Find and Remove Duplicates
The bad news is that duplicate files are eating up space on your Mac potentially causing your Mac to slow down and perform poorly. The good news is that there is an easy way to get rid of duplicate files with just a couple of clicks. The easy way is to use the best duplicate file finder for Mac.
Free up space on your computer by removing duplicate files with this app. Duplicate File Finder and Remover will search your Mac’s drives for duplicates, and show you all of the results in an easy-to-read list so that you can choose which duplicates to delete. The program also filters out photos so that you’re only left with a list of.
There are a number of apps to find and delete the duplicate photos, videos, music files, documents and other types of duplicate files on a Mac. They vary in performance, ease of use and more. In this article, you will find a list of them along with a review for each.
What makes a reliable duplicate file finder for Mac?
Capability of identifying duplicate files
A duplicate file finder is an app designed to detect duplicate files. Such apps use particular algorithms to compare files and identify the duplicates. Different apps may use different algorithms. For example, the algorithm PhotoSweeper uses can only handle images, resulting in its inability to find other types of duplicates. Easy Duplicate Finder uses SHA-256, which is a bit slow. Cisdem Duplicate Finder uses a combination of algorithms, leading to high performance in the detection of various types of duplicate files.
- Get more free disk space by removing unnecessary duplicate files and folders from your Mac. Remove duplicate files on any mounted disk or folder. Use Duplicate File Finder FREE to find and remove duplicate files. Get the PRO version to delete duplicate folders, merge similar folders, mass select duplicates and more.
- 7) Duplicate File Finder Remover for MAC. The free version of Duplicate File Finder removes duplicates from MAC computers, and on any disk or folder. The PRO version does not offer much more than most free file finders offer but it allows you.
Safe support for Photos and iTunes (now Music)
Unlike on Windows where photos and music files are stored in normal folders, the photos and songs on your Mac are typically stored in Photos Library (managed via Photos app) and iTunes Media (managed via iTunes app) respectively. The fact is that many duplicate file finders for Mac will consider Photos Library and iTunes Media normal folders when searching for duplicates in the two places. As a result, they will damage your library or cause the loss of files or related data. To safely delete these duplicates, you need to use an app designed for Photos and iTunes.
There are other criteria to consider. The two ones above are the most important.
The best duplicate file finders for Mac
#1 Cisdem Duplicate Finder
Compatibility: macOS 10.10 or later, including Big Sur
Cisdem Duplicate Finder is the best of its kind due to its high performance, safety, ease of use, etc.
Thanks to the advanced algorithms it uses, the app can quickly identify true duplicate files by content and find duplicate photos, audios, videos, Word documents, PDFs, presentations, archives and other types of duplicate files on your Mac and external storage devices (e.g., external hard drives, SD cards and more). It also finds near-duplicate photos, which is a plus for making the app a great duplicate photo finder for Mac.
Designed for Photos and iTunes, Cisdem Duplicate Finder will scan your Photos Library or iTunes Media, display the found duplicates for you to view, and remove the unwanted duplicates from within the Photos app or iTunes app with your permission, just like a human would when removing photos or songs. Your Photos Library and iTunes Media will be safe and unaffected except being duplicate-free.
Once the app finishes scanning Photos, iTunes or Mac folders for duplicate files, it will display the detected duplicates in its results window for you to easily view and preview. What’s more, its smart Auto-Select feature will automatically select duplicates for you to mass delete with a single click. Click the Delete button, and now all dupes are gone! If not satisfied with auto-selection, you can manually select or use the selection rules provided.
Pros
- Quickly find all types of duplicate files on Mac based on content
- Also find near-duplicate images
- Support Mac and external storage devices
- Safely remove duplicates from Photos, iPhoto, Music and iTunes
- Come with 3 preview modes, including a side-by-side mode
- Provide a smart Auto-Select feature and up to 8 selection rules
- Offer 3 deletion methods, including Move to Trash
- Support Apple silicon
#2 Gemini 2
Compatibility: macOS 10.10 or later
In addition to the best duplicate file finder for Mac, there are other great apps available to help rid your Mac of duplicate files. Gemini 2 is one of them. People are often impressed by how good looking the app is. But a beautiful interface can only be the cherry on top. What’s important is the ability to find duplicate files on a Mac.
