We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Software to find duplicate files
Options

B0bbyEwing
Posts: 1,556 Forumite

in Techie Stuff
Now I've worked through most of my job list, I'm getting to the PITA part of the list - sorting the hard drives out that I have.
Now I know I have a stack of duplicates scattered all over the place. Ideally speaking I want to run through them & get rid so I have only one lot - which will then be backed up. Not about 10 lots of one folder, 5 lots of another folder and only 1 lot of another with no backup of that one.
Basically get organised.
Now I've just tried out Auslogics as it's free & all went well. It picked up from one folder a few GB of files worth of duplicates - but that's precisely what they were. EXACT copies.
Now I know I also have a ton of files scattered across various folders where the filenames will be almost identical with one exception - one file will say -1 at the end of it or 01 or whatever because I've gone & downloaded the same file twice. The rest of the filename is the same, the file size is the same, if it's a video then the video length will be the same, it's just that one will have a -1 at the end of the file name.
Is there such a software that will detect this so I can get rid of all these -1 files?
Now I know I have a stack of duplicates scattered all over the place. Ideally speaking I want to run through them & get rid so I have only one lot - which will then be backed up. Not about 10 lots of one folder, 5 lots of another folder and only 1 lot of another with no backup of that one.
Basically get organised.
Now I've just tried out Auslogics as it's free & all went well. It picked up from one folder a few GB of files worth of duplicates - but that's precisely what they were. EXACT copies.
Now I know I also have a ton of files scattered across various folders where the filenames will be almost identical with one exception - one file will say -1 at the end of it or 01 or whatever because I've gone & downloaded the same file twice. The rest of the filename is the same, the file size is the same, if it's a video then the video length will be the same, it's just that one will have a -1 at the end of the file name.
Is there such a software that will detect this so I can get rid of all these -1 files?
0
Comments
-
I use AntiTwin.
http://www.joerg-rosenthal.com/en/antitwin/
There are probably other options that do much the same.A man walked into a car showroom.
He said to the salesman, “My wife would like to talk to you about the Volkswagen Golf in the showroom window.”
Salesman said, “We haven't got a Volkswagen Golf in the showroom window.”
The man replied, “You have now mate".0 -
Belenus said:I use AntiTwin.
http://www.joerg-rosenthal.com/en/antitwin/
There are probably other options that do much the same.
That software will detect 2 files where they're mostly the same but not quite 100% the same will it?
Example...
photoofmycat.jpg
photoofmycat-1.jpg
dogvideo.mp4
dogvideo-1.mp4
It would flag that would it?0 -
The amazing Directory Opus has a duplicate file finder. It's expensive but IMHO worth it.Before I bought Dopus I used Duplicate File Finder (great name!) by Rashid Hoda which was free and excellent, but his website doesn't seem to exist anymore and I don't know if any of the sites that claim to have the last installer are trustworthy.0
-
B0bbyEwing said:Now I've worked through most of my job list, I'm getting to the PITA part of the list - sorting the hard drives out that I have.
Now I know I have a stack of duplicates scattered all over the place. Ideally speaking I want to run through them & get rid so I have only one lot - which will then be backed up. Not about 10 lots of one folder, 5 lots of another folder and only 1 lot of another with no backup of that one.
Basically get organised.
Now I've just tried out Auslogics as it's free & all went well. It picked up from one folder a few GB of files worth of duplicates - but that's precisely what they were. EXACT copies.
Now I know I also have a ton of files scattered across various folders where the filenames will be almost identical with one exception - one file will say -1 at the end of it or 01 or whatever because I've gone & downloaded the same file twice. The rest of the filename is the same, the file size is the same, if it's a video then the video length will be the same, it's just that one will have a -1 at the end of the file name.
Is there such a software that will detect this so I can get rid of all these -1 files?
0 -
Auslogics already does what you need:
See their help page for info
https://www.auslogics.com/en/support/product/duplicate-file-finder/
1 -
If a file is named **Charlie** you cannot duplicate it as you can only use a file name once - you can also save the same data under other names - I do that often when compiling manuals. The original data is under *A* but the copy might be *G* in the new file when it will have a Personalised Header.applied.Of course if you have several backups then each may contain the same file.0
-
getmore4less said:
Back up before you start using tools to delete stuff.[Deleted User] said:Auslogics already does what you need:
See their help page for info
https://www.auslogics.com/en/support/product/duplicate-file-finder/
I didn't think it did it because I ran it in a huge folder which I know will have examples of what I'm talking about & it didn't flag a single one.
That'll be why then. I'll try it out.0 -
Just to confirm - ran a dummy test, checked ignore name/date & it seemed to work in the test.
Well, it didn't seem to work, it did work.
I hadn't done that originally. If you think along the lines of how wizards work, I went that route before posting this thread & it did what it did well. I wasn't aware you could tailor the software with more specifics.
Once you pointed that out & I found the feature to do it - it worked.
So, hopefully this should actually free up a LOT of space, and that aside, just organising it better irrespective of the space freed up.0 -
B0bbyEwing said:Belenus said:I use AntiTwin.
http://www.joerg-rosenthal.com/en/antitwin/
There are probably other options that do much the same.
That software will detect 2 files where they're mostly the same but not quite 100% the same will it?
Example...
photoofmycat.jpg
photoofmycat-1.jpg
dogvideo.mp4
dogvideo-1.mp4
It would flag that would it?
See this image.
A man walked into a car showroom.
He said to the salesman, “My wife would like to talk to you about the Volkswagen Golf in the showroom window.”
Salesman said, “We haven't got a Volkswagen Golf in the showroom window.”
The man replied, “You have now mate".1 -
Hi,a quick google would've found you THIS, might be helpful.0
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 350.7K Banking & Borrowing
- 253K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.4K Spending & Discounts
- 243.7K Work, Benefits & Business
- 598.5K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 176.8K Life & Family
- 256.9K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards