Easy Duplicate Finder Archives

We've covered many ways that you can save space on your storage drives over the years, most recently discussing how to manually go through large files and testing cleanup utilities, resetting Windows to its default state without losing your files, and methods for deleting the Windows.old backup, in all scenarios potentially reclaiming several gigabytes of storage in the process. Deleting duplicate files on your system could easily result in clean out that is similarly sizable if only a few large files are found.

Windows doesn't make it easy to deal with duplicate files all by itself. While there are many options for accomplishing this sort of task with batch files or PowerShell scripts, we assume most people would prefer something that doesn't involve a command prompt.

Without installing third party software, your only option is running a search for a specific file via Windows Explorer and manually deleting the duplicates that appear. This isn't helpful, of course, if you don't know which files have duplicates.

Those of you using the powerful File Explorer alternative Total Commander may know already that it includes the ability to search for duplicate files (it's on the second search page) among the dozens of other features it provides over the Windows File Explorer aimed at power users.

If you'd rather not add any additional third party software to your system or learn your way around a new file explorer, it's worth mentioning that CCleaner has a duplicate file finder built in (Tools > Duplicate Finder), if you happen to use that already. Note however we're not as fond of CCleaner as we used to be and there are better alternatives these days.

Third party tools to find duplicate files

You're probably going to need one of these tools...

We've installed all of the above and unless you're after some specific feature, CloneSpy gets our recommendation for having a light, albeit somewhat cluttered interface. CloneSpy displays just enough options by default, it's also free and can be run in "portable" mode without being fully installed, which we tend to like for this kind of utilities.

For a more intuitive interface with simpler functionality than the above, we like Wise Duplicate Finder:

On the premium end of things, Duplicate Cleaner is easily the most popular duplicate tool in our download section, touting loads of features and displaying them in a modern-looking interface that is responsive and scales well with a custom Windows DPI.

If you only plan to run a few quick scans and then uninstall it, the software offers a 15 day trial but costs $29.95 for a lifetime license.

Although you have to uncheck crapware during its installation, Auslogics Duplicate File Finder is free and features a GUI that is about as modern feeling as Duplicate Cleaner yet walks you through the scanning process with a series of prompts instead of opening to a switchboard full of options.

As a final mention, DupScout seems like a decent alternative to CloneSpy if don't care about having a portable installation yet want a relatively clean interface that isn't quite as dated or barren (add a profile on the left to get started).

Visualize Those Large Files

Didn't free up as much space as you thought?
Try looking for large files with one of these drive visualization tools...

Finding Duplicate Files on macOS

Duplicate File Finder Remover on the Mac App Store comes highly recommended, with a ton of features on top of a very intuitive UI. Some advanced features are available at a cost, but that's entirely optional.

Two more recommended apps for macOS users: Trend Micro's Dr. Cleaner is free and offers a disk cleaner and big file finder. While Disk Inventory X is a dedicated tool to show the sizes of files and folders in a treemap graph, similar to the Windows example above.

Other Useful Tips

Scan multiple sources, folders, and devices in order to find and remove the duplicate files, so you can clear up disk space and improve the PC speed

Easy Duplicate Finder is a feature-rich software application designed to automatically locate duplicate files on the computer, in order to remove them and declutter the disk. It features some advanced, yet user-friendly options.

Quick setup and intuitive interface

The installation procedure does not take a long time to finish, and the only notable aspect about it is that Easy Duplicate Finder can integrate an entry into the Windows Explorer shell extension, in order to quickly scan custom directories.

As far as the interface is concerned, the tool adopts large buttons and a neatly organized structure which lets users immediately dive into the whole configuration process.

Set scan rules with inclusions, exclusions and size limits

So, you can get started by pointing out the folders to scan and creating rules when it comes to directories to exclude, file types to include and exclude, as well as the minimum and maximum file size to take into account.

Examine duplicate files information before deleting, renaming or moving them

Results show all original items and their duplicates in different groups. All duplicates are automatically selected by default, while the first file in the group is excluded from deletion. You can examine their full paths, group number, size and date of modification, along with the total number of scanned files, originals and duplicates, disk space usage, as well as a pie chart presenting the occupied size split amongst audio, video, image, archive, document and other types of files.

In addition, it is possible to sort results by type, handpick the exact items to delete while keeping the rest or switch to another preset selection mode (e.g. leave the oldest or newest version in each group), as well as rename or move the duplicates to another location instead of deleting them. A wizard assistant comes to the aid of beginners to take care of this task.

Configure program settings

Easy Duplicate Finder features a wide range of customization settings. They pertain to the search behavior (e.g. byte-by-byte comparison, skip temporary files), activity logging mode (e.g. found, skipped and renamed files), file types to take into account for scanning, and so on. Settings can be restored to default at any time.

Evaluation and conclusion

The tool supports multiple languages, has a good response time and carries out scan jobs pretty fast. Although it runs on low CPU, it uses significant RAM, even when it's not carrying out ongoing scan jobs. It worked well in our tests, without hanging, crashing or displaying error messages.

In a nutshell, Easy Duplicate Finder is a resourceful tool for finding and removing duplicate files to free up disk space, backed by plenty of settings to personalize and speed up the scanner.

Filed under

Duplicate finderDupe finderDupe removerDuplicateSearcherRemoverFinder

Download Hubs

Easy Duplicate Finder is part of these download collections: Open ZIP, Duplicate Finder, Duplicate Removers