How to Delete Duplicate Music in macOS Catalina and Big Sur

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Last Updated : | Wide Angle Software

Do you have duplicate tracks in your Music app?

With the introduction of macOS Catalina came the breaking down of iTunes into 3 new apps: Music, Podcasts and TV.

Depending on how smoothly your upgrade went, or how your music has been managed in the meantime, you may have gained duplicated music in your Apple Music app.

Multiple copies of the same tracks on your Mac is not ideal:

Duplicates waste loads of space on your Mac
They make your library look messy
You'll hear the same tracks too often when shuffling your library

Those are but a few of the issues and inconveniences that duplicates can cause.

Fear not, help is at hand! To quickly and efficiently clear your Music app of duplicates, we recommend using Tune Sweeper. This program gives you full control of which tracks are deleted, leaving you with your desired version (and loads more space on your Mac)!

Tune Sweeper was originally created for use with iTunes, but has recently been updated to support the Music app on macOS Catalina and macOS Big Sur too.

What else is new in macOS Big Sur?

A redesigned look, and improved navigation to make it easy to get where you want to be.
Updated Safari browser offers improved performance and better security through Privacy Reports.
An improved Messages app which enables Inline Replies, a more efficent search, the ability to Pin your favourite conversations and loads more.

How to remove duplicates from the macOS Music app:

Download and install Tune Sweeper on your Mac or MacBook.
Launch Tune Sweeper.
Click "Search for Duplicates".
Set your Duplicate Search Criteria.
Click "Search for Duplicates" to begin the search.
Automatically select tracks to remove by setting a "Keep Selection Preference", or manually check tracks to remove.
Once your selection has been made, click "Remove Duplicates".
Click to confirm!

Takeaways

So now you know how to clean up your Music App library on macOS Catalina or macOS Big Sur.

Using the "Keep Selection Preference" feature makes it easy to automatically select all tracks to remove based on your chosen criteria.

Without access to this powerful tool, you could spend hours manually going through your library trying to pick out the tracks you want to delete out of a similar bunch.

Tune Sweeper is key to efficiently completing this process; however, it also has many more useful functions! Why not explore the app further to discover features like fixing incorrect track information, downloading artwork, and removing missing tracks.