A method of playing back a moving picture in a portable terminal includes recognizing at least one playback list including moving picture files having file names that are more similar than a determined degree from among all moving picture files, identifying at least one overlap playback section formed of identical frames by analyzing frames of moving picture files included in the generated playback list, and upon playing one of the moving picture files included in the generated playback list, determining whether an auto-skipping function is activated, and playing the requested one of moving picture files based on the determination.