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Is there a way to select and delete duplicate imovie files?

I've been importing hundreds of old videos taken with my iphone from the past 10 years. They are in folders organized by year on one of my external drives. Unfortunately, iMovie doesn't have a way to detect if these files have already been imported and therefor many have been imported twice for various reasons. So now I have hundreds that are in my iMove library twice. Two questions:


1) Is iMovie really not capable of detecting whether a particular movie file already exists, so that it doesn't get imported a second time?


2) Is there really not a way to have it select all the duplicate files so I can delete them with one or two quick and easy steps, or do I actually need to select then one-by-one to delete then, which would take hours?


This has been so frustrating! Need help!


Notes: new Macbook Pro M1 using iMovie 10.2.5

Posted on Dec 13, 2021 9:20 AM

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Posted on Dec 13, 2021 2:53 PM

The answer to both questions is no. Not even the Photos app sorts out duplicates.


The sorting would need to be manually done at the time of import.


Is there some reason why you would want to import hundreds of videos into iMovie? It normally would be far better to import them into the Photos app or leave them in the Finder. Then access or import them into iMovie as you need them.


— Rich



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4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 13, 2021 2:53 PM in response to Treviso

The answer to both questions is no. Not even the Photos app sorts out duplicates.


The sorting would need to be manually done at the time of import.


Is there some reason why you would want to import hundreds of videos into iMovie? It normally would be far better to import them into the Photos app or leave them in the Finder. Then access or import them into iMovie as you need them.


— Rich



Dec 13, 2021 4:17 PM in response to Treviso

I store my movies and videos in double backed up finder folders, organized by year. That way I don't have them tied into any app that can become corrupt or obsolete. I can transfer them to other apps and computers easily. They are also much more easily retrieved for multiple types of uses. I import them into iMovie as needed. In the finder I can organize by sub folders such as Vacations, Holidays, Birthdays, Fishing, Date, etc.


I also have movies stored in the Photos app. iMovie can access them from the system photos app from the Photos item in the iMovie project sidebar. Clicking on the Photos item will display in the medica browser all of the photos albums. Since the photos and videos are only referenced until dragged into a project, they don't take up space on the Mac's hard drive, or clutter the iMovie library.


iMovie is a video editing app. While it does have some organizing capability, media management is not its strong suit. Storing unused media files there can be problematic at times. They are awkward to retrieve for other purposes. They slow the performance of the iMovie library. They can be lost if the iMovie library becomes corrupt or future iterations of iMovie change the basic architecture of the app. I find it safer and more convenient to keep a double backup of all my media in Finder folders that I can move around as needed. As mentioned, file retrieval is easier. And, better yet, the vids are not locked into some app where they can be lost.


As long as you have a Finder backup, the Photos app also is a good place to store video clips and movies. Photos has numerous file management tools, such as albums, smart albums, and keywords that allow searches and grouping. You can sort by subject matter, creation date, date added. iMovie doesn't have those capabilities, or only limited ones.


One thing that the Photos app does not have is an internal feature to find duplicates. At the point of import it will flag whether the vid or photo is a duplicate, and one can then decide whether to import it or not. Once the duplicate is imported, however, there is no function that will allow one to find all the duplicates. Fortunately, there is an app that can be downloaded called PowerPhotos, that will let one search for duplicates in the Photos app library.


-- Rich



Dec 13, 2021 7:23 PM in response to Rich839

Thanks for all of the info and advice, Rich. I really appreciate it.


I have to say I haven't been that happy with iMovie but figured it was mainly because I haven't learned how to use it very well. But I'm definitely going to keep all my files in their folders, too, just in case I have any issues with it. I also have my iMovie libraries backing-up to back-up drives. Better to be on the safe side as HDs are pretty cheap nowadays. I just bought a new 5TB SSD for $106.00.

Is there a way to select and delete duplicate imovie files?

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