Remove Apple Music duplicates without breaking your library

Where duplicates come from

Understanding the cause helps you avoid recreating the problem after the cleanup:

• Repeated imports: the same folder added twice, or an external drive imported again after a migration.
• Copying to the Music Media folder: when Copy files to Music Media folder when adding to Library is ticked (Music > Settings > Files), every import creates a copy. Importing from that same folder creates a duplicate.
• Legitimate multiple versions: original album, compilation, remastered edition, live version. These are not always duplicates to delete.
• iCloud sync: syncing the library between several Macs has sometimes created duplicate entries, especially after a restore.
• Old file plus Apple Music track: an MP3 imported ten years ago and the same song added later from the Apple Music catalog.

Knowing which of these causes applies to your library tells you where to look first. If most duplicates share the same file size and bit rate, repeated imports are the likely culprit. If they differ in album or length, you are probably looking at separate releases that deserve a closer look before anything is removed.

First of all: back up the library

The Music library is a database (a .musiclibrary package) that stores metadata, play counts, ratings and playlists. The audio files live separately, in the Media folder. A careless deletion can affect both.

1. Quit the Music app.
2. In the Finder, open your Music folder, then the Music subfolder inside it.
3. Copy the library file (.musiclibrary) to an external drive or another folder.
4. If possible, also run a full Time Machine backup: it covers both the library and the audio files.

If something goes wrong, put the copy back with Music closed, or launch Music while holding Option and click Choose Library.

Show duplicate items in the Music app

The Music app can list duplicates, but it will not delete them for you:

1. In the sidebar, click Songs (under Library).
2. Choose File > Library > Show Duplicate Items. Music displays songs that share the same title and artist.
3. For a stricter match, hold Option while opening the menu: the command becomes Show Exact Duplicate Items (same title, artist and album).
4. Add useful columns: Control-click the header and choose Time, Bit Rate, Genre, Plays, Date Added, Kind and, if iCloud is on, iCloud Status.
5. To return to the normal view, click Done at the top of the list.

Read the list before acting. A radio edit and the album version do not have the same length: they are two different tracks. The basic mode also lumps together different recordings of the same song by the same artist.

Choose the right version to keep

The tricky part: when you delete the version that holds the plays or playlist membership, that information is lost. In Music, the only way to “merge” is by hand: add the kept version to the relevant playlists before deleting the other. Play counts cannot be transferred.

iCloud Music Library: deletions spread everywhere

If Music > Settings > General > Sync Library is on, your library is shared with your iPhone, iPad and other Macs. As a result:

• deleting a song on the Mac deletes it everywhere;
• a duplicate may exist only in the cloud: the iCloud Status column then tells you whether it is uploaded, matched, from Apple Music, ineligible or flagged as a duplicate;
• an uploaded song whose local file you delete stays in iCloud, but if you remove it from the library, the iCloud copy goes too.

Tip: clean up on a single device, the one holding the original files, then let syncing finish before checking on your iPhone.

Delete properly, without losing the original files

1. In the duplicates list, select only the versions to remove (Cmd-click for multiple selection).
2. Press Delete and confirm Delete from Library.
3. For files stored in the Media folder, Music asks whether to Move to Trash or Keep File. If in doubt, choose Trash: you can still recover the file.
4. Do not empty the Trash right away. Listen to a few albums and check your main playlists and your iPhone.

Never do it the other way round (deleting files in the Finder first): the library would show exclamation marks everywhere. And if two entries point to the same file, moving that file to the Trash breaks both. For the Trash itself, see emptying the Trash safely.

What MacNeat’s music duplicates tool does

In the Atelier, the Music library duplicates tool automates the method described above:

• it reads the library directly through the Music app (title, artist, album, duration, bit rate, plays, playlists), never from the folder alone;
• it compares tracks by title, artist, album, duration and file fingerprint, with an option to ignore tags such as “(Remastered)”;
• for each group, the kept track receives the total play count, the best rating and the playlist membership of its duplicates;
• duplicates are removed from Music, then their files are moved to the Trash.

The library is backed up before any change: if the backup fails, nothing is done. A simulation mode calculates the result without touching Music. And if your library syncs with iCloud, MacNeat reminds you that deletions carry over to your other devices. For duplicates outside Music, see Archipel.