Duplicate file finder windows Archives

No computer system today is free of problems. Some are plagued with them right off the bat; others develop issues over time. Then there’s variation in the nature of system issues as well. Some problems arise because of poor programming of the operating system itself, while others may happen due to user issues. Thanks to effective quality control measures, coding issues are not that big a deal these days, since they’re either eliminated at the quality control stage, or fixed as they get identified.

User issues, however, are a different story altogether. Because they’re influenced by behavior and usage habits, they tend to pop up time and time again. And because a lot of human beings are inherently programmed a certain way, several user issues share a common ground. One such issue that you’ll find in almost all modern computer systems is the presence of duplicate files. What it simply means is having multiple copies of the same file, be it photos from your latest holiday or many copies of that Word document that you had been working on for some time.

Duplicate files is a problem because not only they clutter the hard drive, they also take up precious disk space, especially if the duplicates are of a particularly large file. Windows by default doesn’t come with a feature that can get rid of these pesky duplicates with ease. On the contrary, it can become quite a challenge to clean up duplicates because folder structures can get out of hand really fast. Luckily, there’s a good selection of third-party duplicate file finders out there that can do the job for you, and do it well. In this list, we take a look at some of the best duplicate file finders for Windows which you can use in 2019.

Note: When looking for duplicates in your system, always remember to limit your search to just your user folders and not “clean up” anything from the operating system’s folders, as that can negatively impact the stability and working of your computer.

Best Duplicate File Finders for Windows in 2020

1. dupeGuru

Even after all these years, dupeGuru remains the best duplicate file finder and not just on Windows but also on macOS and Linux. It has got the best matching algorithm that looks for filenames, tags, attributes, metadata, and analyzes the content inside the file. For example, you can find duplicate images by scanning and comparing the similarity between images and not just filenames. You can further customize the matching engine and get duplicate results as you desire. Apart from that, dupeGuru is great with music files too. It comes with a special Music mode where you can scan songs in any format — FLAC, MP3, WAV, AAC, etc. — and find duplicates within minutes. It also shows music-specific information in a separate window so you can easily compare audio files side by side.

Having said all of that, the best part about dupeGuru is that it’s extremely fast in finding duplicate files and folders, thanks to its ‘fuzzy matching’ algorithm. Not to mention, dupeGuru offers you to filter results in multiple ways to weed out false duplicates (low threshold scans), and then you can easily move the files or delete them in a user-friendly interface. I would say if you are looking for a versatile and powerful duplicate file finder then dupeGuru is up for any task you throw at it.

Download dupeGuru for Windows (Free)

2. XYplorer

XYplorer is a dedicated duplicate file finder; in fact, it’s a fully equipped and highly capable dual-pane file manager for Windows that comes with a “Dupes” detection feature. The option lies within the program’s Find Files feature where you further have the option of singling out duplicates in your search location. The reason it’s highly recommended is because of how it approaches duplicates – listing them by Name, Date Modified, Size and Content – and how it presents all duplicates found in grouping for easy cleaning. When finding duplicates by Content, you can either use MD5 or even do a byte-by-byte comparison, which, although slow, is the most accurate method out there that exists.

XYplorer is a paid software that costs $39.95 for a single-user license. It comes with a free trial, and there used to be a free version that has been discontinued as of January 2017. With a little search, you might still be able to find the free version online with the caveat of not getting any future updates.

Download XYplorer for Windows (Free trial, $39.95)

3. Easy Duplicate Finder

Another paid utility that prides itself for a diverse and one-click operation. Easy Duplicate Finder is aimed at users who’re looking to quickly get rid of duplicates from a variety of sources apart from their traditional folder structure including duplicate tracks in iTunes, Photos, Windows Media Player, Google Drive and Dropbox. It offers various scanning modes and compares files by size, name, and content. Easy Duplicate Finder comes with a wizard mode that makes it easier to specify what kind of clean up you want to do.

