How to Find Duplicate Files in Windows 10 Using CMD or an Easier Way

If there are many duplicate files on your computer, it's a good idea to delete them. Why? Unnecessary duplicate files take up storage space and lead to disorganization. But how do you delete them?

While Windows doesn't have a built-in duplicate file finder, Window's Command Prompt (aka CMD) can help users identify duplicate files. In this article, I will show you how to use CMD to help you find duplicate files in Windows 10.

 Cisdem Duplicate Finder

CMD Not Efficient? Try This

• Identify duplicate images, videos, documents, audio files, and all other files
• Detect similar images
• Support Windows PC, Mac, external storage devices, and cloud drives
• Scan for duplicate files in folders, iTunes, Apple's Music, and Mac's Photos
• Offer 3 modes to view duplicates, with side-by-side photo previews
• Automatically select all but one file for deletion in each group of duplicates, enabling you to remove all duplicates at once
• Allow you to adjust selections manually, or choose from 8 rules (e.g. Select Newest)
• Easy to use for everyone

Free Download Windows 10 or later Free Download macOS 10.11 or later GET IT ON Google Play Download on the App Store

How to find duplicate files in Windows 10 using CMD

Command Prompt or CMD is a command-line tool included in Windows. With this tool, users can directly "talk to" the operating system and perform many tasks, such as finding duplicate files.

The steps below will show you how to find duplicate files in Windows 10 and Windows 11 with the help of CMD.

1. On your Windows computer, type CMD in the search box on the taskbar.

2. Run CMD as administrator.

3. Use the “dir /s /b *.extension” command to find files with a specific extension.

• The “dir” is the command used to display files and subfolders in a directory.
• The “/s” is an option that recursively searches all subdirectories, including the current directory and all subdirectories under it.
• The “/b” is used to list the full path of the file in a concise manner.
• The “*.extension” is a wildcard expression that specifies the file extensions to search for.

Here you need to replace "extension" with the file extension you're looking for.

For example, if you want to find all duplicate jpeg files, you can enter “dir /s /b *.jpeg”.

4. Press Enter, and a list of the full paths of jpeg files will be displayed. You can easily discover potential duplicates by comparing file names.

5. Check potential duplicates in File Explorer to confirm if they are duplicates.

How to get rid of duplicate files in the easiest way

Compared to using CMD, there is an easier method, which provides the following benefits.

• Automatically finds duplicate files, whereas the CMD method only lists file paths
• Automatically selects duplicates for you to mass remove, whereas the CMD method doesn't help with removal
• Also lets you decide which files to remove
• Easy to use for everyone
• Reliable and safe to use

The easiest way to get rid of duplicate files in Windows is to use duplicate file finder and remover software Cisdem Duplicate Finder. It’s easy to use, powerful and reliable.

Cisdem Duplicate Finder main features:

• Find duplicate photos, videos, audios and all other types of duplicate files
• Detect duplicate files by content, capable of finding duplicate files with different names
• Also find similar photos
• Scan PC and external storage devices for duplicate files
• Scan one or multiple folders/drives for duplicate files at a time
• Let you exclude folders and files from scan
• Display the found duplicate files for you to preview and view
• Automatically select duplicate files for mass removal
• Allow you to decide which files to delete by offering customizable selection rules (such as Select Newest)
• Offer Move to Recycle Bin as the default deletion option (so that files can be recovered)
• Let you control what to find, where to find and how to delete
• Available for Windows 10 and Windows 11

1. Download and install Cisdem Duplicate Finder on your Windows PC. Open it.

Free Download Windows 10 or later

2. To scan one or multiple folders for duplicate files, drag it or them into the software. Or, you can add locations by clicking the plus icon.

3. Click Scan.

4. Once the scan is done, the All tab will display all the duplicate files that have been found. Sort, preview and view them as you like.

5. The software already automatically selects duplicate files for mass deletion. If you want, you can adjust the selection by choosing a selection rule or by hand.

6. Click Delete in the bottom left corner to clean up the selected unwanted duplicate files on your Windows PC.

Tip: In step 2, if you feel you want, you can do your customization by going to Settings . For example, you can ask the software to ignore certain specific folders and files when it is scanning for duplicate files.

Conclusion

Cleaning duplicate files can help you free up storage space on your computer and help you manage files in a more easy way. And, this article shows you how to find and delete duplicate files in Windows 10 using CMD. If you want to get the job done easily, reliably and efficiently, I think that you can use dedicated software. Get rid of useless duplicates and enjoy a better PC experience. Get rid of useless duplicates and enjoy a better PC experience.