Select the files you want to delete. Right-click (or hold down Command and click) and then click Move to Trash. How to locate duplicate files using Smart Folders. While using Smart Folders is a lot faster than hunting through your entire hard drive for duplicate files, it still requires a bit of patience.
- How To Delete Duplicate Files On Mac For Free Windows 10
- How Do I Delete Duplicate Files On My Mac For Free
- How To Delete Duplicate Files On Mac For Free
- Find Duplicate Files On Mac
I have finally put all my data in one place (removed from floppy disks, CD's, DVD's & flash drives). I realize that I have a lot of duplicate files and similar files which have been updated.
The three best duplicate file finder apps for the Mac are: Disk Drill which offers a free duplicate finder in addition to data protection tools in its trial version. MacPaw’s Gemini 2 which works well to remove duplicate files but operates via a yearly subscription. This video shows an easy and a FREE way to clear all duplicate files on our Macs and Macbooks and free lots of space.NOTE- AUTOCHOOSE FOR AUTOMATICALLY SELEC.
Which is the best program for mac to help clean this up? I want one that gives me some control over what is deleted, just in case. Simple and clean is good.
Does your Mac system often accumulate too many duplicate files that take up a lot of storage? If the answer is yes, you should find these duplicate files and wipe your Mac. In this article, we will provide you the ultimate solution to help you solve this problem. Let’s get started to find and remove duplicate files on Mac
Remove Duplicate Files Mac
Part 1. Why There Are So Many Duplicate Files on Your Mac
There are many cases that duplicate files exist on your Mac. For example, you mistakenly download an app by clicking it several times. Or you are not careful enough to delete the music files you add to your iTunes. You may copy and paste into several file documents for some reasons, but forget to delete them on your Mac.
You must know that these duplicate files are taking up a large portion of storage on your Mac, as well as slowing down your Mac performance. Once it gets full, it seems not easy to deal with it. You may have no idea to find and delete these duplicate files. Well, the best suggestion for you is to read on.
Part 2. How to Remove Duplicate Files from Mac with Third-party Software
If you don’t want to remove the duplicate files manually, you can use the third-party software. You may find many apps in Mac App Store. Of which, some are charged and some are free. It may seem a little complicated to choose an easy-to-use program.
Well, Mac Cleaner is such a professional Mac data managing tool that can help you remove duplicate files quickly and easily. it also enables you to delete large/old, unneeded, junk files on your Mac.
- Enable you to remove duplicate files, delete browser cookies, empty trash, uninstall apps.
- Monitor Mac status, including disk utilization, battery status, memory usage, and CPU usage.
- Support macOS Monterey, macOS Big Sur and macOS Catalina, macOS 10.14, 10.13, 10.12, 10.11.
- Compatible with iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro.
Step 1Free download, install and launch Mac Cleaner on your computer. Click “Status” to view Mac OS status.
Step 2Click “Cleaner”, find “Duplicate Finder” feature and click it. What’s more, Mac Cleaner also enables you to view and remove system junk, iPhoto junk, email junk, similar photo, iTunes junk, trash, large/old files.
Step 3Click “Scan” to scan all duplicate files ” on your Mac. Then, you can click “View” to check the files before deleting.
Step 4 Choose the duplicate files you want to delete and click “ Clean” to totally remove them from your Mac.
With the best duplicate file remover, you can easily get rid of duplicate files on your Mac.
Part 3. How to Find Duplicate Files with Finder on Mac
If you don’t want to install a third-party app, you can use the Finder feature to search for duplicate files on your Mac. Finder enables you an easy way to find these duplicate photos, documents, music, video, and more. Check the following steps to quickly find files on Mac.
Step 1Click Finder icon and open Finder window.
Step 2click File > New Smart Folder.
Step 3 Then click ‘+’ button in the upper right corner. You can select Kind and search for Document, Movie, Music, PDF, Text, etc.
If you want to search for duplicate files more accurately, you can click Others… to well match your search.
It looks easier to find duplicate files if you rank the files by the name. After finding duplicate files, you can manually delete them.
With this method, you need to delete the duplicate files one by one. If you want to find a quick method, you can check Part 2.
