![](/uploads/1/2/7/4/127460723/215453094.jpg)
The Best Duplicate File Finder for Mac (2020 Update) Utilities. Updated on Jan.13, 2020 Duplicate files is a silent killer as far as your Mac is concerned. They have troubled you for the past years, and they might trouble us in 2020. The Duplicate File Finder application was created by the Nektony company, which specializes in increasing Mac productivity. This application helps to remove duplicates in just a few minutes. Duplicate File Finder scans your Mac hard drive or external drives to find identical files and folders.
I’m a professional photographer that loves taking pictures of landscapes. I have gone to almost every country to capture the beautiful sceneries of various locations.I know that I capture almost identical photos and only one or two of these photos get to be the last pick. How do I remove these duplicate photos on my Mac without taking too much time?You’re in the right place. Today, I will introduce the best duplicate photo finder on Mac.
You can use it to quickly remove duplicate photos.Sound good? Let's dive right in.Article Guide Part 1. Why You Need the Best Duplicate Photo Finder for Mac?In this age, cameras are taking over most people’s lives. People take pictures and shoot videos of almost anything that comes across, including every moment of their lives.
And because of this, hard drives get taken over by photos.A lot of these captured photos are very similar to each other. Sometimes, they are even duplicates.
Most photographers shoot one image or moment for about 10-15 times before they are even satisfied. Then, they select one photo out of these 10-15 for editing. This means they have 9-14 images that they will never use.
And that’s just for one photo.You must think this is okay. Even though your Mac’s storage space isn’t unlimited, you can simply buy an external hard drive. Or, you can opt for purchasing a larger cloud storage space. When you ponder about what would happen in the long run, you will definitely realize that you will need A HUGE AMOUNT of storage space since you won’t stop taking pictures anyway.Sometimes, we don’t realize that we have made multiple copies of the same file just because we can’t remember what we did in the past. Being organized is really hard for most people and sometimes we just don’t have the time to stay on top of things.So, here maybe some of the reasons why you need the best duplicate photo finder for Mac:.
You will take more and more photos on Mac to remember your life and duplicates accrued. You need more storage space on your Mac to save the pictures you take.
You don’t realize that you have made multiple copies of the same file just because you can’t remember what you did in the past.So, what’s the solution for this? First, you can manually sift through your photos. Second, A duplicate photo finder tool!Tip: If you want more storage space on your Mac, you can remove your Mac purgeable space by clicking this link:.
What Is the Best Duplicate Photo Finder for Mac?We'll show you about 's Duplicate Finder - The Best Duplicate Photo Finder for your Mac.There are a lot of tools out there that help you. But why we recommend iMyMac is that it scans your entire device for duplicate files and makes a byte-to-byte comparison to check whether they are identical or not. It is even able to discover duplicate content regardless of the filename. Then it will help you remove the duplicates so that you can.Key features of the Duplicate Finder include the following:1.
Robust Search ToolWith its powerful search tool, you are able to find duplicate files even though they have different file names. Your entire device is scanned to make sure nothing is missed.2.
Can Be Used On Different File TypesThis Duplicate Finder doesn’t find duplicate images alone. It can also be used to scan videos, music, and documents, among others.3. SelectivityThe tool will display various duplicate files located on your device. As a user of this tool, you are able to preview items before deletion. You can even sort out the files on various characteristics such as size, time, etc.4.
Free TrialThe Mac Cleaner can be used for free for the first 500MB. You can use this to of the duplicate files before purchasing the actual tool.Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use this best duplicate photo finder Mac 2019:. Launch iMyMac Mac Cleaner on Your Mac. Start Scanning Duplicate Files on Your Mac. Select Duplicate Photos to DeleteStep 1: Launch iMyMac Mac Cleaner on Your MacDownload iMyMac Mac Cleaner and open it on your device. You will see the system status window. Now, go to the left side of the program and click “ Duplicate Finder.”Step 2: Start Scanning Duplicate Files on Your MacClick “ Scan.” Wait until the program has finished scanning your entire device.
