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Windows 10 Find and Remove Duplicate Music Files

How to Find and Remove Duplicate Music Files in Windows 10 & 11

By Achilles Hill | Last Updated

Should you be a music fan, your computer must be filled with many music files. If you have a lot of music on your computer or laptop, you will end up with a lot of duplicate songs in your music library. These duplicate music files can clutter up your drive and also cause your processor to run slower. Moreover, listening to a playlist of songs from one music file over and over again is not a good experience.

Therefore, it is time to search for effective solutions to remove duplicate music files in Windows 10/11 PC or laptop. In this article, we provide a full guide on how to find and remove duplicate music files in Windows 10 & 11.

Way 1: Use File Explorer to Find and Remove Duplicate Music Files

If you want to know how to remove duplicate music files without any software, and free up more space on your computer, then you have come to the right place. Here, I will show you how to delete duplicate songs using the Windows built-in tool -- File Explorer.

Step 1: Press WIN+E at the same time to open File Explorer and locate the folder where you keep your music.

Step 2: Then you will see the music file you downloaded, select the View tab in the top ribbon and click on Details in the Layout section. Click on the Sort by option. Select the Name column and it will sort your music files alphabetically by name.

view details and sort by name

Step 3: Now compare the details of the music files to see if they are duplicate files or just have the same name but different content. When you have confirmed that these are files with duplicate content, you can press Ctrl in order to select multiple duplicate music files at once, move to the Home tab and click on Delete, where you can choose to recycle or permanently delete them.

recycle or permanently delete

Way 2: Use Windows Media Player to Find and Remove Duplicate Music Files

If you want to remove duplicate songs in Windows 10 & 11, Windows Media Player can solve this issue for you. You can do this by simply following a few steps to adjust the settings of Windows Media Player.

Step 1: Press WIN+Q at the same time and type Windows Media Player in the search bar to open it.

open windows media player

Step 2: Right click on Music in the left pane and select Manage Music library.

manage music library

Step 3: When the "Music Library Locations" dialog box pops up, click on the Add option. Select all the drives on your Windows computer and add them to the search. Click OK. All the music files on your computer will then be displayed in the library.

add your all drives to music library

Step 4: Switch to the Library tab at the top of the panel. Double click on Music and then All Music. Sort the music files alphabetically based on their names. Compare the music file details and if you find multiple duplicate music files, press Ctrl to select them, right click and select Delete.

click delete

Step 5: In the dialog box that pops up, select Delete from library and my computer. Click OK. This will remove the duplicate music files from your Windows PC. You can choose to empty these music files in the Recycle Bin to free up disk space.

delete from library and my computer

Way 3: Use iTunes to Find and Remove Duplicate Music Files

First, you need to make sure that you have the latest version of iTunes installed on your Windows 10/11 PC. Then you can find every instance of the same artist's song anywhere in your iTunes library. For example, the same song may appear on an artist's album and a film soundtrack.

You can also search for exact duplicates where the song, artist, album and version are all the same (for instance, if you accidentally import the song twice).

Tips: You can find duplicate songs, movies, TV shows and audiobooks in iTunes.

Step 1: Open iTunes and select Music from the pop-up menu at the top left, then click Library.

Step 2: Select a song, then do one of the following:

Find every instance of that song in your library: Choose File > Library > Show Duplicate Items.

show duplicate items

Find exact duplicate songs: Hold down the Shift key and select File > Library > Show Exact Duplicate Items.

show exact duplicate items

Step 3: After you have found a duplicate song, right-click on the song and select Delete from Library.

delete from library

Step 4: At the prompt in the iTunes pop-up window, select Delete Song.

delete song

To see all items again, click Done in the top-right corner or choose File > Library > Show All Items.

click done or show all items

Way 4: Use the Best Duplicate Music Files Finder — iSunshare DupFiles Genius

There is no doubt that third party software does a better job than searching for files manually. A powerful software can help you remove these duplicate music files in one click. You should try using iSunshare DupFiles Genius. This is an amazing software that can easily find and delete duplicate files in Windows 10/11 to free up disk space with complete accuracy. It also allows users to customize scan criteria to get specific report, preview files before deleting them and much more.

Step 1: Download iSunshare DupFiles Genius directly and install it to your Windows PC. After installed, run it directly from desktop.

DupFiles Genius boxshot

iSunshare Reliable Duplicate Files Remover

  • Scan and remove duplicate files on Windows computer
  • Find all types of duplicate files and sort them out smartly.
  • Scan similar files from internal and external disks
  • Find duplicate files across folders and drives

Step 2: Click the "+" icon (in the bottom-right corner) to add the Music folders to scan list from your Windows 10/11 computer, and click "Next" to view more scan settings.

select the location of music folder to scan

Step 3: To save scanning time, tick only "Audio" file type instead of All Types, and then click "Start scanning" to start the scan process.

check audio option and click start scanning

Step 4: The scan will complete soon, and you’ll see a list of all duplicate files grouped by different color. Adjacent Files with the same color are duplicates of each other. Right-click on a file, you can select "Open file location" to view the audio file in detail.

open file location

Step 5: Tick the box under All Types to select all duplicates, while keeping the original file unchecked. Double-click the box to select all duplicate files, including the original file. Click the "Delete" button, then click "Yes" in the pop-up to confirm.

delete duplicate music files

Step 6: Once deleted, you’ve already removed these duplicate music files from your PC. Click "OK" to close the pop-up window.

successfully deleted

Closing Thought

Among the above methods, I highly recommend iSunshare DupFiles Genius, a third-party tool that has been tested and proven to safely and accurately remove all duplicate files. Its intelligent algorithm helps to find and remove duplicate files in seconds, freeing up space and improving the performance of your Windows PC.

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