Part 4. How to Find Duplicate Files with Terminal on Mac
You can also find duplicate files quickly with Terminal command. You can follow the steps below to find and delete duplicate files on Mac.
Step 1Search for Terminal and open it on your Mac.
Step 2Choose the folder where the duplicate files are saved. If you want to find duplicate files in Downloads folder, you can type: cd~/Downloads. Then press Enter.
Step 3 Type the following command in Terminal:
find . -size 20 ! -type d -exec cksum {} ; | sort | tee /tmp/f.tmp | cut -f 1,2 -d ‘ ‘ | uniq -d | grep -hif – /tmp/f.tmp > duplicates.txt
Then press Enter.
Step 4 A text file will be created where the duplicate files are listed. You can find the duplicate files and delete them manually.
However, this kind of searching method cannot claim to search all duplicate files. You cannot find some duplicate files. If you want to find and clean all duplicate files on your Mac clearly, you should use the third-party software recommended in Part 2.
Part 5. How to Find and Delete Duplicate Files in iTunes on Mac
The latest iTunes provides you an easy way to delete duplicate items. If you don’t know how to deal with duplicate songs on your Mac, you can find and delete them in iTunes.
First, you should open iTunes. In the top menu bar, go to File > Library > Show Duplicate Items.
Then, the duplicate tracks from iTunes library will be displayed. You can click the Name column header for grouping them.
If you want to delete the duplicate songs in iTunes, you can select the music you want to delete and go to Song > Delete from Library in the top menu bar.
This is a good method to arrange the iTunes music, but it only shows duplicate tracks in iTunes. If you want to find more duplicate files on your Mac, you should use Mac Cleaner to scan thoroughly on your Mac.
Conclusion
From the above methods, you are able to remove duplicate files from your Mac. If you are always worrying about no enough storage space on your Mac, you should use the recommended Mac Cleaner to clean your Mac regularly. It is also a good tool to monitor your Mac performance.
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July 03, 2019 17:00 / Posted by Nicole Jones to Mac Cleanup
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Looking for the best free duplicate file finder? Here’s a list of the best free apps to find and remove duplicate files.
Generally, there are two types of duplicate file finders. Some of them are comprehensive, with support for all file types such as images, videos and documents. Some are specialized in detecting and deleting only one type of duplicate files, say, duplicate photos. This article will talk about both types and cover OS versions such as Windows 10, Windows 7, macOS 11 Big Sur, macOS 10.15 Catalina, macOS 10.14 Mojave, etc.
The Best Duplicate File Finder for Mac
- Find duplicate photos, music files, videos, documents, archives, etc.
- Find similar images as well
- Identify true duplicate files based on content
- Remove duplicates from Photos, iPhoto, Music and iTunes
- Support Mac’s internal drive, external hard drive, SD card and more
- Can also be used for Amazon Photos, Google Drive, etc.
- Provide 3 preview modes, allowing side-by-side image preview
- Automatically select duplicate files for you to mass delete with 1 click
- Also offer up to 8 selection rules
- Offer 3 removal options: Move to Trash, Move to Folder and Delete Permanently
- Safe and easy to use
- Compatible with macOS 10.10 or later
The best free duplicate file finder 2020 and 2021
#1 Auslogics Duplicate File Finder | Windows
Compatibility: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7
License: Freeware
Rating: 4.5
Latest version: 9.0.0.4, released on 02/11/2021
Auslogics Duplicate File Finder is completely free to use. It can find all types of duplicate files such as duplicate images, duplicate videos and duplicate songs. Using intelligent algorithms, it identifies duplicate files by comparing content.
It lets users have control over the process of looking for and removing duplicate files on Windows PC. It offers two scan modes: “Look for all files types” and “Look for these file types only”. Users can also specify file size for scan and choose how this tool removes duplicate files. One can move the unwanted duplicate files to Recycle Bin or the tool’s Rescue Center or delete them permanently.
This Windows duplicate file finder for excels at detecting duplicate files and allows lots of customization. But it’s not flawless. Its preview function is not that useful. Sometimes you need to view files with their associated apps. Also, it is bundled with unwanted extra software. To avoid them, click “Decline” during the installation. Here’s a full review of Auslogics Duplicate File Finder for Windows.