Easy Duplicate Finder starts at $39.95 for a single user license and works with Windows XP through Windows 10. The software comes with a limited, demo version, and a Mac version also exists. If you are looking for duplicate file finders for Windows, this is something you should check out.

Download Easy Duplicate Finder for Windows (Limited demo version, $39.95)

4. Auslogics Duplicate File Finder

Auslogics Duplicate File Finder is a totally free solution that offers the same kind of features that several tools would charge you for. The program can scan your specified folders for duplicates and presents them in a fairly neat interface that makes it easy to manage the found culprits. There are various search parameters that you can define, including file types, minimum/maximum file size, names, creation dates and the like.

File content is matched based on MD5 checksum, but there’s no byte-by-byte comparison (MD5 is still fairly accurate for real-world use). You can also decide what happens to the duplicates that are found, whereby they can be sent to the recycle bin or rescue center, or deleted forever. This software, too, supports one-click operation, although with a less friendlier user interface. As far as free duplicate file finders for Windows go, this is the best option on the market. Heck, it even gives the paid options a run for their money.

Download Auslogics Duplicate File Finder for Windows (Free)

5. Wise Duplicate Finder

Wise Duplicate Finder is one of the fairly capable duplicate file finders for Windows PC. It uses the file name, file size, and content to find duplicate files on your system. The app is really good at finding and deleting duplicate files, so you can release storage space on your system. The Wise Duplicate Finder supports almost all kinds of file types including images, videos, documents, and more. So, no matter which duplicate files are hiding on your system, it can effectively root them out like weeds in the garden. Another good feature of this app is that it can also find empty files and delete them for you.

Most of the times when you perform a cleanup of your system, some residual files are left behind that can mess your organization system. Instead of finding and deleting such files one by one, you can use Wise Duplicate Finder to deal with them aall. My favorite feature of this app is the backup and restore system which allows me to recover files which I might have deleted by mistake. This adds a layer of protection which allows me to delete duplicates without any hesitation. The app is free to download and use for a period and then you will have to upgrade the paid plan which costs

Download Wise Duplicate Finder for Windows (Free trial, $19.95)

6. Duplicate File Detective

Duplicate File Detective is another paid utility that offers more features than you can count. While the traditional options of finding and eliminating duplicate files is there just like you’d expect, the Detective takes it up a notch by adding the ability to scan network drives replacing removed duplicates with symbolic links to the originals (should you desire that), and providing a wealth of reporting options on detected duplicates including stating the owners of the duplicate files (very useful for MS Office files, for instance).

Reporting can also be done on file types and hash values, and reports can be exported or even scheduled for automatic emailing. In a nutshell, Duplicate Files Detective takes it a notch beyond just finding and removing duplicates all the way to keeping tabs on what those were and how they came to be. Oh, and the user interface is very similar to MS Office products, so you’ll feel right at home using this utility. This one is one of most trusted duplicate file finders for Windows.

Duplicate Files Detective is also one of the most expensive options out there, with a single user license starting at $55 with only minor updates included. Still, considering the unique features that it offers, the expense is worth it. There’s also a 15-day trial before you make the purchase.

Download Duplicate Files Detective for Windows (Free trial, $55)

7. CloneSpy

CloneSpy is another free utility that, despite featuring a dated interface, does the job very well. The software works the same way as many paid solutions do, and even offers a byte-by-byte comparison for finding duplicates. It can even find duplicates for files between your local hard drive and network drives – something that’s hard to find even in paid solutions.

What’s more, CloneSpy also finds duplicates that are not exact matches, in that if you have two files that share the same name but a little different content (several versions of the same Excel report rings a bell?). It also allows you to not only rid the duplicates, but also generate reports of all dupes found in your scan. Comparisons can be done on file names and extensions, and you get an added option to find 0 byte files (empty files). As we noted earlier, the only area where CloneSpy falls short is the interface, but otherwise works really well.