The app supports finding the double files in normal folders, iTunes and Photos and is capable of detecting duplicate photos, duplicate audios, duplicate documents and some other types of duplicates. It does a good job of deleting duplicate files in folders even the large ones. But it occasionally fails to work when scanning a big Photos Library. In such a case, try to re-scan.
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In February 2021, Gemini 2 introduced the Duplicates Monitor feature aiming to better help users get rid of duplicate files by notifying users when new duplicates appear. The feature does what it’s designed for. But it uses lots of CPU and may slow down your Mac.
Pros
- Comes with a beautiful interface
- Scan your Mac for various types of duplicate files
- Support Photos and iTunes
- Let users directly preview files within the app
- Provide an innovative Duplicates Monitor feature
Cons
- Incompatible with macOS 10.9 or earlier
- Expensive
#3 Tidy Up 5
Compatibility: macOS 10.12 or later
Designed by Hyperbolic for “pro users” (as advertised), Tidy Up 5 is a good duplicate file finder for Mac for experienced users. Inexperienced users may find its interface overwhelming and confusing.
Supporting all popular file types such as images, Tidy Up 5 can detect and delete the duplicate files in Mac’s folders and Photos. Although the app offers an option to scan iTunes for duplicate items, it does a poor job. In the test, it failed to find any duplicates, which do exist, in my iTunes.
The app comes with two modes: Simple mode and Advanced mode. New users can start with the simple one. Both modes offer an array of scan options and criteria. Each scan for duplicates requires (at least) a little configuration. Compared to the other best Mac duplicate file finders talked about above, this one is less easy to use.
Pros
- Search for a variety types of duplicate files on Mac
- Find and delete duplicates in Apple Photos on Mac
- Provide 2 modes for users to choose from
- Highly customizable
- Support hard links
Cons
- Don’t support macOS 10.11 or earlier
- Not good at finding duplicates in iTunes
- Not that user-friendly
#4 Easy Duplicate Finder for Mac
Compatibility: macOS 10.6 or later
Easy Duplicate Finder is available for both macOS and Windows. Highly compatible, it works well on a Mac running Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave or High Sierra or even an earlier version.
Its wizard-style interface is simple to navigate and use, guiding users through the whole process of the identification and removal of duplicate files, which is especially helpful for novice users.
This piece of file deduplication software can scan your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or iMac, etc. for duplicate songs, duplicate photos and more. When the scan is complete, it will give you two options: using Auto Remove to immediately eliminate duplicates or using Manual Review to view duplicates and then remove the unwanted ones. The latter allows you to examine the files you are handling and deleting and is more reliable.
The app excels at looking for the duplicates in iTunes and normal folders. However, when searching for duplicate photos in Mac Photos app, it will return no results or false positives. If you allow it to deduplicate, your Photos Library will get damaged.
Pros
- Capable of detecting common types of file duplicates
- Support iTunes
- Provide an Auto Remove feature for quick duplicate removal
- Very user-friendly interface
Cons
- Relatively slow scan
- Poor support for Mac’s Photos
- A bit expensive
#5 Duplicate Detective
Compatibility: macOS 10.7 or later
This Mac duplicate file finder and remover looks less sophisticated due to its unpolished interface. It actually does a fair job of scanning for and removing duplicate files on Mac.
You can use it to scan folders and Photos. However, it can’t identify all the duplicates in a given folder or library. Some dupes will be missing. And also, it can’t provide consistent performance. If you want to clean up duplicates in iTunes, this app won’t help. In the test, the duplicate songs it found didn’t even exist in my iTunes.
Pros
- Support all common file types
- Can find the duplicates in Photos on Mac
- Offer an option to create an alias when deleting duplicates
- Easy to use
- Lightweight
Cons
- Incapable of finding all duplicate files in a location
- Can’t work well with iTunes
#6 Duplicate Sweeper for Mac
Compatibility: macOS 10.8 or later
Duplicate Sweeper is another lightweight macOS duplicate file finder and deleter. The app’s minimal interface is easy to use and navigate. Its welcome screen provides users with brief usage instructions. Even someone who is completely inexperienced can easily use it.
