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Niki2651
User level: Level 1 (5 points)

Delete duplicate songs in Apple Music without affecting playlists

I need to find and delete duplicate songs in iTunes in Apple Music but want to ensure that deleting songs does not affect my playlists. I have 21.32 GB of music in my library and duplicates, and triplicates of almost every song, from transferring over to a different MacBook a few times and just never cleaned up my music file. Is there a way to find the repeated songs and where they are so that my playlists are not affected? I need simple instructions as I am not tech savvy but want to clean up before new install of update to Golden Gate. Currently on a Mac Pro M1, Tahoe 26.6.2 , have 230GB of available storage. Thank you! NP

Posted on Sep 16, 2026 7:33 AM

8 replies

WheelieNick
User level: Level 9 (74,110 points)

Sep 17, 2026 4:16 AM in response to Niki2651

How to Find Duplicate Songs

  1. Open the Music app on your Mac.
  2. Click Songs in the left sidebar.
  3. Click File in the top menu bar.
  4. Hover over Library.
  5. Press and hold the Option key on your keyboard.
  6. Click Show Exact Duplicate Items while holding the Option key. 


How to Delete the Duplicates

  1. Review the list of repeated songs. The app groups identical songs together.
  2. Click the extra copies you want to remove while holding the Command key on your keyboard. Leave one copy of each song.
  3. Right-click the highlighted songs or press the Delete key.
  4. Select Delete from Library.
  5. Click Move to Trash when a small box asks what to do with the files. This frees up your storage space.


Zurarczurx
User level: Level 6 (8,142 points)

Sep 17, 2026 4:29 AM in response to Niki2651

Have a look at the Dougscripts website. He's got a couple of scripts for cleaning up tracks and playlists. If he hasn't got the one you want then me might write one for you.

Zurarczurx
User level: Level 6 (8,142 points)

Sep 17, 2026 7:42 AM in response to Niki2651

Before you start, you know that you can export text copies of playlists? I've not got many normal playlists cos I mostly use smart playlists. I've got a few normal playlists that are special (to me) and to make sure I don't lose what they contain I export them as txt/CSVs so in the event that I lose them I can get them back by importing them again. Highlight the playlist then it's Library/Export.

Niki2651 Author
User level: Level 1 (5 points)

Sep 17, 2026 7:04 AM in response to WheelieNick

Thank you for your reply and the instructions. My concern is that I do not know which one of the songs, lets say I have 3 of any given song, if I delete 2 of them and either of those is in a playlist somewhere, how would I know? I have over 10 different playlists (some with 300+ songs)with songs overlapping or in more than one playlist. How can I be sure I don't delete what is in my playlists? Thank you again, NP

Niki2651 Author
User level: Level 1 (5 points)

Sep 17, 2026 7:34 AM in response to Zurarczurx

Ok, thank you for that. It's probably a good time to clean up my playlists as well. I can do that first and then work on the repeated songs. Thanks to you both for your help, much appreciated!!! NP

Niki2651 Author
User level: Level 1 (5 points)

Sep 17, 2026 7:58 AM in response to Zurarczurx

No, I did not know I could do that, that has always been a fear of mine, losing the important lists that I have created. This is great! I will definitely do that before doing anything else. All my playlists are just normal, I don't have any smart playlists. Wow, such great information, thank you very much! NP

Niki2651 Author
User level: Level 1 (5 points)

Sep 17, 2026 7:08 AM in response to Zurarczurx

I just had a quick peek at Dougscripts.com , thank you for this! I will have a look at it and see what he has there, looks like a great place to start, thank you so much, NP

Zurarczurx
User level: Level 6 (8,142 points)

Sep 17, 2026 7:20 AM in response to Niki2651

If you right click on a song then there's a menu item to show which playlists it's in. You can ignore the smart playlists as long as the metadata is good.

Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256358216