:04 AM in response to turingtest2

Great info, thanks! So, I still have one very important question.

Once I reinstall iTunes and sign it, iTunes will create a folder and add all of my purchased music to that folder, correct? Will it add anything else, like all of the files in my music folder, or do I have to do that manually? And now for the big question; How do I now integrate my user/music folder with the iTunes media folder without duplicating any files?

Reply

Answer 5

luckymeowcat Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 25, 2022 8:12 AM in response to turingtest2

Thanks, tt2, the info is much appreciated. I do have music files outside of Music\iTunes\iTunes media\music but there's over 8,000 songs, almost too many to organize manually. Actually, when I uninstalled iTunes, I also deleted the media folder that it left behind. So, after I reinstall iTunes, I can certainly move files from my users\music folder over to the iTunes media folder, but the problem is, about 25% of the files are iTunes purchases that will already be there. Am I really going to have to spend days going through over 800 folders making sure the file isn't already in the iTunes media folder? Is there an easier way?

Thanks, again.

Reply

Duplicate Files

Similar questions