The app can only delete duplicate files in the folders on a Mac. In other words, you can’t use it to weed out the duplicates in your Photos or iTunes. Therefore, it may not be desirable for Mac users. But it can be a choice to consider if the duplicate files on your Mac do reside in folders.
Pros
- Able to look for photo duplicates and other common types of duplicates
- Lightweight
- Ease-to-use interface
Cons
- Can’t identify the duplicates in iTunes and Photos
- Sometime fail to detect all dupes
- Limited customization
#7 dupeGuru for Mac (free)
Compatibility: macOS 10.12 or later
There are also free Mac apps available for the removal of duplicate files. What is the best free duplicate file finder for Mac? dupeGuru may be the answer.
dupeGuru is free to use and open source. There is some sort of maintenance, but the app hasn’t been properly updated for years. Therefore, there can be compatibility issues with newer macOS versions.
The freeware app comes with three modes: Standard, Music and Picture, allowing you to look for and delete duplicate pictures, duplicate music files and some others in folders on Mac. It’s not designed for Apple Photos and iTunes. Even though it allows you to scan Photos Library, its deduplication algorithm will damage your library and cause data loss.
Pros
- Completely free to use
- Open source
- Offer 3 modes to handle different types of duplicate files
- Fairly configurable
- Can find certain visually similar pictures
Cons
- Possible compatibility issues
- No support for Photos and iTunes
- Can’t find all dupes in the folder it scans
#8 Disk Drill for Mac (free)
Compatibility: macOS 10.12 or later
Disk Drill is actually a data recovery app, but it offers a feature called Find Duplicates. The feature is available in the free and paid versions of Disk Drill, which makes the app available as a free duplicate file finder.
You can find the feature in the sidebar under the Extra tools section. Like dupeGuru, this app can scan only folders for duplicates. To perform a scan, you need to add a folder and click the Start Scan button. There is no instant preview of duplicate files. To preview a duplicate, you need to click the eye icon next to it, which can cause inconvenience when it comes to image duplicates.
Pros
- Free to use
- Easy-to-understand interface
- Scan Mac folders for file duplicates
Cons
- Incapable of detecting all duplicate files
- Can’t scan Photos and iTunes
- Inconvenient preview
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How to find and remove duplicate files on Mac with a duplicate file finder
I hope the list and reviews above are useful and helps you do a comparison so as to pick the app you need. This part will show you how duplicate removal software typically works.
1. Download and install the software. Open it.
2. Click the plus icon + to add a folder or drive. Click Scan.
3. Once it finishes scanning for duplicate files, you can view and preview the duplicates. It lets you view by file type.
4. Duplicates are already automatically selected for mass removal.
If not happy with auto-selection, you can select by hand. Or, highlight all items under the All tab with Command-A and then apply a desired selection rule.
5. Click Delete.
6. Click Yes to confirm the deletion. Now the unwanted duplicate files on your Mac are removed.
If you want to remove duplicates from Mac Photos app or iTunes app, it will require a couple of additional steps. Please see the official user guide for details.
By the way, you can also manually eliminate the file duplicates in Mac folders by using Finder’s Find function, which can be a time-consuming and tedious process. Alternatively, it’s possible to find duplicate files on Mac using Terminal, the terminal emulator coming with macOS. But stay away from Terminal if you don’t have some command line knowledge.
Conclusion
Removing duplicate files can help free up storage space, possibly making your Mac run faster. Also, it’s easier to manage files on a duplicate-free computer. The best duplicate file finder for Mac can help you effortlessly, effectively and safely root out duplicates from your Mac, no matter where they reside and how deep they hide. In addition, there are other great apps to consider.
Which duplicate file finder for Mac you are using?
