Let Your Mac be duplicate free

How to Find and Delete Duplicate Files on Mac Effortlessly

When facing the issue of Mac’s poor performance, many users seek ways to free up some hard drive space since it is one of the key conditions for the computer’s speed and productivity. Often, the problem is related to multiple duplicates that appear on the machine over time. Repeated files are like a thorn in the eye: you feel it, but sometimes you don’t know where exactly it is hiding. If you check, say, iMac’s 256 GB SSD, you will discover it has more than sixty million files. You definitely are not the one who created many of them. So the question is how a user can detect unnecessary files (like ones that appeared as a result of spontaneous duplication) and what are the ways to remove them from Mac.

There are tons of aggressively marketed expensive apps that claim to be able to resolve the issue in a click. But don’t let anyone dupe you into spending a lot of money and learn how to discover and remove duplicates without extra effort and investments. No matter whether you wish to detect intentional or accidental duplicates, there are several effective methods to deal with them. Three basic ways usually come to mind:

  1. Hand-pick the duplicates with Finder (a time-consuming procedure);
  2. Terminal command search;
  3. Free or paid duplicate finder software.

Many Macintosh users prefer applications that possess a special built-in clone finding feature capable of detecting duplicate multimedia files (music & video). The algorithm scans libraries only with corresponding types of data. As far as such multimedia files are the ‘heaviest,’ it is logical that many people start the process of cleaning with these items. If you need to catch double images or songs only, such apps may be of great help.

If you don’t want to spend a cent on the detecting software but need a broader functionality, try a free tool like Dr. Duplicator. Apple computer owners can benefit from using this finder utility in case they require an open-source/cross-platform program for detecting copies. The application allows previewing the selected files before deciding whether you want to toss them away.

Speaking about similar or same files stored on the external hard drive, you should understand that it is almost impossible to detect and remove them manually. A good solution is to get something like Dr. Duplicator. Regardless the file name, the software can find the duplicates thanks to its outstanding scanning algorithms that work flawlessly on all versions of Mac OS X, including Sierra.

Go to Find Photo Duplicates

Find Photo Duplicates

Are you searching for the app to remove copies of photo and video files? Discover how Dr. Duplicator can detect duplicate images and videos by comparing actual visual content. Manage space efficiently through eliminating unnecessary copies of visual data.

Go to Remove Music Duplicates in iTunes

Remove Music Duplicates in iTunes

Same iTunes files belong to the specific category of duplicates. Is your Mac full of the multiple audio copies? If you have similar files on multiple albums or accidentally saved copies, you may find a solution in the face of Dr. Duplicator.

Go to Duplicate Video Finder

Duplicate Video Finder

Get know the common issues when duplicate video files created on your Mac and iMovie app. Learn how to detect and remove the unnecessary video copies in different approach – both manually and with Dr.Duplicator App.

Go to Delete Duplicate Emails & Contacts

Delete Duplicate Emails & Contacts

Did you notice tons of repeated entries while observing the Contacts application on your Mac? Duplicate emails and contacts may appear for many reasons, intentionally and accidentally. Luckily, every user can now easily remove these unnecessary files to free up space.

Detect Duplicate Files on from Your Mac

Mac users who work with different photo & video editors are at the highest risk of running out of disk space. Movie fans who prefer to download films in high resolution will also suffer from the rapid memory loss on their machines due to their huge size and forgetting to erase videos you have already viewed. Students are also at risk having their Macs’ disk space full because of all the paper writing services they do and countless essays they write.

As we’ve already mentioned, there are many free and paid programs used to identify duplicate files. Another option to utilize is Mac’s onboard Terminal utility, which may show you the duplicate files. Try not to mess things up with it – watch out what you type into the command line! Follow these steps:

  1. Pick the command from the Utilities folder or type its name in Spotlight search field.
  2. Move to the target folder using the cd command. Example: cd ~/Documents.
  3. Insert this line:
    find . -size 20 \! -type d -exec cksum {} \; | sort | tee /tmp/f.tmp | cut -f 1,2 -d ‘ ‘ | uniq -d | grep -hif – /tmp/f.tmp > duplicates.txt
    and push Enter button.

You will get a file with the list of the repeated items in the specified folder that you can now remove. At least, it is faster than hand-picking the duplicates with the help of Finder.

However, if you wonder how to keep your Mac free from unwanted copies automatically, you might want to turn your attention to powerful, innovative solution called Dr. Duplicator. This application was designed to identify the duplicates relatively quickly, and it will help you to detect double files among:

  1. Images & Videos;
  2. iTunes Music;
  3. Contacts & Emails.

It is much easier and faster than doing the whole job manually. Read more about each tool used to toss away duplicate files below.

How to Remove Duplicate Files on Mac Once You’ve Found Them

We’ve already described how Terminal command and hand-picking with Finder may help you to eliminate the repeated items you don’t need. Now let’s have a look at how easy it is to manage and delete the files with Dr. Duplicator.

The tool classifies the discovered duplicates by size and determines whether the files with the same names are identical. That is how a user can get rid of the really useless items in a safe manner. To detect them, choose either all types of files or certain categories (e.g., music or videos only) where you believe to be having most of the copycats. You may decide on the location to search: from your home folder to the entire hard drive. Thus, you’re enabled to locate and delete duplicates even if they hide in remote corners of the system. Do not select the folders that you wish to leave untouched. After the scan is finished, removing detected copies is very simple. Moreover, instead of picking the copycats from the results list on your own, let Dr. Duplicator smartly select and fix them for you.

As a result of deduplication activities, the app reclaims space, checks and deletes copies, and arranges your Desktop, Dock, and files.

delete duplicates

Find Duplicate Folder Names on Several Ways

If you ask how to detect duplicate folder names, an advanced Mac user may tell you to do this in bash – search for the problematic folders with the help of this command:

find /path/to/remote/library | tr A-Z a-z | sort | uniq -d

This method will show all lower case folders that possess a duplicate with uppercase letter. Mind that in case both files are located in one folder, the command may fail. It works fine if the files are in different folders on the source disk.

Let’s say, you decide to use a specific software to scan the folders. By the example of Dr. Duplicator, it is easy to understand how to check duplicate folders.

  • Launch the app.
  • You may either add a Home folder or drag-&-drop it into the tool. The Spotlight will help to find this folder quickly.
  • Pick “Scan for Duplicates.”

Let the tool go through every file trying to find as many duplicates as possible. Review the results once the process is over. Remember that this smart cleanup app does not eliminate the original folder: it gets rid of the later copy only.

It is possible to preview each file no matter what its type is. Notice how they are different while choosing between two to delete. Just click on Remove when you are done.

How to Delete Duplicates in a Folder?

If you prefer a standard Mac’s Finder, you may want to learn how to eliminate duplicates in a folder once you found them. In case you are armed to the teeth with the backups of all necessary files in other folders, just go ahead and empty the library (e.g., Photos library).

There are two important things every Mac user must keep in mind when deleting duplicates in a folder:

  • Remove the photos or other multimedia files only in case you are sure the copies exist elsewhere. Compare the suggested files with the same names to see if they are different.
  • Mind that every time you toss away the duplicates, they are not removed completely – you may still reach them in the Recently Deleted folder. You should empty this folder just like you do with your Trash if you really want to eliminate those items forever.

If you wish to get rid of the video copycats, choose the Show Path Bar option from the Finder View menu. Enter kind:movies in the search window. Pick This Mac.

Thus, you’ll be able to compare size, date, and format, which makes it extremely comfortable to identify duplicates. The tool deals with all possible formats of videos, including AVI, MP4, WMV, MPEG, MOV, FLV, etc.

As you can see, many ways exist to delete duplicate files on your Mac once and forever. If you are one of the users searching for the effective tool to find and eliminate duplicate items, try at least one of the possible solutions depending on your financial resources. Dr. Duplicator is a good option in case you have no idea where to start from.

GET MORE THAN JUST A DUPLICATE FILE FINDER!

About

Dr.Duplicator App

Dr. Duplicator tool will catch all the nasty duplicates that try to hide from your eye! It scans each folder, Apple computer, or entire network comparing the content of the files to detect the duplicate items even if they are named differently.

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