Guide

How to Find and Remove Duplicates in Apple Music

Sooner or later the same song shows up twice in your library. Maybe an old folder got imported again, a CD went in twice, or you bought an album you already had. The Music app on your Mac can list these duplicates for you. The tricky part is deciding what to delete, because two tracks with the same name are not always the same file.

Show duplicate songs in the Music app

Apple has a built-in view for this:

• Open Music and click Songs under Library in the sidebar.
• Choose File > Library > Show Duplicate Items.
• The list now shows every song that shares its name and artist with another one.
• Hold the Option key while you open the menu and the entry changes to Show Exact Duplicate Items. That narrows the list to songs where the album matches as well.

When you're done, go back to the same menu to see your whole library again.

Same name doesn't mean same file

Music compares names, not the audio. So the list often includes tracks you want to keep:

• The same recording exists once as mp3 and once as m4a. Check format and bit rate before one of them goes.
• The album version, the radio edit and a live recording can all carry the same title.
• A song sits on its original album and on a compilation. If you like playing the compilation from start to finish, you need both.

It helps to add a few columns. Control-click the column header and turn on Time, Kind, Bit Rate and Album. A different length almost always means a different version. Control-click a song and choose Show in Finder to see where the file actually lives.

Remove duplicates safely

• Select the copy you want to get rid of and press Delete.
• Music asks whether to move the file to the Trash or keep it on your Mac.
• If you're unsure, keep the file. The song is gone from your library either way, and you can add it again any time.
• Empty the Trash only after you've lived with the cleaned-up library for a while.
• If Sync Library is turned on, a song you delete also disappears from your other devices.

What Truffle takes off your hands

Truffle finds duplicates in your library and lets you decide which copy stays. The file stays on your Mac while you do, and nothing is deleted without asking you first. Truffle is free to download, and the trial analyses 100 tracks, so you can see what's doubled up in your collection before you decide anything.

Updated: 5 October 2026