Using Finder to Locate and Delete Duplicate Files. The great thing about duplicate files is that they usually have either a common name, a common date of creation and/or a common file type. We’ll use this exact function to locate duplicate files on the Mac. This method involves creating a smart folder in Finder and sorting files according to. Find and Delete Duplicate Files Fast and Accurately on Mac. Duplicate File Finder Mac helps you find duplicate files that have identical content, regardless of name and display them in an easy to understand report. The program ensures 100% accuracy and will ensure you'll keep at least one instance of each duplicated item for sake of safety.
Easy Duplicate File Finder is a free powerful tool that helps you to find and remove duplicate files on your PC.How do you think, what hard disk space on your PC is occupied by duplicate files? Easy Duplicate Finder will show you.
Features
- Search for true duplicates (files with same contents)
- Powerful search engine with fast files check
- Full binary (byte-by-byte) comparison
- Flexible Scan settings
- Search files by masks
- Size conditions & skip zero-length files option
- Find duplicates from selected folders or drives
- Add multiple folders/drives for scanning
- Safety
- Protect system files and folders
- Move files to Recycle Bin or delete duplicate files permanently
- Mark selected duplicates by renaming them with adding prefix to file names - to test which files is safe to delete
- Convenient user interface
- Duplicate file management - remove only unnecessary duplicates
- Select files manually (for deletion) or use flexible selection options
- Rename duplicate files with prefix/postfix
- Move duplicate files to folder
- Open folder containing selected file
- Show file properties
- Open file with associated program
- Full Unicode support
- Support for files with Chinese, Japanese, Arabian etc names
- Export list of duplicates to HTML document or to TXT file
Over time due to several reasons, Mac’s storage space gets cluttered. The most common reason of all is the accumulation of duplicate files, photos, videos, music & documents that takes lots of space and slows down the Mac significantly.
Therefore, finding and deleting duplicate files has become more important than ever. The method seems easy, right? Delete duplicate files & free up space! But how to find those duplicate multimedia files on Mac, when you have hundreds of folders to go through? Well, one of the easiest ways to do so is by using the Best Duplicate File Remover Tool For Mac. Using the right tool will make the entire deduplication process simpler & uncomplicated. So, let’s check them out!
Tweak Library’s Recommendation: Top 3 Duplicate File Finders & Removers (2020)
Duplicate File Fixer
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Easy Duplicate Finder
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Cisdem Duplicate Finder
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10 Best Duplicate File Remover Tools for Mac
In this post, we’ve rounded up the list of best duplicate file finders & removers for Mac that will help you organize & duplicate-free your entire storage effortlessly.
1. Duplicate Files Fixer
Click Here to Download Duplicate Files Fixer
Duplicate Files Fixer is an incredible Duplicate File Finder & Remover Tool For Mac. The tool easily detects and deletes exact & similar-looking images, music, videos, documents and a lot more. Moreover, the software also allows users to scan through a huge collection of clone copies regardless of their format, in just a few moments.
Features of Duplicate Files Fixer:
- Helps in recovering valuable disk space on Mac.
- Allows previewing scanned files before eliminating duplicates.
- Best duplicate file finder for Mac to identify and delete duplicate images, music, video, documents, and more.
- Scans internal and external storage for duplicate files.
Affordable solution to find & delete duplicates.
Hassle-free process, needs no technical know-how.
Classic UI, with easy to navigate buttons.
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2. Easy Duplicate Finder
Want to free up valuable storage space on your Mac without spending much of your time in skimming each folder? Well, try using Easy Duplicate Finder to seamlessly remove duplicate file in Mac. This Mac utility is based on smart technology to search for true identical files & not just the one with the same file name. Easy Duplicate Finder has everything you need to quickly make your storage space clutter free & organized for better productivity.
Features of Easy Duplicate Finder:
- Effective for detecting and removing duplicate files on Mac.
- Different scan modes for different types of searches.
- Supports internal and external hard drives.
- Searches duplicates in iPhotos and Photos.
Easy to use duplicate file remover for Mac.
Does its job fast.
Flexible scan settings.
3. Cisdem Duplicate Finder
Cisdem Duplicate Finder is one of the best duplicate cleaner tools capable of removing duplicate files from Mac. This duplicate file finder can find duplicate photos, documents, videos, music and other formats under different filenames. Moreover, Cisdem Duplicate Finder gives you full control of your files to get duplicates out of the way.
