After cleaning up your music library with Duplicate Cleaner, you may notice the deleted tracks are still listed when you open iTunes or the Apple Music app. This is because, although the files have been deleted from your hard drive, the database entries still remain. Trying to play one will fail because the file is gone.

You can remove these "dead" tracks manually, but for large libraries that's very slow. The faster route depends on which app you're using:


If you're still using iTunes for Windows:

  1. Download the RemoveDeadTracks script: https://www.digitalvolcano.co.uk/download/RemoveDeadTracks.zip
  2. Unzip it somewhere convenient (e.g., your Documents folder).
  3. Close iTunes.
  4. Double-click the RemoveDeadTracks.js file to run it.

iTunes will open and start removing the dead tracks. There may not be any visible activity, and depending on the size of your library it can take a while. In Songs view you should see the item count at the bottom of the window decreasing.



If you're using the Apple Music app (Windows or Mac): The old script does not work with the new Apple Music app, as it relied on the iTunes COM interface that no longer exists. Instead:

  • Mac users can use the "Super Remove Dead Tracks" AppleScript from dougscripts.com, which has been updated for the Music app.
  • Windows users can manually filter dead tracks in Apple Music by creating a Smart Playlist with the rule "Location is not on this computer," then delete the resulting tracks from the library.