Good day!
I think that many users have tens (or even hundreds) of gigabytes of pictures, wallpapers, videos, music, etc. files on their disk ... 👀
And I must note that in different directories (in collections of wallpapers, for example) there can be quite a lot of copies (duplicates). Often, after deleting them, it is possible to free up several gigabytes of space on the HDD!
👉 What is my hard drive clogged with (or where did the free space on the HDD disappear) [Disk Analysis]
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There are special programs and utilities for finding duplicates. They are ways to scan your hard drive (s) in a relatively short time and present everything the same to you. Further, as a rule, you will only have to mark with checkboxes what to delete - and woo-a-la, the place is cleared!
In this article, I will present a few of these "cleaners" that will help you free up space on your hard drive. So...
👉 Addition!
By the way, you can also increase free disk space by cleaning up all sorts of "garbage" (temporary files, cache, etc.). For the best PC cleaning utilities, see here
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Top 14 programs for finding duplicates (identical files)
Universal (search for any files)
Universal programs for finding duplicates are suitable for working with any files: documents, photographs, videos, etc. As a rule, their work is based on finding files of the same size and checksum. Those. these programs look for exact copies that match 100%!
Due to this, their operating speed is quite high. However, they cannot find, for example, almost identical pictures, which are saved in different formats and with excellent resolution. To do this, you must use a special. The software I recommend below ...
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👉 Computer accelerator
Official website: //fast-computer.su/
This utility with a self-explanatory name from Russian developers. In general, it is designed to remove junk files, fix errors in the registry, control the state of startup, etc., but there are special tools in its tools. a module that allows you to find duplicate files.
See screenshot below.
Duplicate search function (utility - Computer Accelerator)
So, after starting this function, you will be prompted to specify the folders (which will be analyzed) and click the search button. After a while, the program will present you with all the duplicates found - all that remains is to delete the "excess".
For example, I analyzed my Music folder and found out that I have 311 mp3-takes of 2.65 GB. Moreover, this folder is not that big for me. The result is shown in the screenshot below.
One song in two compilations
Of course, if you have a lot of collections on the disk (pictures, music, etc.), the amount of free space can be much larger!
Note: the free version of the program works in full mode for 5 days.
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👉 Glary Utilities (Glary Duplicate Cleaner)
Website: //www.glarysoft.com/
Glary Duplicate Cleaner - Main Window
Glary Utilities is a great set of utilities for all occasions. Contains all the most essential tools for cleaning, maintaining and optimizing Windows. I have repeatedly recommended this complex on the pages of my blog. 
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It has one small utility in its firmware arsenal.Glary Duplicate Cleaner.It allows you to quickly find duplicates of various file formats: TXT, RAR, ZIP, MP3, WAV, AVI, JPG, BMP, etc. (in general, all the most popular ones are definitely there, see the screen below ск).
Configuring Scan Settings / Glary Duplicate Cleaner
There is also a small filter with search criteria: by name, size, time. There is an option to skip files of a certain size (for example, you can skip files that weigh less than 100 KB).
Note that the packageGlary utilitiesfree, and fully translated into Russian. In general, the score is 5 on a 5-point scale!
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👉 CCleaner
Developer site: //www.piriform.com/
CCleaner - search box
One of the most famous PC cleaning utilities. However, not many users know that there is a duplicate search function in its arsenal (and, moreover, a very good function!).
To open this option: you need to download the latest version of the program, in the menu "Service" choose "Search for duplicates" , specify the settings and click the button "To find" .
Note that the search is fast enough, you can filter files by their size, name date. You can also manually set specific drives (folders) to search. All in all, quite convenient!
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👉 AllDup
Developer site: //www.mtsd.de/
AllDup - main program window
This is a small free utility to scan all your drives very quickly and remove any duplicate files. The developers note that their search algorithm is 10-30% faster than other similar products.
Personally, I have not tested the speed, but I would note the following: the utility works in all Windows 2000, XP, 7, 8, 10 operating systems (this is a kind of advantage!).
