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Duplicate songs in the Music app: finding them and removing the right copy

Years of imports leave the same song two or three times. The Music app has a hidden Show Exact Duplicates view. How to use it without deleting the wrong one.

4 min read

You imported the same CD twice, or a folder of music was added from two places. Now songs play twice in shuffle and your music folder is larger than it should be.

Show duplicates in Music

  1. Open Music and click Songs in the sidebar.
  2. Choose File, Library, Show Duplicate Items. This matches by song name and artist.
  3. For a stricter list, hold Option and choose File, Library, Show Exact Duplicate Items. This also matches album and length, so live and remastered versions are not flagged.

Use the exact list. The loose one flags different recordings with the same title.

Choosing which copy to delete

Add columns to decide: Control-click a column header and turn on Kind, Bit Rate, Date Added and Plays.

KeepDelete
Higher bit rate, or losslessLower bit rate copy
The one with your play count and ratingsThe one with no plays
The one in your playlistsThe orphan

Deleting

Select the copies to remove, press Delete, and when asked, choose Move to Trash so the file goes too, not just the library entry. Choosing to keep the file removes it from the list but leaves it on disk.

# Music folder size before and after
du -sh ~/Music

For duplicate files beyond music, see finding duplicate files. If the music lives on an external drive, see moving the Music library.

Common questions

How do I find duplicate songs in Apple Music on a Mac?

In the Songs view, choose File, Library, Show Duplicate Items. Hold Option to see Show Exact Duplicate Items, which is more accurate.

Which duplicate song should I delete?

Keep the one with the higher bit rate and your play count and playlists. Add Bit Rate, Plays and Date Added columns to compare.

Does deleting a song in Music delete the file?

Only if you choose Move to Trash when asked. Otherwise the file stays on disk and keeps using space.

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