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 2 kinds of duplicate file finders. Some can find various types of duplicate files such as duplicate images, videos and documents. Some are specialized in dealing with a certain type of duplicate files, typically, duplicate photos. This article talks about both kinds and covers Windows and Mac, including Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, macOS Ventura, macOS Monterey, macOS Big Sur, macOS Catalina, etc.
Cisdem Duplicate Finder
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Compatibility: Windows 11, Windows 10, 8.1, 8 and 7
License: Freeware
Latest version: 10.0.0.2, released in January 2023
Rating: 4.5
Auslogics Duplicate File Finder is completely free. It’s easy to use for everyone and can find all common types of duplicate files such as duplicate photos, audios and videos. The latest update adds full support for Windows 11, improving this app’s performance on Windows 11.
The app searches for duplicate files by content and lets users set the search criteria. For example, you can set the app to look for all duplicate files or only a certain type such as duplicate images. You can also exclude certain files from the search by specifying the size range or name.
It displays the found duplicate files for you to view, sort and filter and also lets you preview duplicate image and video files. You can select unnecessary duplicates for deletion or let the app do it. Delete selected duplicates permanently or move them to the Recycle Bin or the Rescue Center.
This free duplicate file finder is great but not perfect. It doesn’t support drag and drop. Also, it’s bundled with a potentially unwanted app. Luckily, it allows you to refuse to install the unwanted app.
Here’s a full review of Auslogics Duplicate File Finder.
If you are looking for the best duplicate file finder for Windows, get the free trial of Cisdem Duplicate Finder.
Compatibility: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista
License: Freeware
Latest version: 4.1.2, released in May 2019
Rating: 4.5
Duplicate Cleaner Free can be a good duplicate file finder for tech-savvy users. It’s feature-rich and highly configurable.
The app has three modes: Regular mode, Image mode and Audio mode. However, the latter two modes are actually only available for use in Duplicate Cleaner Pro. The two modes specialize in dealing with duplicate photos and duplicate songs respectively.
The Regular mode is free to use. This mode uses the MD5 algorithm or byte-by-byte comparison to compare files and identifies duplicates by content. You can also set it to search for duplicate files by name, size or extension or a combination of them, regardless of content.
Supporting many image formats (such as JPG, PNG and BMP), including raw image formats (such as RAW, CRW, DNG, MRW and CR2), this app can be a good duplicate photo finder.
This Windows duplicate file finder provides many options to let users control the process of finding and removing duplicate files. New users may feel overwhelmed by the options. Don’t worry. The app has a built-in user manual.
Compatibility: 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.12 or later, 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Ubuntu
License: Freeware
Latest version: 4.3.1, released in July 2022
Rating: 4.5
dupeGuru is one of the oldest duplicate file finders. It came out in 2004 and used to be a paid app. The app has been free and open-source since 2010.
The app has three modes: Standard, Music and Pictures. The Standard mode can quickly identify duplicate files by content or name. When in the Standard mode, dupeGuru is the fastest of all the duplicate file finder free apps that I have tested.
Only dealing with audios, the Music mode can find duplicate songs, such as duplicate MP3 files, by content or tag. The Picture mode is specialized in finding duplicate photos.
It can scan one or multiple folders for duplicate files at a time. Its Results tab displays the duplicate files that have been found. You can sort them by name, size, location or file type. Double-clicking a file lets you view the file. You can manually mark unwanted duplicates for removal or choose Mark All in the Mark menu.
This open-source duplicate file finder is simple and easy to use. At the same time, there are advanced features (such as Custom Command) and options, helping users make the most of the app.
Compatibility: Windows 11, Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7 and Vista, both 32-bit and 64-bit versions
License: Free and Pro
Latest version: 6.3.0.1
Rating: 4.0
Fast Duplicate File Finder can quickly scan folders and subfolders for duplicate images, documents and media files. It’s pretty configurable.
It offers four scan methods. If you only want to find exactly identical files (regardless of name), I recommend the default method 100% Equal Files. This method compares file by content and can find duplicate files with different names. The Similar File Names method and File Size method compare files by name or file size and don’t take content into consideration when identifying duplicate files. I personally don’t recommend them. If you also want to find non-exact duplicates, choose the Similar Files method.