Features of Cisdem Duplicate Finder:
- Scan and detect duplicates stored on internal and external storage media.
- Find duplicates in iTunes and Photos.
- Include or exclude specific folders/libraries.
- Preview all duplicates in Quick View or open them in Finder.
Frees up a significant amount of storage.
Smart in automatic selection of detected duplicates.
Well-designed dashboard.
ConsLacks warning pop-ups while executing major tasks.
4. Stellar Smart Finder
This Mac duplicate file finder utility helps in locating similar and duplicate files, documents, photos. It employs two impressive scanning modules – ‘Quick Scan’ and ‘Strict Scan to extract all the duplicate files present in a Mac volume or any folder and then enables deleting them. Stellar Smart Finder works with Mac OS X 10.11, 10.10, 10.9, 10.8, 10.7, 10.6, 105
Features of Stellar Smart Finder:
- Creates free space.
- Shows the file path, size, and date of creating, etc.
- Works with external storage media.
- Graphical view of folders and drivers.
Comprehensive tool to find & delete duplicate files.
Suitable for both novices & pro users.
Beautiful user interface.
ConsDepending on the amount of data, scanning can take time.
5. Duplicate File Finder
Duplicate File Finder is an exceptional utility to find duplicate files on Mac. The duplicate remover helps to eliminate unwanted space hogging replica files in just a few minutes. Using this tool, you can easily remove a variety of duplicate files in just three easy steps. Furthermore, you can preview all the detected duplicate photos, videos, documents, music files & more before deleting them from your Mac.
Features of Duplicate File Finder:
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- Quickly find duplicates stored on any media.
- Easily identifies similar and exact duplicate files.
- Allows you to choose a complete photo library or a particular folder for scanning.
- Skip a specific folder or file type from search
Scans very quickly.
Detects & deletes a fair number of duplicates in one scan.
Exclude option available.
6. Duplicate Detective
Duplicate Detective helps to easily remove duplicate files on Mac. As this tool scans your hard drive to find all the duplicate files and folders stored on your Mac. It is an intuitive software designed to recover free space to make a room for fresh content. Using Duplicate Detective, you can select which duplicates to delete.
Features of Duplicate Detective:
- Robust scan engine.
- Filter & sort duplicate depending on the file name, size, and type.
- It supports double-check verification screen feature.
- Locates duplicate images, audio, archives and more.
Simple & easy to use UI.
Provides accurate identification of dupes.
Affordable duplicate file remover.
7. DupeGuru
dupeGuru is a cross-platform tool that will help to find and remove duplicate files on your Mac. It scans either filenames or contents. For this dupeGuru best Duplicate File Remover Tools For Mac uses a fuzzy matching algorithm that helps to find duplicate filenames even when they are not similar.
Features of dupeGuru:
- Efficient duplicate finder tool for Mac.
- dupeGuru is customizable.
- Finds filenames that are the same, but also finds similar filenames.
- Compatible with OS X 10.8 or later.
Highly compatible with all Mac versions.
Accurate identification of duplicates.
Runs quite fast to detect exact & similar looking files.
8. Gemini 2
Gemini 2 is an intelligent, smart, effective and useful duplicate file finder tool that detects and delete duplicate files from your Mac. This software is capable of locating and removing duplicate files saved in remote corners of the system. Using Gemini 2 you can also spot alike photos and delete the ones that aren’t required.
Features of Gemini 2:
- Cleans up all sorts of useless files.
- Finds hidden duplicate wherever they are.
- Spots look alike pictures, photo bursts, and more.
- Customize duplicate scanning.
Attractive dashboard.
Works with individual files, folders or libraries.
Suitable duplicate file remover for beginners.
9. Tidy Up 5
Tidy Up! is a modern, efficient, and totally customizable tool that supports Lightroom, Photos, iTunes, Mailes, Aperture, and iPhotos. This tool organizes the results on the basis of file types – music, image, PDF, etc. This duplicate file remover for Mac is based on tab separation and each tab has its own settings.
Features of Tidy Up! 5:
- Fantastic duplicate finder for Mac.
