Software to Remove Duplicate Files: A Complete Guide
Duplicate files have always been an issue among users’ computers due to their habit of downloading, copying, or transferring many files, documents, photos, or videos or creating backups from time to time. Consequently, the same files can be found in different directories with minor differences in the file name, wasting valuable space of the disk drive and making it difficult to organize them.
The use of software for the removal of duplicate files can help to make this task easier as the software searches for duplicates in the required directories or drives, checks them and eliminates all redundant copies. Duplicate detection software is capable of comparing files according to many factors such as names, contents, sizes, extensions or even cryptographic signatures.
Why Do Duplicate Files Accumulate?
Most duplicate files result from normal usage of computers. This is because you could download the same file again and again, creating files such as Report.pdf, Report (1).pdf, and Report (2).pdf. The transfer of pictures through the phone, flash drive, and computer will also create copies of the same images.
Other causes of duplicate files include:
- Back-up copy of folders
- Re-downloading the same files
- Data transfer from an old computer
- Storage synchronization on different drives
- Making many copies of your personal files
- Extracting duplicates from archives
- Having multiple copies of your media library
When storage runs out of space, duplicate files become a concern. Duplicates of movies, raw pictures, ISO files, and bulky documents consume gigabytes of unused storage space.
What Should You Look for in Specialized Software?
One must think about how the software recognizes duplicated files before selecting one for use in removing duplicates. Two files having the same name do not necessarily mean they are duplicates. It is possible to have two files with similar names and totally different content.
It is good if the utility offers more than just comparison based on filename. Hash comparison is especially advantageous since the software can generate fingerprints of files and compare them. Other utilities might have an option for byte-by-byte comparison when needed.
There are also some other options worth considering:
- Folders and subfolders scan
- Whole drive scan
- File type filters
- File size filters
- Date filters
- Option for preview before deletion
- Not including system or hidden folders
- Move-to-trash-before-deletion
- Comparing files with several methods
- Support for external and network drives
This gives people control over the scanning process.
Method 1: Use File Explorer for Basic Manual Checking
Windows File Explorer might prove helpful in case there are just a few files to check. The following procedure will not require any other software, but it will be unhelpful in cases of numerous files.
Step 1: Go to the folder that Contains Duplicate Files
At first, navigate to the particular folder that has the Duplicate files you want to address. You can, for instance, open your Documents, Downloads, Pictures or Videos folder.
Step 2: Adjust the folder view
Next, you can use the Details view of the File Explorer Menu section to view the file names, their sizes, types, and modification dates. Sorting files according to these parameters will allow one to find potential duplicates.
Step 3: Check suspicious files
Check the size and names of files which look like duplicates. Those files which have equal sizes and similar names will most likely be the duplicates to look closer at.
Step 4: Delete only duplicates
Check the content of the files and delete duplicate images, videos or any other files which you do not need. Save the file that you need.
Such an approach will work fine for several files, but when a drive has thousands of files to sort out, such an approach is impossible to use. Windows File Explorer does not have a built-in feature to detect duplicates among files.
Method 2: Use Dedicated Duplicate File Finder Software
Step 1: Select the scanning location
Firstly, download and install an advanced duplicate file remover. Next, choose the folder, partition, drive, USB device, or any other supported storage space you are willing to scan.
Don’t start with scanning your entire system drive at once. Personal folders will help to start the process easily and avoid interference with system files.
Step 2: Define comparison criteria
Choose how duplicates will be detected. The content comparison will be more beneficial than filename comparison, since files with different filenames might include absolutely identical information.
You can also set the hash-based or byte-based comparison, if it is supported.
Step 3: Set up filters
Filters will help to make scanning faster and results clearer. You might want to scan only files with the size bigger than 100 MB or only image/video/document/archive files.
Date filters will also be helpful if you know when the duplicates have been created approximately.
Step 4: Begin the scan
Choose a proper scan engine before pressing the Scan button for a preferred location. Now, depending on the number of files and their size, the process will estimate the time.
Step 5: Check the results
Do not select everything blindly. Look through the duplicate files and decide which one should be kept. Pay attention to the file location, date of creation, date of modification, and the size of the files.
Step 6: Delete/move duplicates
When you are ready to choose what to do with the files, use the delete or move functions of the software. Moving them to another directory first gives you extra security since you will be able to restore them later.
How to Safely Remove Duplicate Files?
No matter what tool to remove duplicate files you will use, security needs to be prioritized over storage space optimization. It is not always necessary to delete every file that appears to be duplicate.
Firstly, create backups for your important documents and photos. Secondly, do not delete files from folders of Windows and other applications until you are sure about their uselessness. It is observed that files are similar in names or contents, but that does not mean they are interchangeable.
It is also beneficial to keep one copy of the file which is stored in the folder you usually work with. For example, when there is a file copy in Downloads and your Documents, keep the copy which is stored in Documents.
If it is possible to do so, preview important files before deleting them permanently. When the application allows moving duplicates to a special quarantine folder, take advantage of this feature and after making sure everything is fine, delete temporary files.
How Often Should You Scan for Duplicate Files?
There is no set timetable, but by scanning on a consistent basis, duplication files can be avoided. Those who download a lot of multimedia files, who handle lots of photos, or those who deal with big data sets might do well to scan every several months.
For average users, a couple of scans per year would be fine. It would also make sense to run a duplication scan after transferring your information to a new computer or combining a number of backup drives.
Final Thoughts
While duplicate files appear harmless in their individuality, when there are too many such copies, they may occupy a considerable amount of storage space and will complicate the process of finding the necessary file. It is crucial to select an appropriate piece of software to find and delete duplicate files in order to eliminate this problem and save time on comparing files and processing duplicate files found.
For small directories, manual file analysis via File Explorer will suffice. For larger directories, disks, photos, videos, and document libraries, special duplicate files finder software would be more effective.