The result of the scan will show the percentage of file types with duplicates.Step 3: Select Duplicate Photos to DeleteClick on one of the file types where there are duplicate files. In this case, we will be clicking “Images.” Skim through all the files. Select the duplicates, the ones you would want to be removed from your Mac.Click “ Clean” then confirm your action.Take note that aside from pictures, you can also use iMyMac Mac Cleaner’s Duplicate Finder to find duplicate videos, music, documents, and other file types.Part 3. How to Manually Find Duplicate Photos on iPhone?You can manually check all the photos on your iPhone to see which ones are duplicates.
This can be a pain in the ass.However, if you prefer this option, then it’s best to do it or have someone do it for you. Here’s how to manually sift through your photos:. Go to the Photos application on your iPhone. Open a particular album. Check out all of your images that are similar to each other. Delete the duplicate ones and choose one or two best image(s) out of all these similar ones.
Keep the image that is worth keeping. Do this for all photos and for all albums within your iPhone.Usually, when you take a particular photo of an image, you do multiple shots at multiple times in an interval of milliseconds.
This means, the similar photos have the same filename and can be seen alongside each other. In ConclusionThis digital age bred the popularity of taking photos and videos.With high-resolution cameras at almost every person’s disposal, one cannot get rid of the fact that one image can result in multiple copies in your device whether it be a Windows PC, a Mac, or a digital camera.Fortunately, for MAC users, ’s Duplicate Finder can be used to find duplicate or similar images on your Mac and free up your much-needed storage space.It only takes a few clicks to go through the entire process.
Now, enhancing the space and performance of your Mac is made easier through iMyMac’s tools.
With so many different methods for file sharing and storage these days, it’s not hard to waste hard disk storage on duplicate files. Sooner or later, your computer is loaded with duplicate files which take a large amount of precious disk space, until one day you see those annoying “disk almost full” warning pop-ups. That’s where duplicate finder software comes to play.
These apps can help detect duplicates and similar files quickly so you don’t have to spend hours, if not days, sorting them out. By removing those redundant files, you can free up tons of storage space on your computer’s hard drive.After carefully testing and reviewing nearly twenty duplicate file finder and remover apps, we believe is the best for Mac users. It’s a powerful and beautiful app developed by (maker of the famous ). Besides finding exact duplicates, Gemini 2 can also detect similar files, which is perfect for deleting unnecessary copies of photos, videos, and backups you sync between your iPhone/iPad and Mac machine.For those who use a Windows PC, we believe you should check out, a program specifically designed to free up PC hard drive by searching and deleting duplicate items. It can deep scan for all types of files (photos, videos, music, documents, and more), and provides tons of customized file matching options.
Best of all, the DigitalVolcano team provides supporting materials and tutorials that are very helpful.There is, of course, — which is also a great choice. We think it’s probably the best utility that adds the most value for those who use both a PC and a Mac.
![Files Files](/uploads/1/2/7/4/127460723/156620851.jpg)
The app scans for duplicate files fast and accurately, and it offers two flexible views for selecting duplicates to delete. It’s compatible with both Windows and macOS.We also reviewed and covered a number of other duplicate finders including free software options for Windows and macOS.
You might find some of them useful as well. Read our research below to learn more.Quick Note: It is strongly recommended that you before using any duplicate finder software in case of accidental file deletion or misoperations. Also, beware that not all duplicate files are meant to be removed. Make sure you take some time to review them first before taking action.
Quick Navigation// // // // // // // //. Why Should You Trust UsHi, my name is Kristen. I took a bunch of computer science classes in college as part of my minor and decided back then I wasn’t into coding/programming — but I love computers. I’m just a regular user now who appreciates simple, straightforward user interfaces and programs I don’t have to fight with to make them work. I have an ASUS computer, an iPhone, and a few other gadgets to do my research on. I tested twelve different duplicate file finders on my Windows 8-based laptop for this article.I use my PC for very basic functions, it’s been a while since I’ve gone through my document and photo files and organized them.
You might use a service like DropBox, iCloud, or Google Drive to backup the same documents or photos that you’ve already transferred multiple times onto your laptop. That’s when you’ll probably need a duplicate file finder app that allows you to quickly search for large, old, duplicate files and give you the option to view and delete them.Since I’m mostly on a PC, and given that some duplicate finder programs also support macOS, my teammate JP tested a number of Mac duplicate finders on his MacBook Pro (10.13 High Sierra). He’ll share detailed findings of those Mac apps.Our goal is to test a group of well-known programs and share the absolute best so you save time exploring programs that may or may not add value to your computing life. We hope this review will give you some insights, and that you walk away choosing a great duplicate finder that will help free up space on your PC or Mac.Disclaimer: the opinions in this review are all our own. No software developers or merchants mentioned in this post have any influence in our testing process, nor do they get any editorial input in the content. In fact, none of them know we are putting together this review before we post it on SoftwareHow.Getting to Know Duplicate File FindersWhat causes duplicate files?
The most obvious answer is computer users saving too many versions of the same file in multiple places. If you’re like me, you may keep the same photo albums or videos stored on your phone, digital camera, social media, and your computer. You’re reluctant to go back and organize them until one day your computer hard drive is out of space.Another common source of duplicates is similar files.
For example, when you take a selfie, most likely you’ll take several photos, pick the perfect one, and post it on Facebook or Instagram. What about the other un-picked ones (as we call, similar photos)? They often get ignored.
That’s okay most of the time. But when you sync these images between your phone and computer, the lack-of-storage problem will occur sooner or later. You’ll then realize how much storage is taken up by those unneeded similar pictures.Chances are, this is when you’ll start searching for ways to find those duplicates and similar files — then duplicate file finder software comes to your attention, right?
Those software developers are intelligent! They know our pain. They take the time to design and develop these kinds of applications to help us root out unnecessary files quickly. But be aware that duplicate finder apps aren’t magical one-click-and-you’re-done time-savers.Don’t be fooled by the over-promises made by those “unethical” providers — especially those claim they can save you 20GB disk space in just two minutes.
That’s often impossible because searching or scanning for duplicates takes time, and reviewing them is often a time-consuming process. Therefore, it is always recommended that you carefully review each item before deciding to delete it just in case of misoperation.Also, it is worth noting that duplicate items aren’t necessarily meant to be removed. You may have good reason to keep them in different folders, especially when your computer is shared with someone else. You create different folders to separate content and it’s totally possible that some files overlap between you and other users. You don’t want to delete those overlapped items without permission!Who Should (or Should NOT) Get ThisFirst off, you don’t need a duplicate finder software at all if your computer has enough storage, or you rarely save multiple copies of a file (be it a photo, video, or phone backup).
Even if you do, sometimes you can just take several minutes to go through these frequently-used folders and sort them out — unless there are thousands of them and it’s impossible to take the time to manually check each folder.The main value of these programs is saving time. Because, as we already mentioned, manually searching for extra files you’ve saved in a hard drive is often tedious and incomplete. A screenshot of the Windows version of Duplicate Sweeper, Windows 8.1bills itself as a utility to “make finding, selecting and removing duplicate files on your computer quick and easy.” I ran the program and performed a test scan of my desktop. Since my ASUS runs Windows 8.1, all my file folders are structured under the main heading “This PC.” Duplicate Sweeper allowed me to narrow my search by selecting specific folders. I tried out this feature by choosing my Pictures folder and cringed, knowing it would be pretty bad (I’m a picture hoarder).
The scan took a couple minutes. YIKES — 3.94 GB of duplicate pictures.
I really need to clean that up!JP also tested the macOS version on his MacBook Pro. Below is the snapshot of the app.