I would also add that the utility has quite a few filters: file name, extension, size, content, modification date, attributes, etc.
After the search, the AllDup utility will present you the results: you can familiarize yourself with each duplicate and delete it directly from the program interface. Conveniently!
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👉 Duplicate File Finder
Developer site: //www.ashisoft.com/
Duplicate File Finder (identical pictures found)
Free tool for cleaning disks from duplicate files. The program compares files on the specified disk (directory) by byte. There are standard filters: file extension, file name, creation date, and size.
The search result (an example is shown in the screenshot above) can either be viewed in the program itself (and make a decision), or you can export it to HTML, CSV and TXT files. By the way, I would note that the program has a fairly convenient viewer that allows you to view a picture, text, video.
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👉 Total commander
Officer. website: //www.ghisler.com/
Total Commander - file search
This famous commander (a nice replacement for explorer) also has a file search function. To open it - click on the "magnifying glass" icon in the top menu of the program (see the screen above).
Further in the subsection "Additionally" you will be able to check the boxes how to search for duplicates. You can "adjust" the dates, size of files, their type, content, etc. (see screenshot below).
Search criteria
Of course, there are not so many opportunities here, but nevertheless ...
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To search for photos, pictures, graphics
These programs can search not only by the size (checksum) of the file, but also by the contents of the picture. For example, you have several identical desktop wallpapers in two different folders (but these pictures have different sizes and resolutions).
So, the programs given above would not find these duplicates, since they "cannot" appreciate what is shown in the pictures. In this case, you must use the special. tools (about them below 👌).
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👉 Image Comparer
Developer site: //www.bolidesoft.com/
Image Comparer - application work screen (from the developer)
This is a very small utility that specializes in finding similar images. I note that it compares not just the size, but what is shown in the picture (see the screen above). All popular image and photo formats are supported: RAW, JPEG, J2K, BMP, GIF, PNG, TIFF, TGA, etc.
After the search, you will be presented with a list of duplicates: by going through it, you can view all copies and delete those that you do not need. What's interesting: the program shows you the percentage of similarity of certain pictures (the difference between them is highlighted when viewed with squares).
Cons: if you specify a large disk (several terabytes) - the program will take a very long time to scan.
Before using it, I recommend that you go through the pictures using coarser tools (for example, CCleaner, AllDup, etc., see above).
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👉 DupeGuru Picture Edition
Developer site: //www.hardcoded.net/dupeguru/
DupeGuru Picture Edition - search results
A very simple utility designed to quickly search for identical pictures. Note that similar pictures will be found even if they have different formats (for example, JPG and Tiff as in the screenshot above).
Benefits of the utility:
- visual comparison of pictures;
- the program is completely free;
- simple interface made in the style of minimalism;
- Russian language support;
- the ability to export search results;
- support for all the most popular versions of Windows XP, 7, 8, 10.
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👉 ImageDupeless
Developer site: //www.imagedupeless.com/
You can download from the Soft-portal
ImageDupeless - main program window
Program ImageDupeless allows you to find duplicate pictures, regardless of the file size, format, resolution and other characteristics (it seems to "look" for you all the pictures and find similar ones).
Also, the program has a very interesting function for burning images to CD discs (creating a kind of CD galleries).
Note: to save time, compare newly received pictures with the existing gallery (this way you will save a lot of time, since a full scan of all pictures on the disk takes much longer than already searching in the created gallery).
Comparison result: please note that the resolution and size of the pictures are different!
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👉 Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder
Developer site: //www.mindgems.com/
Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder: Main Window
The program uses advanced algorithms to compare graphic images in pictures and photographs. Thanks to this, it is possible to find similar and identical pictures, even if they have a different format (GIF, PNG, JPG, etc.) and resolution.
Note that the user has an option for specifying a similarity attribute (i.e., you can ask, say, to find only those pictures that are 95% similar to each other).
After searching: you can view all found duplicates and manually delete all unnecessary ones. By the way, the program places 2 identical images next to each other (see an example above) so that you can clearly see the difference. Very convenient!