Pros
- Totally free to use
- Easy to use with an intuitive, user-friendly interface
- Fast scanning
- Support various file types such as photos and music
- Multiple removal methods
- Multiple supported languages
- Also find duplicate files on external storage devices such as USB flash drive
- Let you effortlessly restore deleted duplicates thanks to its Rescue Center feature
Cons
- Poor preview performance
- Installer bundled with unwanted apps
If you are looking for a useful and powerful duplicate filer finder for Windows with a great preview feature, you can try the free trial of Easy Duplicate Finder.
#2 Duplicate Cleaner Free | Windows
Compatibility: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista
License: Free and Pro
Rating: 4.5
Latest version: 4.1.4, released on 01/30/2020
Duplicate Cleaner Free supports a variety of file types such as music, images, and documents. Its powerful scan engine ensures high scan speed and the ability to compare files by content. The flexible search settings let you decide how this tool looks for and deletes duplicates.
There are also useful minor features such as scan results export and folder exclusion.
This top-rated free app has three types of scanning mode: “Regular Mode”, “Image Mode” and “Audio Mode”. The latter two modes are available only in the pro edition. The free Regular mode allows you to find duplicates by content, or file attributes, or a combination of them.
Even the free edition of this Windows duplicate file finder provides enough setting options. New users may feel overwhelmed by the array of search criteria and options. Don’t worry. Each feature or option comes with a Help button. Click it to display the help information.
If you are looking for a free duplicate photo finder, you will be pleased to find out that it supports all popular image formats (like PNG, JPEG, TIFF, etc.) and popular RAW image formats (like CR2, RW2, SR2, etc.). It can compare images by exact content, tags and even geographical distance.
The pro edition is called Duplicate Cleaner Pro. The developer releases updates for both editions several times a year to fix bugs or bring new features.
Pros
- Support multiple file types and formats including RAW images
- Enough useful features and options even in the free version
- Various options for finding and removing duplicate files
- Good at finding duplicate and similar images
- High scan speed
- Handy keyboard shortcuts
- Offer useful minor features such as scan results export and folder exclusion
Cons
- Not very user friendly to new users
- Installer comes with components which you may not want
Also Read:8 Best Duplicate File Finders for Mac of 2021: Paid and Free
#3 dupeGuru | Windows, Mac & Linux
Compatibility: macOS 10.12 or later, Windows, Linux
License: Freeware
Rating: 4.5
Latest version: 4.1.1 (for Windows), released on 03/22/2021
dupeGuru is probably one of the oldest duplicate file finders. The app came out in 2004. It used to be a paid app and has been free and open-source since 2010. It offers three modes. The Standard mode supports all common file types. The Music mode only scans for duplicate music files such as duplicate MP3 files. The Picture mode is specialized in looking for duplicate photos.
It lets you add one or multiple folders to scan for duplicate files. When the scan is done, the dupeGuru Results window will open. There, all detected duplicate files will be listed. You can easily sort them by file kind, filename and size.
To preview an image or media file within the app, highlight a file and click the eye icon in the toolbar. Check the boxes next to the unwanted duplicate files. From the top menu bar, select Actions > Send Marked to Trash. These duplicates will be moved to Trash. You can also choose to move them to a specific folder of your choice.
The best free duplicate file finder for Mac offers a rich set of features and options to help basic and advanced users to deal with duplicate files and customize the process.
Pros
- Free to use and open-source
- Support all popular file types and formats
- Offer three modes to handle different file types
- Provide multiple scan types
- Allow you to scan one or more folders at once
- Can ignore small files to improve scanning efficiency
- Enable you to save scan results for later use
- Let you preview image, audio and videos files
- Offer multiple ways to remove duplicate files
- Highly flexible and customizable
Cons
- Crash when scanning an entire drive
- Limitedly useful preview feature
- No support for Mac Photos app
#4 Ashisoft Free Duplicate File Finder | Windows
Compatibility: Windows 10, Windows 8/8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, both 32 and 64 bit
License: Free and Pro
Latest version: 8.1.0.1
Rating: 4.0
Ashisoft Duplicate File Finder can compare files byte by byte, so it can find true duplicate files regardless of filename. It has a free edition and a pro edition. Both allow you to look for various types of duplicates such as duplicate music files, pictures and videos.