Download CloneSpy for Windows (Free)

8. Duplicate Cleaner 4

Duplicate Cleaner 4 is a good duplicate file finder for Windows machines. It brings an easy to use interface that allows you to easily locate duplicate files. It comes with a built-in Selection Assistant that will pick the files to remove. One of the good things about this app is that it allows you to move duplicate files to a different folder. The app is great at finding duplicate images even when they have been edited, music files (MP3, OGG, WMA, M4A, M4P (iTunes), AAC, FLAC, and WAV) based on artist name or title, along with folders, zip files, and more.

While it works great for all file types, since this one doesn’t seem to support byte-by-byte comparison, I have mostly used for finding duplicate images and music files, and it worked great for those. The app comes with a 15-day free trial after which it costs

Download Duplicate Cleaner 4 for Windows (Free Trial, $29.95)

9. AllDup

AllDup is another duplicate file finder that is amply capable and packed with tons of features. It allows you to search and remove duplicate files from your Windows computer in a fast and efficient way. AllDup features a powerful search engine that scans duplicate files with a combination of filename, file extension, size, date, tags, and other attributes. It uses all these combinations to find duplicate texts, pictures, music, and movies. Particularly, AllDup has a Picture mode that goes beyond the basic file attribute analysis and dives deep to find the similarity in content. A similar algorithm is also used in scanning large video files to ascertain duplicity among the media files.

Other than that, AllDup can also find duplicate songs from MP3, FLAC, and other audio formats. It checks the metadata of audio files to analyze the content and improve its matching algorithm. Finally, you are presented with all the duplicates in a flexible manner where you can sort files as per your preference. You can further move or copy the duplicate files to a designated folder or simply delete them. For safety purposes, AllDup keeps all the deleted files in a backup folder in case you accidentally remove a necessary file. Later, you can delete all the duplicate files and folders permanently. To conclude, AllDup is a powerful duplicate file finder on Windows and you can certainly give it a try since the tool is completely free to use.

Download AllDup for Windows (Free)

10. AntiDupl

If you are looking for a duplicate file finder but dedicated only for image search then AntiDupl is the best program you can opt for. It’s a free and open-source program that uses an advanced algorithm to find similarities between images. It can scan and analyze a large volume of images and can offer to delete or merge them in a single click. AntiDupl supports a long list of image formats including JPEG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, PNG, EMF, WMF, EXIF, ICON, JP2, PSD, DDS, and TGA. The tool can further scan the content of images and display them side by side for comparison so you can easily decide whether to move or delete them.

However, the best part about AntiDupl is that it can find duplicate images having some types of detects or blemish. Basically, the image modeling algorithm on AntiDupl is so powerful that it can perform image recognition and detect identical images in real-time. As for the performance, it’s pretty quick and can handle GBs of data without breaking a sweat. So to put it straight, if you want a duplicate file finder to weed out similar or identical images from your Windows PC then AntiDupl is the perfect pick.

Download AntiDupl for Windows (Free)

Remove Duplicate Files in Windows 10 with the Best Duplicate File Finders

So there you have it – 10 great duplicate file finders for finding and removing duplicate files. Some of these duplicate file finders are really powerful, like Duplicate Searcher and CloneSpy, but the caveat is their dated interface and the requirement for manual work. While these are free, others like XYplorer and Duplicate Detective offer a much more seamless and hassle-free interface and operation at the expense of costing you big bucks. In the end, since almost all the paid solutions offer a free trial or demo, we recommend giving these a try yourself and see which one works best for you. And drop us a comment if you have further recommendations or feedback.

Duplicate file finders scan your hard drive for unnecessary duplicated files and help you remove them, freeing up space. Here are our picks for the best duplicate file finders, whether you’re looking for something easy to use, an application you may already have installed, or a powerful tool with the most advanced filters.

You shouldn’t use these tools to remove duplicate files found in system folders like the Windows and Program Files folders. Windows and the programs you use may need these duplicate files in different locations to function properly.