The app provides a preview feature so that you can easily view the found duplicate files, but only allows you to preview a limited number of files. There is an Auto Check feature and a few Auto Check rules to quickly select file duplicates to eliminate.
You need to get the Pro edition to unlimitedly use all the features of Fast Duplicate File Finder, such as the full preview feature, the full feature to find similar files, and the feature to exclude folders from scan.
Compatibility: Windows 11, Windows 10, 8, 7 and Windows Server, both 32-bit and 64-bit versions
License: Freeware
Latest version: 4.5.46, released in May 2023
Rating: 4.0
If you are technically proficient, you can check out this free duplicate file finder and remover. It’s quite rich in features and provides many options to play with.
This app searches for duplicate files in individual folders and also compares folders for duplicates. It has six search methods, each for different purposes and with a set of options.
To find exactly identical files (regardless of name), I recommend selecting the Find duplicate files on the basis of their properties method and then the File content option, which offers several algorithms (such as MD5 and SHA-1) for you to choose from. You can also find duplicate or similar files by comparing file name. There are plenty of other options.
There are also many options when it comes to showing, previewing and removing the found duplicate files.
AllDup can be very powerful. It can also be overwhelming and confusing.
Compatibility: macOS 10.8 or later, including macOS 13 Ventura
License: Free and Pro
Latest version: 1.4.3, released in October 2022
Rating: 4.0
Thanks to its support for all file types, this great free Mac duplicate file finder can locate duplicate songs, photos, movies, videos, documents, etc. 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 automatically selects 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 removing duplicate files from 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.
Compatibility: Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista and XP
License: Freeware, for personal-use only
Latest version: 1.8d, released in May 2010
Rating: 4.0
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 effectively 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.
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Compatibility: Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP; macOS 10.8 or later
License: Free (with limits) and Premium
Latest version: 7.23.0.42, released in January 2023
Rating: 4.0
Easy Duplicate Finder has a Free edition and a Premium edition. It offers two usage modes: Easy and Advanced. The Easy mode is recommended by the developer, but we recommend the Advanced mode.
In the Advanced Mode, you are allowed to decide where to scan for duplicate files and choose the scan method, which lets you take control.
There are ten scan methods. To find duplicate files on your PC or Mac, the default scan method is the most accurate, which identifies duplicates by comparing both file hash and file size. To search for duplicate audio files, the Music scan method is the best. If you are a Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive user, then congratulations, you can use Easy Duplicate Finder’s Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive scan method to easily do the cleanup.
To make the process of finding duplicate files more quickly, you can use the Include feature, which allows you to only search one type (such as image or audio) of file for duplicates at a time.
Note that the Free edition of this duplicate file finder only allows you to use it to delete ten duplicate files. To delete more, you will have to use File Explore (PC) or Finder (Mac).
Compatibility: Windows 11, Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, 2000, Server 2003
License: Freeware
Rating: 4.5
Latest version: 1.2, released in April 2021
It’s a free yet powerful software program designed for photo deduplication. The freeware offers the following main benefits.
This excellent free duplicate photo finder has been around for more than 10 years and has gone through four upgrades. It contains no adware or malware and is safe to download and use.
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.
If you only want to get rid of relatively large duplicate images, you can go to Settings to set a minimum image size. I prefer scanning all images in the target folder or drive for duplicates.
With this app, you need to go through each set of duplicates and manually delete the redundant one(s). There isn’t an option to automatically select dupes for mass deletion. This can be a drawback.
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.
These tips are applicable regardless of the duplicate file finder or operating system you use.
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.
To find and delete duplicate files easily, efficiently and safely, it’s recommended to use Cisdem Duplicate Finder, the best duplicate file finder for Mac and Windows.
Connie has been writing for Mac productivity and utility apps since 2009. Each review and solution is based on her practical tests, she is aways energetic and trustworthy in this field.
Donata Hopfen
Thanks for your detailed comparison. This is exactly what I need since I have a lot of duplicates on my computer and they take up too much space. Now I solved this problem!