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How to Find and Remove Duplicate Tracks in Traktor Pro

Updated · by the MixGoat team · Tool: Library

Short answer

Traktor Pro 4 has no duplicate finder, and Check Consistency only counts missing and unanalysed tracks. The reliable manual method is to open Track Collection, sort by Title with Artist as the second sort, show the Filename, Import Date and Comment columns, and step through neighbouring rows with the same title. Two entries with different paths are two files: keep the one that carries your cues and playlist memberships and the better format, and remove the other with right-click → Delete from Collection, leaving the delete-from-disk option unticked until you have checked the file is really redundant. Two entries with the same path are the same file imported twice; the newer Import Date is usually the empty one. Lexicon has an automated duplicate finder if the collection is large, and MixGoat's Library view can sort and filter by artist, title and format to speed up the comparison.

Step by step

  1. 1

    Work out how the duplicates got in

    The usual causes in Traktor: Import Music Folders run against a folder that was moved, so the old entries went missing and the files were imported again; loading tracks from the Explorer node or the iTunes/Music node that already sit in the collection under another path; a WAV and an MP3 of the same track; and Import Another Collection from a backup on top of a live collection. Knowing which one happened tells you which copy holds the cues.

  2. 2

    Set up the browser columns

    Click Track Collection in the tree. Right-click any column header and enable Filename, Import Date, Bitrate, Time and Comment. Traktor has no column that says whether cues exist, so keep Comment, Rating and Play Count visible as proxies for the entry you have actually worked on. Click the Title header to sort, then click Artist with the modifier key held to add a secondary sort so identical titles by the same artist sit next to each other.

  3. 3

    Compare the pairs

    For each pair, look at Filename first. Different names or extensions mean two files on disk; identical names mean two entries for one path or a copy in another folder. Right-click → Show in Finder (Show in Explorer on Windows) to see the folder. Load each into a deck: the one with hotcues on the pads, a set Grid marker and a play count is the one you have used. Check the Time and Bitrate columns to keep the complete, higher-quality version.

  4. 4

    Check playlists before deleting

    Playlists in collection.nml refer to tracks by path, so deleting the entry that a playlist uses removes it from that playlist. Search the title in the playlists you care about, or select the track and look for it in each playlist node. If the copy you want to delete is the one in the playlists, drag the copy you are keeping into those playlists first.

  5. 5

    Remove the extra entry

    Select the redundant entries and right-click → Delete from Collection. Traktor's dialog offers to remove the entry only or to also delete the file from disk; choose the entry-only option first and confirm nothing broke, then delete the redundant files from Finder or Explorer afterwards if they are true copies. Deleting from disk while the good entry points at that same file is how a duplicate clean-up turns into a relocate job.

  6. 6

    Stop them coming back

    Open Preferences → File Management and check the Music Folders list: overlapping entries (a parent folder and one of its children) import the same files twice. Turn off "Import Music Folders at Startup" if you move files often, and relocate moved tracks before importing anything. Quit Traktor cleanly so collection.nml is saved, then copy it somewhere safe.

Why Check Consistency does not help here

Right-click Track Collection → Check Consistency reports total tracks, missing tracks and tracks not analysed, and offers Relocate, Remove Missing and Analyze. It never compares entries with each other, so two live entries for the same song pass the check. It is still the first thing to run after a move, because relocating the old entries removes the reason people re-import and create duplicates in the first place.

There is also no fingerprint matching in Traktor: a 320 kbps MP3 and a WAV of the same master are two tracks to it, and always will be. If you want one of each, keep the format you play out with and move the other to a folder outside your Music Folders.

Tools that do the comparison for you

Lexicon reads collection.nml and has a duplicate finder that groups by tags and by file, then writes the cleaned collection back; it is a paid product. MixGoat has no dedicated duplicate finder. Its Library view lists every track MixGoat has scanned with sortable artist, title, format, duration and bitrate columns and a free-text filter, which makes the eyeballing step faster and shows each file's loudness and Mixpedia match next to it, but the decision and the deletion still happen in Traktor. MixGoat's migration into another app deduplicates by file path, so two entries for one file collapse into one on the other side, but two files stay two tracks.

Duplicates that are not duplicates

A remix, a radio edit and an extended mix share a title and often an artist and are not duplicates; the Time column separates them. Remix Sets and stems in Pro 4 also appear as separate entries by design. Before deleting anything, copy collection.nml out of Documents/Native Instruments/Traktor 4.x.x/, so a wrong delete costs one file copy rather than a set of cues.

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Frequently asked questions

Does Traktor have a duplicate finder?
No. Traktor Pro 4 has no duplicate detection, and Check Consistency only reports missing and unanalysed tracks. Sort and compare by hand, or use Lexicon.
Why does Traktor show the same track twice?
Most often the file was moved and imported again, so one entry has the cues and a dead or old path and the other is fresh. Loading from Explorer or an overlapping Music Folders entry does the same.
Which duplicate should I delete in Traktor?
Keep the entry with hotcues, the Grid marker, play count and playlist memberships, and the better format or longer duration. Delete the other with Delete from Collection, entry only.
Does Delete from Collection delete the file?
Not unless you choose the option to delete from disk in the dialog. Removing the entry alone leaves the audio file where it is.
Will deleting a duplicate remove it from my playlists?
Yes, if the playlist referenced that entry. Add the copy you are keeping to those playlists before deleting the other.
Can MixGoat find duplicates in my Traktor collection?
MixGoat has no dedicated duplicate finder. Its Library view sorts and filters by artist, title, format and duration to make the manual pass quicker; the deletion is done in Traktor.