One thing that JP found — and he thought Duplicate Sweeper could improve on this — is the file selection process. By default, the app doesn’t auto-select duplicate items. We think this makes the review and selection process tedious. Once I installed the app, it asked me to consider this 6-in-1 utilityseems like an ad, which I’m not really a fan of.Duplicate Detective is another app worth considering for basic users. Like Gemini 2, it’s very simple to use. Just select a folder for a scan, review the found results, and remove duplicate items. Priced at $4.99 only, Duplicate Detective is definitely one of the cheapest paid apps out there.
That said, I think the app has some room to catch up in order to be featured in the winner’s spot. For example, I can’t specify which file types to scan; it doesn’t seem to be able to find similar files; the trial version has too many limitations (such as Auto Select feature disabled); you can’t remove files to test how it works. Here’s how the review window looks. Note: the auto selection feature is disabled. PhotoSweeper X (for Mac)These days pictures and videos are probably the files that take up most of your storage. It’s good to see an app like PhotoSweeper that specifically focuses on users who only want to eliminate similar or duplicate photos.
Overmacs (the team that developed the app) claims it’s able to find duplicate pictures from a Mac’s folder and third-party photo apps like Photos, Aperture, and.Once you install the app and hopefully read the 6-page tutorial, you’ll come to this screen where you select which library to scan, and which mode to select: Single List Mode or Side to Side Mode. Confused about the difference between the two modes? I’m not going to elaborate here as you can click the question mark to learn more.Next, drag and drop the folders into the main zone, and hit “Compare”.
Within seconds, you’ll get to this screen with a number of options before it shows you those unnecessary duplicates.Here’s a quick screenshot of how each group of duplicate photos looks. Again, it’s highly recommended that you review each item before hitting the “Trash Marked” button.The trial version of PhotoSweeper X only allows you to remove up to 10 items. A full version is required to remove the limits and costs $10 USD.One thing I dislike and feel it’s worth pointing out, is their marketing tactic.
I found it a bit annoying to see a ton of windows keep popping up. While I get it that the app isn’t free, I don’t want to be pushed to buy their app without giving a try. This window is a bit annoying, as I have to click “Cancel” every time.You can download the trial from PhotoSweeper’s official website, or get it from.Free AlternativesThere are plenty of free duplicate file finders out there. We’ve tested quite a few.
Some are comparable to the paid options we listed above. Again, some of them only support Windows or macOS, while others may be compatible with both. DupeGuru (Windows, macOS, Linux)Originally developed by from Hardcoded Software, is now not maintained by Virgil anymore.
After replacement Andrew Senetar took it on, I had more hope that this app isn’t going to disappear soon. Having been involved in the software industry for nearly a decade, I know how hard it is to maintain a freeware or open source program. Hats off to those great developers!Back to the app itself. DupeGuru can scan your computer hard drive either by filenames or by contents. The developer claims that “the filename scan features a fuzzy matching algorithm that can find duplicate filenames even when they are not exactly the same.” I ran the app on my Mac and searched the Download folder.Here’s what dupeGuru found in less than a minute — 316 duplicate items taking up 448 MB.
It’s super efficient. One thing I dislike about the app is that it doesn’t select those redundant copies automatically, meaning you’ll have to select them one by one. Maybe the developer team wants us to review each item carefully. However, I think this can be really time-consuming.Plus, I found the app’s user interface lags compared to that of the winners we’ve chosen.
However, it’s free so I can’t complain that much ? The app also supports a handful of languages including English, French, German, and others.Kristen tried the Windows version on her ASUS PC (64-bit, Windows 8.1). Surprisingly, dupeGuru wouldn’t run at all. It says her PC was missing the latest version of Visual Basic C, so a wizard popped up and tried downloading the required file(s) — a 4.02 MB download — which was interesting but annoying.If the download can’t complete, you can opt to bypass it and finish getting the software without it. She tried finding a way to get the missing Visual Basic file, then bypassed — and before she even got to download the software program she got a traceback error.
That’s a first. She wasn’t willing to wrestle with it any further. Too bad, because according to the official site DupeGuru is a powerful duplicate file finder; it can detect not only exact files but also similar ones.
