Help / Troubleshooting
Why do I see two different "duplicate" numbers?
Your library view says something like "88 duplicates hidden," but when you open Fix Library → Duplicate tracks (or click Review duplicates) it offers only a handful to clean up. Both numbers are correct - they're answering two different questions.
The short answer
- The number on the library bar is how many duplicate copies are being hidden from this view so you see each track once - it counts every track flagged as a duplicate.
- The number in Fix Library is how many copies can be safely tidied away - the ones where there's a clear "best copy" to keep. It's usually smaller.
Nothing is wrong, and nothing has been deleted. The library is just hiding extra copies to keep the view clean, while Fix Library is being cautious about what it offers to move.
(If the bar reads "…duplicates + N damaged hidden," the damaged part is a separate thing - files that couldn't be decoded, also kept out of the normal view. This article is about the duplicates number.)
Why the two numbers differ
When Vesari Stylus notices the same recording at more than one path, it flags the extra copies as duplicates and hides them from the normal Tracks, Albums and Artists views - that's what the "…hidden" bar is telling you, and the Show button reveals every one of them.
Cleaning up is deliberately more cautious. Fix Library only offers to move a copy when it's confident another copy it's keeping is genuinely the same recording - the kept copy has to corroborate it, meaning a near-identical length and the same title. A flagged copy is left exactly where it is when:
- nothing it's keeping is a close enough match - the other copies differ in length or title, so the app won't assume they're the same song and quietly move one (a cautious call, not a mistake); or
- the copy is part of a CUE sheet - one track inside a single larger file, which isn't an ordinary standalone file it can move; or
- the app is still working out the copy's identity - a copy indexed very recently may not be matchable yet, and can become cleanable after the next library Rescan.
So the "hidden" count includes those left-in-place copies, while the "to clean up" count only includes the ones it's sure about. That's the whole difference - and erring toward leaving files alone is the intended behaviour.
What each number means for you
| Where you see it | What it counts | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Library bar - "N duplicates hidden" | Every extra copy hidden from this view | Show to reveal them, or leave them tucked away |
| Fix Library - "Duplicate tracks" | Only the copies with a safe keeper | Review and, if you like, move them to quarantine |
What to do
- Happy as-is? Do nothing. Hidden copies are still on disk and still play; they're just not cluttering the list.
- Want to see them? Press Show on the library bar.
- Want to reclaim space? Open Fix Library → Duplicate tracks and review what it suggests. Removed copies go to quarantine (a recycle-bin-style holding area), so the move is reversible - nothing is permanently deleted.
When it looks like a genuine bug
If Fix Library offers to remove a copy you'd rather keep, or the hidden count looks wildly wrong (for example, unique tracks flagged as duplicates of each other), use the built-in report a problem option so the details reach us.