Q: I was very happy to see that Apple has returned the Show Duplicates feature in iTunes 11, but unfortunately it looks like they’ve only done so for music—the option is still on the menu when viewing other categories, but it’s greyed out. Is there anything I’m missing here or is this still incomplete?
– Don
A: The catch with the Show Duplicate Items feature in iTunes 11 is that it only works for viewing tracks in list view.
For Music, this view is always available under the “Songs” heading, however it does not appear in other sections unless the Show list views for all media setting in your iTunes Preferences has been enabled.
Normally, choosing Show Duplicate Items from the View menu automatically puts you in list view, with only the duplicate items shown.
If no list view is available, there is no practical way for iTunes to show you duplicate items without turning the view on; Apple has obviously decided here that it is preferable to simply disable the Show Duplicate Items option in this case rather than automatically toggling the list views back on.
With Show list views for all media enabled, you should be able to use the Show Duplicate Items feature in the Movies, TV Shows, and Books sections.
