April 20, 2022
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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 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 type of duplicate files, for example, duplicate photos. This article talks about both kinds and covers Windows and Mac, including Windows 11, 10, 8 and 7, macOS Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina and Mojave, etc.
Cisdem Duplicate Finder
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Compatibility: Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7
License: Freeware
Latest version: 9.2.0.1, released in February 2022
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 app searches for duplicate files by content and lets users set the search criteria. For example, you can look for all duplicate files or 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 and filter and 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 not perfect. It doesn’t support drag and drop. Also, it’s bundled with potentially unwanted apps. Luckily, it allows you to refuse to install the unwanted apps.
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 customizable.
The app has three modes: Regular mode, Image mode and Audio mode. The Regular mode finds duplicate files by content (using the MD5 algorithm). You can also set the mode to search for duplicates by name, size or extension or a combination of them, regardless of content. Only available in Duplicate Cleaner Pro, the latter two modes specialize in dealing with duplicate photos and duplicate songs respectively.
This app supports many image formats (such as JPG, PNG and BMP) and raw image formats (such as RAW, CRW, DNG, MRW and CR2) and 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 to explain the options.
Also Read: 9 Best Duplicate File Finders for Mac of 2022
Compatibility: 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows, macOS 10.12 or later, 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Ubuntu
License: Freeware
Latest version (for Windows): 4.2.1, released in March 2022
Rating: 4.5
dupeGuru is one of the oldest duplicate file finders. It came out in 2004 and used to 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 identify duplicate files by content or name. 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, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, 2000, 2003 and Windows Server
License: Free and Pro
Latest version: 6.0.0.2
Rating: 4.0
Fast Duplicate File Finder can quickly scan folders and subfolders for duplicate images, documents and media files. It offers four scan methods for users to choose from. The default scan method compares file by content and can find duplicate files with different names.
The app provides a preview feature to help you view the found duplicate files, but the Free edition of the app only allows you to preview a limited number of files. There is an Auto Check feature and a few rules to quickly check file duplicates to eliminate.
You need to get the Pro edition to unlimitedly access Fast Duplicate File Finder’s full features, such as the feature to find similar files and the feature to exclude folders from scan.
Compatibility: Windows 11, 10, 8, 7 and Windows Server
License: Freeware
Latest version: 4.5.16, released in March 2022
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 coming with options for users to configure.
You can start with the File content option, which will find exactly identical files. This option offers several algorithms (such as MD5 and SHA-1) for you to choose from. You can also find duplicate or similar files by comparing filename. 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 11 Big Sur
License: Free and Pro
Latest version: 1.4.2, released in October 2021
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 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows 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 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows XP
License: Free and Pro
Latest version: 8.1.0.1
Rating: 4.0
Ashisoft Duplicate File Finder has a Free edition and a Pro edition. It can search for duplicate files by content (recommended), SHA-256 hash, name, size or extension or a combination of them. It’s up to you. The search speed can be a bit slower than that of Auslogics Duplicate File Finder.
This duplicate file finder has a Music search mode, which lets you find duplicate music by matching music content or by comparing song metadata like title, artist, album or duration.
There are other search modes. The Compare mode lets you compare two folders for duplicate files. The Cloud mode is designed to detect duplicates in Google Drive and Dropbox.
The Free edition doesn’t allow you to delete the duplicate files that are found. You need to locate them in File Explorer and then remove them manually.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.