2020-10-09 02:40:38 / Posted by Connie Wisley to Utility Follow @ Connie
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 common 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 cover both types and cover OS versions such as Windows 10, Windows 7, macOS 10.15 Catalina, macOS 10.14 Mojave, etc.
Compatibility: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7
License: Freeware
Rating: 4.5
Latest version: 8.5.0.2, released on 10/07/2020
Free download link: https://www.auslogics.com/en/software/duplicate-file-finder/
Auslogics Duplicate File Finder is completely free to use. It can find all common types of duplicate files such as duplicate images, duplicate videos and duplicate music files. Using intelligent algorithms, it identifies duplicate files by comparing content. In addition to being capable, it's also intuitive and user friendly.
It lets users have control over the process of looking for and removing duplicate files on Windows PC. There are two scan modes offered: Look for all files types and Look for these file types only, as shown in the screenshot below. 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, delete them permanently or move them to the app's Rescue Center.
This Windows duplicate file finder for excels at detecting duplicate files and allows 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 comes with bundled software apps which you may not need, which you can choose to not install. Here’s a full review of Auslogics Duplicate File Finder for Windows.
Compatibility: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista
License: Free and Pro
Rating: 4.5
Latest version: 4.1.4, released on 01/30/2020
Free download link: https://www.digitalvolcano.co.uk/dcdownloads.html
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 only available in the pro edition. The Regular mode allows you to find duplicates by content, or file attributes, or a combination of them. Even the free version 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 (search, filter, removal, etc.) 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. Features exclusive to the pro edition include Unique Files Tab, Duplicate Folders Tab, Command Line Parameters, etc. The developer releases updates for both editions several times a year. In the latest update in October 2019, it improved the support for camera RAW images. The support for RAW images was introduced in 2016.
What is the best duplicate file finder Mac users can use? We have tested and picked the best duplicate finding software for Mac, including free ones.
Read more >>Compatibility: Mac OS X 10.10 or later, Windows, Linux
License: Freeware
Rating: 4.5
Latest version: 4.0.3
Free download link: https://dupeguru.voltaicideas.net/
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, 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. 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. For example, in the Preferences window, you can set the app to ignore small files when scanning, which can help reduce scan time and improve efficiency.
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
Free download link: https://www.ashisoft.com/downloads/dfsetup.exe
Ashisoft Duplicate File Finder can compare files byte by byte, so it can find true duplicate files regardless of filename. You can use it to look for various types of duplicates such as duplicate music files, pictures and videos. In addition to your PC’s internal storage, it can also work with Google Drive and portable devices such as memory cards.
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 more advanced features, 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.
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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
Free download link: https://www.mindgems.com/software/FastDuplicateFileFinder.exe
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.
Compatibility: OS X 10.11 or later, including Catalina
License: Freeware
Rating: 4.0
Latest version: 1.0.2, released on 09/07/2020
Free download link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/duplicate-finder-remover/id1529858023?mt=12
With a simple interface, this free Mac duplicate file finder is very easy to use. You can use it to scan your Mac for all duplicate files or certain types of duplicate files. Despite being free, it offers a decent speed. It lets you view found duplicate files by file type, which is convenient. Duplicates are listed in tree view. When you highlight a file, its preview will appear on the right side of windows. Below the preview, you can find information like file size.
To delete unwanted duplicate copies of files, you need to first select the boxes next to them. You can do it by hand. Or, you can use the app's Auto Select tool. Click Remove to permanently delete the selected files, which is the only removal option provided.
This free app is user-friendly and has the essential features that duplicate file finder software should have. The one main downside is that it can only scan a Mac folder or volume at a time. Therefore, it's impossible to use it to find duplicate files between two folders. It's a pretty new app, and we can expect more options and versatility in the future updates.
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)
Free download link: http://www.joerg-rosenthal.com/en/antitwin/download.html
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.
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Compatibility: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, 2000, 2003 Server
License: Freeware
Rating: 5
Latest version: 1.1.1, released on 09/04/2019
Free download link: Download Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder
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 about 10 years and has gone through four upgrades. The latest one is version 1.1.1 released in 2019. 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.
Add folders, subfolders or drives (partitions) to scan for duplicates files.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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