Named the Power Marker, it’s a feature you have to be careful with since DupeGuru may list a similar file as a duplicate needing to be deleted when in reality it’s not. CCleaner (Windows, macOS)Technically, is more than a duplicate finder. It is a utility program used to fix invalid Windows Registry entries and clean potentially unwanted files from your computer. Piriform, the developer, claims the program has been downloaded over 2 billion times.
But the “malware crisis” in late 2017 almost destroy the brand. Learn more about that in we covered earlier.The “Duplicate Finder” feature isn’t immediately displayed with CCleaner, as the app includes a handful of tools that do more than just get rid of excessive repeat files. You can find the feature under the Tools menu.
CCleaner allows you to search for duplicate files by file name, size, date, and even content. You can also ignore/include specific files and folders for scanning.I ran my usual test scan on just my desktop. The CCleaner results showed that I had no duplicate files, yet a pop-up told me that CCleaner could save me over 770 MB of disk space. A follow-up scan to my C drive produced more accurate results. You can manually select the duplicates you want to remove with the option to save to a text file.offers a free evaluation version as well as two pro versions. The $24.95 option includes deeper, more extensive scanning; real-time junk file protection; and auto browser history clearing. In addition, when you pay the $69.95 (you might be able to get a better price when it’s on sale) you’ll get file recovery, computer upgrade protection, and a hard disk cleaner called Defraggler.
Glary Duplicate Cleaner (for Windows)claims to have the fastest scan program in the industry. Within only two clicks, it can deep scan for all types of files including photos, videos, Word documents, songs, etc. The duplicates finder is completely free, and the company offers for $39.95, which performs other functions regularly to auto-clean your computer.On the first scan, without changing any settings, Glary couldn’t detect any of the 11 duplicates all the other file finder programs had. I had to change the options to scan “all files” and even then go back and deselect search by same name, time, and file type.At that point, I could run a scan of my desktop (which took awhile) that would produce some results — but not the same as most of the other competitors.
This particular program requires some more advanced computer skills and knowledge to navigate. It’ll display results by file type and name, and you can view individual file properties right inside the Glary program. SearchMyFiles (for Windows)SearchMyFiles is not for the faint of heart. Upon first glance, the user interface is pretty intimidating.
It has most of the same search options as the other duplicate file finders and starts up right away from download through an executable file. After a test scan of my desktop, SearchMyFiles produced the same duplicate file results as the other competitors like, just not in the pretty packaging. But the program works accurately, and it’s free. The results open up in a separate window with no scan progress indication, so you’ll need some patience if you’re searching a big drive. Here’s a window of the search options to selectWith SearchMyFiles, you can run standard as well as duplicate and non-duplicate searches on files by name, size, or time, and include and exclude folders and file extensions. This freeware app also offers advanced scan options that require strong computer skills to navigate. CloneSpy (for Windows)CloneSpy is another free duplicate file cleanup tool built for Windows (XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10).
The interface isn’t super easy to navigate, but it has a surprisingly wide range of search options. During a basic scan, it only found 6 duplicates of the 11 on my desktop and even less on a scan of my C drive.According to the CloneSpy website, the software doesn’t find duplicate files in certain locations for security reasons, so it may not always dig as deep as your hard drive requires. Some scan restrictions do exist. With proper handling, I’m sure it can do some powerful search-and-deletes. The results window display is preventative for just deleting anything and everything; a safety feature to keep you from deleting something you shouldn’t.You can visit the official website of CloneSpy and.Final WordsWe’ve also tested a number of other duplicate file remover programs out there but decided to not include them either because they are outdated (e.g.
Doesn’t support Windows 10 or latest macOS High Sierra), or we think they are way less superior compared to the best duplicate finder software we chose. However, we are open to hearing what you think. If you happen to find a great app that’s worth being featured here, leave a comment and let us know.
![](/uploads/1/2/7/4/127460723/215453094.jpg)