Find and Delete Duplicate Files the Easy Way with Duplicate Cleaner Pro

If you’re really serious about finding and killing duplicate files, your best bet is Duplicate Cleaner Pro, which has an extremely simple interface with powerful features to delete duplicate files. This software isn’t free, but they do offer a free trial that you can use to test whether you like it. And of course, you don’t have to worry about crapware or spyware.

The Best Easy-to-Use Tool: Auslogics Duplicate File Finder

Many duplicate file finders are rather complex, and packed with many different options. Auslogics Duplicate File Finder is different from most, offering a simple interface that walks you through the process. It has other convenient features everyone should appreciate, such as a built-in preview pane that allows you to view images, listen to music files, and preview videos so you can see what files you’re deleting.

Some reviews knock Auslogics for bundling additional junkware with this application, but they’ve cleaned up their act somewhat since then. The installer did offer to install Auslogics Driver Updater when we installed the duplicate file finder, however. Be sure to uncheck any additional software offered during the installation process, as you don’t need a driver updater.

This application has sensible default settings offers a simple wizard that will walk you through the process. It will search non-system folders on all connected drives by default, but you can easily select which drives and folders you want to search in the sidebar. By default, it will search for images, audio files, video files, archives, and applications, but you can select only one type of file or have it look for all file types. You can easily tell it to search for files with a specific word or bit of text in their name if you’re looking for a specific file.

Once you’ve performed a search, you’ll see a list of duplicate files and you can easily view previews of them and other information. Or, to further narrow things down, you can click the “Filter” button and filter by date, size, or file type. Select the files you want to delete and click the “Delete Selected Files” button to send them to the Recycle Bin.

The Best Tool You May Already Have Installed: CCleaner

CCleaner is a popular tool, so there’s a good chance you already have it installed. CCleaner’s main feature is its junk file remover, which frees up space on your hard drive by removing unnecessary temporary files, but it also has quite a few other built-in tools, including a duplicate file finder.

Launch CCleaner and click Tools > Duplicate Finder to find this feature. It’s available on all versions of CCleaner, so you don’t need to pay for CCleaner Pro to use it.

CCleaner’s default settings are sensible, and will allow you to search for duplicate files on your C: drive while ignoring system files and hidden files. You could also choose to search a specific directory by clicking the “Add” button on the Include pane and selecting that folder. Be sure to select “Include files and subfolders” option while adding a new folder to ensure CCleaner searches any folders inside the folder you specify, too.

This tool’s interface for viewing duplicate files isn’t fancy, and doesn’t have all the same preview options Auslogics Duplicate File Finder does. However, it does allow you to easily select which files you want to delete and even save the list of duplicates to a text file.  but it’s a basic interface that allows you to select which files you want to delete and even save the list of duplicate files to a text file. You can right-click a file in the list and select “Open containing folder” if you want to view the file itself on your system.

The Best Tool With Advanced Filters: SearchMyFiles

SearchMyFiles is a more advanced application with more customizable filters. It can search for files created, modified, or accessed only between specific dates and times you specify, for example.

This tool is created by NirSoft, who also creates many other useful free tools that never contain bundled junkware. Like many other NirSoft applications, it’s a portable app.

Launch it and you’ll see a complex looking search dialog. You’ll want to select “Duplicates Search” in the Search Mode box at the top of the window and then choose folders to search by clicking the “Browse” button to the right of Base Folders. For example, you could select C:\ to search your entire C: drive for duplicates. Configure whatever other settings you like and click “Start Search” to search for duplicate files. You’ll see a list of duplicate files arranged into groups, and you can select which ones you want to remove.

Many websites recommend dupeGuru as one of the best duplicate file finder tools, but it’s no longer officially supported on Windows. You shouldn’t download an old version of dupeGuru anymore, either—the developer says he’s seen reports of bugs on Windows 10 and doesn’t have time to fix them.