Computer Tip of the Day: Quickly Find & Delete Duplicate Files

 

Sometimes you accidentally download the same document twice and tell yourself that you’ll delete the duplicate later. But you forget to complete that small task before heading home in the evening. Don’t you wish there was a quick and easy way to delete duplicate files?

Well, there is! A duplicate file finder program will locate duplicate and similar files. From there, you can delete, copy, or move the files as needed.

Here are three free duplicate file finders that don’t come with junkware:

DupeGuru

This program searches for similar files, not just exact replicas. Thus, if you start more than one document for a project on accident, you can delete the old one that’s not being used.

DupeGuru has two other editions, a music DupeGuru and picture DupeGuru. The music edition searches for duplicate songs – a program only helpful if you’re in the music industry or have music on your work computer. As its name suggests, the picture edition of DupeGuru detects duplicate pictures on your computer, so you can delete the unnecessary photos.

DigitalVolcano’s Duplicate Cleaner

If you don’t like the barebones interface of DupeGuru, then you’ll prefer DigitalVolcano’s Duplicate Cleaner for locating duplicate files. The downside is you have to upgrade to pro for searching through your music and pictures.

VisiPics

This free application scans your images for similar and identical files. It will locate images that have been rotated, resized, or edited in some way. VisiPics is good to use if you have a lot of pictures on your computer because it has a more visual interface than other duplicate file finders.

Running a duplicate file finder every once in a while is important for freeing up space and maintaining organization. Some duplicate file finders install junkware and toolbars on your computer when you download them, so be careful if you try one that wasn’t on this list. DupeGuru, DigitalVolcano’s Duplicate Cleaner, and VisiPics are clean programs that won’t mess up your computer.

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