Find And Resolve Duplicates#

Duplicate files happen: an episode that sits in two folders, a file copied twice during a migration. MetaTana lists every set of copies of one title in the Inbox, so you can decide what to keep.

Step 1: Open the Duplicates group in the Inbox#

Open the Inbox and select the Duplicates tab. On a clean library the tab is empty; duplicates only appear after a scan finds more than one file for the same title. To go straight to the full duplicate tools, press ⌘K (Ctrl+K on Windows and Linux) and pick Duplicates, or choose Duplicate tools in the Inbox ⋯ menu.

Each group shows the copy MetaTana suggests keeping and why (By resolution, By size, or Suggested copy), and which copy would go to the trash:

• Keep the suggested copy with the row's button, for example Keep 2160p or Keep larger. The other copy goes to MetaTana's trash, and the toast offers Undo to put it back.
• Compare shows every copy side by side (resolution, video, audio, size, subtitles, edition) and lets you pick which one to keep.
• Keep both keeps every copy, and the group is no longer flagged.
• Select several groups, or use Keep suggested (N) on the group header, to keep the suggested copy in each of the groups shown. One Undo in the toast puts all the other copies back.
• With many duplicates, the Inbox shows the first 100 groups, then "and N more" with Show all, which opens the duplicate tools with every group.

Keep the best copy for under Settings › General › Duplicates (Balanced, Archive, Direct play, or Saving space) sets which copy MetaTana suggests. Turn off Suggest which copy to keep there if you'd rather choose every time with Compare.

Step 2: How duplicates are detected#

MetaTana flags duplicates when two or more files are copies of the same thing: the same title, the same edition, and the same quality. The signals it uses:

• The same provider IDs (TMDb movie ID, TVDB episode ID)
• The same identified title and year for movies, or the same show, season, and episode for episodes
• The same edition (none, Director's Cut, Extended, Remastered, and so on) and the same quality (4K, 1080p, 720p, or SD)

Another edition or another resolution of a movie is a version, not a duplicate. A Director's Cut beside the theatrical cut, or a 2160p file beside a 1080p one, stays on the movie's card (Library › Browse by › Editions) and is not listed here. A file whose quality MetaTana can't read counts as a copy when the other files of its edition share one quality. Two files with exactly the same bytes are always duplicates, whatever their names say (Exact hash match). Paths and containers don't matter. Two titles matched to different works, such as The Thing (1982) and The Thing (2011), are never near duplicates. If they share the same bytes, the group says Same file under two titles: one of the matches is wrong, so check which.

Step 3: Use the full duplicate tools#

Show all on the Duplicates group opens the duplicate tools in place on the Inbox. The top counts the titles with copies, the identical ones (the same file, safe to clean up), and the ones that need a decision, and has the same Keep the best copy for choice. Filters narrow the list: All, Identical copies, Clear best copy, Needs a decision, and Different editions. More filters adds the titles and copies you keep out of clean-up, and the video check state.

Each title shows:

• Its poster, title, and year, with labels such as Clear best copy, Needs a decision, Same file, Looks the same, or Kept out of clean-up
• Every copy, with its path, resolution, codecs, size, and bitrate, marked Keep or To trash
• Why this copy?, which explains the suggestion and what it was based on (for example Exact hash match or Frame similarity)

Step 4: Resolve each title#

For each title, choose:

1. Keep best copyKeeps the suggested copy and moves the others to MetaTana's trash.
2. Keep selected copyPick the copy to keep yourself, then keep your choice. Use it when the suggestion picked the wrong one, for example a larger but lower-quality cut.
3. Archive best copyShown when an archive destination is set up. Moves the other copies there instead of to the trash.
4. Keep out of clean-upLeaves the title out of bulk clean-up, so only a choice you make on this title changes it. Include in clean-up undoes it. The shield on a single copy keeps just that copy out of the trash.

If a copy's video couldn't be checked, Check video again checks it again. To keep every copy, use Keep both in the Inbox (Step 1).

To clean up many titles at once, the button at the top says how many copies it moves, for example Move 12 copies to trash. It only moves copies that are the same file as the copy kept; titles whose copies differ, or that need a decision, are left alone, and Why? lists them. The confirm names every copy before anything moves.

Step 5: Confirm in Activity#

Every clean-up is listed in Activity with:

• The kept file
• The files moved to the trash (path and size)
• Undo, while the trash still holds the files (30 days by default)

If you change your mind, select Undo on that Activity row. MetaTana restores the trashed files, including their NFO, artwork, subtitles, and trailer, and puts the title back as it was. The duplicate tools also list recent clean-ups under Clean-up history, each with Undo.

What success looks like#

• The Inbox has no Duplicates group, or only the titles you chose to leave for later
• The Duplicates count under Library › Needs attention is zero
• Library counts match the files on disk (see Library › Browse by › Stats)

Going deeper#

• Duplicate tools: clean-up history and titles kept out of clean-up
• Triage what needs your attention: duplicates show up there too
• Back up your library: take a backup before cleaning up many titles at once