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To search for audio and video files
👉 Audio Comparer (Electronic Ear)
Developer site: //audiocomparer.com/rus/
Audio Comparer - the program will listen to almost 300 tracks in 10 minutes.
Audio Comparer is not as simple an app for finding duplicates among music files (MP3, MP2, MP1, WMA, AIF, WAV, WavPack, FLAC, APE, AAC and OGG) as it might seem at first glance ...
It "listens" to the music and compares the tracks with each other using a special algorithm: the comparison is made by the audio track, and not by the size or file name (as is done in many other analogs).
Due to this, the same tracks can be found even if they are saved in different formats. Audio Comparer is a kind of electronic ear that can listen to all your music very quickly.
Note that there are quite a few such programs, so each deserves special attention! I recommend to meet you!
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👉 DupeGuru Music Edition
Developer site: //www.hardcoded.net/
You can download from SoftOnic
DupeGuru Music Edition - scan your music collection
A very interesting program dupeGuru Music Edition for finding the same and similar music tracks. There are filters for searching: by bit rate, information in tags, duration, size, etc.
All the most popular formats are supported: MP3, WMA, AAC, WMA, OGG, FLAC. After the search, found duplicates can either be deleted or moved to other directories.
I would also note the presence of the Russian language and support for modern OS Windows 7, 8, 10 (including 64 bits).
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👉 Music Duplicate Remover
Developer site: //www.maniactools.com/
Music Duplicate Remover - main program window
Music Duplicate Remover - utility allows you to quickly and easily find copies of audio files located in different folders (disks) and saved in different formats.
Thanks to the technology of "electronic ear", it is able to listen to all your compositions on the disk, analyze them and provide you with a report with all similar tracks (an example of such a report is shown in the screenshot above).
Note that the utility works fine with standard presets (i.e. after downloading and launching it, there is no need to delve into the settings for a long time, you can immediately start scanning).
Note! Music Duplicate Remover supports the following audio formats: MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, APE, WAV.
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👉 Duplicate Video Search
Developer site: //duplicatevideosearch.com/rus/
Duplicate Video Search - main program window (search settings)
Quite a powerful program for deleting identical videos saved in different folders (suitable for those who have a lot of all kinds of videos, music videos, top-100 collections, etc.). It will help you "go through" your collection of files and remove all duplicates.
Note that the program uses a unique "cast" technology (ie, a kind of "electronic eye"), which allows you to find similar videos, even if they are saved in a different format, they have a different resolution and they are compressed with a different codec.
Features:
- the following video formats are supported: AVI, MKV, 3GP, MPG, SWF, MP4, WMV, WTV and FLV (see the screenshot above);
- search for full copies of videos and similar ones (where excellent resolution, bitrate, format, codec);
- the program automatically selects the video with the worst quality among all takes (however, you can manually specify which copy to delete);
- convenient and visual presentation of search results: thumbnails for each video and the path to the directory where it is stored;
- right from the program window, you can either view the video or delete it.
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👉 Video Comparer
Developer site: //www.video-comparer.com/
Video Comparer - search results
Video Comparer is a program designed to search and compare videos on your hard drive. In a relatively short period of time, it can view all your videos and show you in a convenient table all the files that repeat each other (full takes, similar videos, videos with the same content, but different quality, etc.).
Note that the program has various filters that will allow you, for example, to search for videos of only a certain format (or set the duration of the video).
Features:
- supports formats: 3GP, AVI, ASF, ASX, WMV, VOB, XVID, MP4, MPEG;
- the ability to search among hidden files;
- the ability to automatically highlight related videos for deletion;
- video filters by duration, quality and extension;
- convenient presentation of search results: a preview for each video; the size; the folder where it is located; name; percentage of similarity.
- the ability to back up to a separate folder;
- keeping logs;
- support for almost all popular Windows XP, 7, 8, 10 (32/64 bits).
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Add-ons are, as always, welcome.
Happy work!
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First published: 23.11.2018
Correction: 2.04.2020
