Find and Remove Duplicate Files in Windows 11/10 with Fast Duplicate Finder
“Cleaning up” the PC from time to time, even when there are no errors that prevent it from functioning properly, is a good habit: you should learn how to do it too. How many files have you downloaded over the last few weeks? I bet hundreds. Indeed, there will be thousands of applications, documents, photos, videos and music tracks! And not only! Many of them — I am sure — have been downloaded more than once giving rise to “duplicates”, ie duplicate files that occupy space on the disk in a completely useless way.
How to fix this issue? How to find and remove duplicate files on Windows?There are several tools, almost all free, that allow you to locate duplicate files and delete them quickly. In this way, you can free up a lot of disk space and put your PC in order. Duplicate files can be identified based on various criteria: their content, their name, the date of the last modification and more.
To find out in more detail how to proceed and, therefore, to learn how to delete duplicate files from Windows 11 or Windows 10 you just need to read following paragraphs. If you find files you know nothing about located in the application folders or in the system folders, do not delete them, as you could seriously jeopardize the stability of the OS! That said, I would suggest not to delay any longer and immediately take action.
How to delete duplicate files with Windows 11/10
To begin with, let’s find out what are the tools to delete double files with Windows 11 and 10 (and on any other version of Windows) and how to use them. One of the best programs for finding and removing duplicate files (of all types and formats) is Fast Duplicate Finder. It is a tool that is characterized by the speed with which it can identify duplicate files and remove them safely.
Fast Duplicate Finder
To start you must obviously download and install the program on your computer. Here is the link to download the free demo version of Fast Duplicate Finder.
Free Download Fast Duplicate Finder
This free version allows you to scan your PC and view all duplicate files found. To proceed with the removal of this data it is necessary to purchase the license (at a cost of only 19 USD). After downloading and installing the program you will see this main interface:
Step 1. From the left sidebar of the program select the disk or folder where there are duplicate files to find and delete
Step 2. Press on the icon in the shape of a folder, with the + symbol, to add the source folder in the central window of the program. From the right sidebar of the program you can also apply filters: if, for example, you want to search and remove duplicate photos (and ignore other types of files, such as documents, audio files, videos, etc.), click on the button + and then select the data category to include in the scan (in our case we have selected Image and all types of images).
Step 3. Click on Search Duplicates at the bottom right to start scanning for all duplicate files
When the scan is complete, the Results tab will open with all duplicate files found. In our test, the program was able to find 366 duplicate files (mostly video and photo files) for the equivalent of nearly 1GB of disk space.
To remove these duplicate files the program offers several ways:
- The fastest way is to click on the SELECT ALL DUPLICATES button to select all the duplicate files found (and leave a copy only) and then press the Delete Selected Files button at the bottom right
- The slowest way is to select duplicate files one at a time by pressing the X-shaped icon to the left of the duplicate file detected. This slow mode is for those who want to check the duplicate files found one by one before deleting them (you can also see the detected file by clicking on the yellow icon to the right of the file path). After selecting all the desired files you will have to click on Delete Selected Files at the bottom right.
- If by chance the duplicate files are present in a folder other than the one in which the original files are, you can select one of these and then press the AutoSelect by Path button. In this way the program will select (and delete) all the duplicate files present in that selected folder (and not from the source folder).
Note: In the demo version of the program, the Delete Selected Files button is not active and will open the program purchase / registration window. Pressing on Buy Now you access the page where you can proceed with the order. The license is automatically emailed immediately after purchase.
Advanced Settings Fast Duplicate Finder
By accessing the Settings tab of the program you will find the button to access the purchase and activation window of the program (without limitations). Further down are the “advanced” options concerning the duplicate file search configuration. There are several options that you can change although we recommend that you leave the default ones unchanged, unless you have special needs.
Fast Duplicate Finder supports virtually all major file formats. Here is the full list:
Documents= pdf, epub, djvu, djv, azw, azw3, lit, cbr, cbz, chm, doc, docx, fb2, mobi, txt, rtf, xps;
Image= jpg, jpeg, png, gif, bmp, tiff, tif, ico, psd, ai;
Audio= aac, aiff, amr, ape, flac, gsm, m4a, m4b, m4p, mmf, mp3,ogg, oga, mogg, wav, wma;
Video = webm, mkv, flv, f4v, vob, ogv, avi, mov, wmv, mp4, m4p, m4v, mpg, mp2, mpeg, mpe, mpv, m2v, m4v, 3gp, divx, ts, m2ts, rmvb;
Source code= c, h, cpp, hpp, cs, xaml, resx, config;
Binary File= exe, obj, dll, sys, bin.