The interface is simple and easy to understand even for new users. It displays options and actions for users to take. You can choose to identify duplicates by byte-by-byte comparison, the SHA-1 algorithm or file properties. It provides multiple search filters, duplicates marking options and removal options. You can also exclude folders for scanning, which is a safety feature to prevent accidental delete. Its ability to find duplicate music files is also worth mentioning. This duplicate file finder for Windows 10 (and other versions) can measure and identify similarities between songs by content or by ID tags like title, album and artist. If you choose to find duplicate music by content, the app will ignore these tags and only focus on file content.
The free version only provides basic features and options, which may be enough in many cases. To have access to advanced features (such as support for Google Drives), you need to upgrade to the pro edition. Its ability to find duplicate files is slightly lower than that of some similar tools such as Auslogics Duplicate File Finder.
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Multiple supported file types
- Can identify duplicates by content
- Multiple options for scanning, searching, filtering, etc.
- Excels at finding duplicate music files
#5 Fast Duplicate File Finder | Windows
How To Delete Duplicate Files On Mac For Free Windows 10
Compatibility: Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP, NT, 2000, 2003, all Windows Server operating systems
License: Free and Pro
Rating: 4.0
Latest Version: 5.9.0.1
Fast Duplicate File Finder is fast and powerful when it comes to searching duplicate files in folders and subfolders on PC. It is particularly useful if you have duplicate files with different names. This tool has many nice-to-have features, such as options to manage duplicates, the ability to preview files before deleting, and the support for external devices such as USB drives, external hard drives and SD cards.
Its Pro edition allows you to find similar files, export scan results and exclude folders for scan. If the free version can’t satisfy what you need, you can pay $39.95 to buy the Pro version. The comparison table below will show you the differences between the free and professional editions.
Pros
- Look for duplicates by content or file properties
- Can find duplicate images, documents, and media files
- Can also find similar files (Pro edition only)
- Allow users to preview files
- 2 removal options
- Useful features such as auto-check and renaming files
Cons
- No filtering options in the free version
- Relatively slow scanning
#6 Duplicate Manager | Mac
Compatibility: Compatibility: macOS 10.7 or later, including macOS 11 Big Sur
License: Free and Pro
Rating: 4.0
Latest version: 1.3.9, released on 02/05/2021
I recommended Duplicate Finder & Remover for Mac users. It is not officially available now, so I replace it with another great free Mac duplicate file finder called Duplicate Manager.
Thanks to its support for all file types, this app can locate all types of duplicate files such as songs, photos, movies, videos and documents. It offers multiple comparison modes. The default mode is Checksum, which scans your computer for exact duplicates.
With the convenient preview feature, it’s easy to preview and examine the found duplicate files. You need to select duplicates to delete. Clicking the Auto Select button will automatically select the duplicate for deletion, but it only applies to one group of duplicates at a time. You need to upgrade to the Pro edition to be able to apply to all.
This free app has the essential features that duplicate file finder software should have. It does a good job of remove duplicate files from Mac’s folders. When it comes to duplicates in Mac’s Photos app, it won’t help. For this task, you need a duplicate file finder safely designed for Mac’s Photos.
Pros
- Free to use
- Find all types of duplicate files
- Come with a simple and straightforward interface
- Offer different modes to compare files and identify duplicates
- Useful preview feature
- 2 ways to remove duplicates: moving to Trash or delete instantly
- Highly customizable
Cons
- Can’t mass delete duplicates
- No support for Photos
#7 Anti-Twin | Windows
Compatibility: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP
License: Freeware, for personal-use only
Rating: 4.0
Latest Version: 1.8d (2010)
This portable free duplicate file finder is lightweight and useful, allowing you to find duplicate files on Windows PC by file content or by filename. Users can accurately find both identical and similar images, thanks to its ability to do pixel-based image comparison.