- Preview of the file.
- Comes with a search mode called Simple Mode, with 80 predefined smart searches.
- Shows preview of detected files by file type.
Plethora of features comes with this duplicate file remover.
Syncs well with all your Apple devices.
Significantly improve stability & performance for Mac.
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ConsComplicated to use than other duplicate cleaners for Mac.
10. Duplicate File Finder Remover
Duplicate File Finder Remover is a free duplicate file finder software for Mac designed to locate and delete duplicate files on Mac that includes images, audio, video, song, documents, and archives. To use this free duplicate finder tool for Mac drag and drop images in the tool.
Features of Duplicate File Finder Remover:
- You can merge similar folders.
- It comes with a rapid scanning algorithm.
- Easily locate duplicate files and folders.
- You can review selected replica files before eliminating them.
Advanced duplicate file cleaner.
Dedicated options to find duplicate files, images, music & more.
Easy to use duplicate remover.
So, these were the best duplicate file removal tools for Mac. We hope you get the answer to how to delete duplicate files on Mac after using any of the listed tools. Say goodbye to space-hogging replicas with these best duplicate file cleaning tools.
Along with this, if you are looking for optimization tools with duplicate file cleaning feature. Here we’ve listed them for you.
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1. TuneUpMyMac: Advanced Duplicate File Cleaner and Optimizer
TuneUpMyMac is an advanced and powerful tool that will help enhance Mac performance in a single click. Using this best Mac optimizer, you can not only clean duplicate files but can also optimize hard disk, remove junk files, delete sensitive and confidential securely and a lot more.
Features of TuneUpMyMac:
- One click cleaning to remove unneeded language packs, clean system & user cache, and more.
- Come with a junk cleaner, duplicate finder and other tools to recover disk space.
- Helps to protect your Internet privacy.
- Helps to recover wasted disk space.
2. Disk Drill: Data Recovery and Duplicate File Finder
Disk Drill is not only about data recovery on Mac. It is a multi-functional tool that helps in finding duplicates, backup your data, monitor disk health and more.
Features of Disk Drill:
- Easily detect and delete duplicate files
- Recover lost Data
- Restore data on any internal or external storage.
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3. MacBooster 7: Performance Booster and Duplicate File Cleaner
MacBooster 7 developed by IObit is a great Mac performance booster app that helps to free up space, clean up duplicate files, clean junk files, optimize memory and more.
Features of MacBooster:
- MacBooster helps to locate large and old files that take unwanted disk space.
- Provides with an easy and powerful uninstalling feature.
- Helps remove duplicate files and photos.
With these tools, you can optimize your Mac and get rid of duplicate files. We hope you enjoyed reading the article. Do not forget to comment and let us know which tool you prefer to use and why?
Frequently Asked Questions: Best Duplicate File Removers (2020)
Q1. Which Are The Best Duplicate File Cleaners Available For Cross-Platforms?
Watch this quick tutorial to find a complete list of options to find and delete duplicate photos, videos, documents, music & other multimedia files on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS .
Q2. Why Are There So Many Duplicate Files On My Mac?
There are a variety of reasons why your Mac gets clogged with duplicate photos, videos, documents & other multimedia files.
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- Let’s say you forget you have the photos or files on your cell phone already and you have re-imported them once again on your device.
- You go out and shoot, you take several shots of the same subject from different angles just to make sure you get the best shots possible. However, end up with a number of similar-looking pictures.
- Same files or pictures are shared multiple times over WhatsApp or email.
- You have multiple backup sets of your cameras or devices on your Mac.
- The same folder is copied to different locations on your Mac.
- A number of external drives attached to Mac having the same folders in each one of them.
- Renamed the same media files with different names.
- Importing bugs.
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Q3. Which Is The Best Duplicate File Finder & Remover Software For Mac?
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Best Mac Duplicate Finder
We recommend using Duplicate Files Fixer if your storage space is clogged with unnecessary duplicate photos, videos, music files, documents & other files effortlessly. The tool is based on smart algorithms that ensures no identical or similar copies of the same files are left behind.
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Microsoft Duplicate File Finder Tool
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