There are two comparison methods: Compare names and Compare content. The latter is recommended, but note that scanning for duplicates by content will take a longer time. With both methods, you can adjust the matching level. You can directly delete the unwanted duplicate copies or send them to the recycle bin.
One of the great things is that it can also find duplicate files in shared network folders, which requires decent network connection. This free duplicate file remover does allow you to preview images, but it will open a separate window, which can be inconvenient.
Pros
- Portable
- Supports local hard drive, external devices and network folders
- Supports common file types and formats
- Can find identical or similar files with adjustable matching levels
- Can compare files by content or by filename
- 2 removal options
Cons
- Limited search filters
- Relatively low scan speed
The best free duplicate photo finder Windows 10
Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder
Compatibility: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, 2000, 2003 Server
License: Freeware
Rating: 5
Latest version: 1.2, released on 04/09/2021
It’s a free yet powerful software program designed for photo deduplication. The freeware offers the following main benefits.
- Simple, easy-to-understand interface
- Lightweight with a download size of only 1.2 MB
- Detect both exact duplicate photos and similar ones
- Support 5 common image formats like PNG, JPG and TIFF
- Support CR2 - Canon RAW files
- Allow you to scan multiple folders at once
- Work with internal and external hard drives, memory card, and more
This excellent free duplicate photo finder has been around for more than 10 years and has gone through four upgrades. Version 1.2 added support for CR2 RAW images. It contains no adware or malware and is safe to download and use.
How Do I Delete Duplicate Files On My Mac For Free
It has all the basic functions that a duplicate photo cleaner should have. The support for all popular image types makes it useful in most cases. One of the great things is its ability to find the resized pictures. Resized photos are the same in photo content but different in size. With this app, you can easily find them out and quickly remove the unwanted versions.
If your purpose is to get rid of relatively large images to free up space, you can exclude small image files from scan so as to reduce scan time. There is an option allowing you to do the exclusion. If you want to eliminate dupes and better manage your photo collection, it’s recommended to scan all images in the target folder or drive.
Guide and tips: How to use free duplicate file finder software
Duplicate file finders may vary in performance, usability, capabilities and supported platforms, but they are likely to work in a similar way. Here we will take the best free duplicate file finder for Windows as an example and show you how to use such software to get rid of duplicates on Windows and free up hard drive space.
Step 1. Add folders to scan. Add folders, subfolders or drives (partitions) to scan for duplicates files.
Step 2. Set scan and removal preferences. It lets you find duplicates of all file types or of only certain file type(s) such as images and audios. Specify file size range if needed. Choose a preferred removal option. Click the Search button.
Step 3. Preview. Previewing allows you to better known the files you are dealing with. If the preview feature is not that useful, you can open and view files with associated apps. You can also sort groups of duplicates by name, type and size.
Step 4. Delete. There are multiple selection options available. Click the dropdown list to choose one. Click Delete Selected Files to remove the unwanted copies in the way you prefer.
Tips
These tips are applicable regardless of the duplicate file finder or operating system you use.
- Back up your files first It’s not necessary but is a good practice before you perform any file cleanup actions. You can make a backup on a different drive or use cloud storage.
- Exclude important folders If you want to scan your entire hard drive for duplicate files, it’s recommended to exclude important folders and system files for scanning.
- Make the most of customizable options All good duplicate file finders have multiple filter and action options. They can help improve efficiency and avoid file deletion by mistake.
- Remove files in safe manner Choose to move unwanted duplicates to the Recycle Bin (or Trash) or a rescue center (if available). This way you can easily recover files that have been erased by mistake. In addition, if you are a Mac user and want to get rid of the duplicates in Photos, make sure you use software safely compatible with Photos.
How To Delete Duplicate Files On Mac For Free
Conclusion
Find Duplicate Files On Mac
The duplicate file finder freeware is generally not as good as the paid counterpart in terms of capacities and performance, but sometimes they are already useful enough. Some of the apps on our list of the best free duplicate file finder software are freeware. Some also have paid editions which have more advanced features. There are also a few decent open-source apps. However, they haven't been updated for years. Therefore, they are not included in this list. If you are also a Mac user or plan to switch to Mac, you can use the best duplicate file finder for Mac for duplicate files cleanup.