Updated: June 13, 2021 Home » Freeware and Software Reviews » System Optimization and Registry Cleaner

Choose the “Kind” drop-down menu and select a file type you want to narrow the search down. Now, you’ll be able to browse for all files stored on your Mac, based on the file type whether they’re documents, applications, music files, etc. Scroll through this grid view to find the duplicate files you want to delete, it helps to order the file list by ‘name’ so that you can easily. Easy Duplicate Finder “Best free duplicate photo cleaner for Mac to identify every type of file” Another popular option for the best duplicate photo finder & remover for Mac is Easy Duplicate Finder. The software makes it convenient to find and remove all kinds of duplicates (e.g., photos, music, email, documents, etc.) from Mac.

Duplicate Files Fixer. Duplicate Files Fixer is a highly reliable tool for fixing duplicate files and getting rid of them. It starts with a ‘scan and delete’ system using which the software scans the whole system deeply to find duplicate documents and media files which are taking space in the overall system.

With the limited storage capacity of most SSD, you are likely to fill up your SSD with tons of unwanted junk files, more often than not they are duplicate files, jpeg photos, videos, music files or documents that you have lost track of.

😭 😍 😂 14 Free Junk Files Cleaners – Increase SSD Hard Disk Space

You are running out of disk space on your PC, but sorting through your files seems overwhelming because there are just too many of them. The solution is to use a duplicate file finder. It will help you locate and remove useless file duplicates to free up disk space and better organize your file collections. You will have full control in being able to look through the list of duplicates and decide which copy to keep.

↓ 01 – Auslogics Duplicate File Finder | Windows

Daily computer activity inevitably leads to accumulating duplicate files on your computer, especially if you are an active PC user. Auslogics Duplicate File Finder will find and delete duplicate files so you won’t experience lack of free disk space! The easiest way to sort through images, music, videos and other personal files to remove duplicate copies and free up disk space.

• Smart algorithm – The software uses intelligent algorithms to compare not only file names, but also contents to ensure no false search results.
• Gives you full control – You can specify the file types to look for, then go through the search results and decide which copies to delete.

↓ 02 – CCleaner | Windows

Cleaner is the number-one tool for cleaning your PC. It protects your privacy and makes your computer faster and more secure! CCleaner’s main feature is its junk file remover, which frees up space on your hard drive by removing unnecessary temporary files, but it also has quite a few other built-in tools, including a duplicate file finder.

↓ 03 – SearchMyFiles [ Portable ] | Windows

SearchMyFiles is an alternative to the standard “Search For Files And Folders” module of Windows. It allows you to easily search files in your system by wildcard, by last modified/created/last accessed time, by file attributes, by file content (text or binary search), and by the file size.

SearchMyFiles allows you to make a very accurate search that cannot be done with Windows search. For Example: You can search all files created in the last 10 minutes with size between 500 and 700 bytes.

↓ 04 – dupeGuru [ Open Source ] | Windows | Linux | macOS

dupeGuru is a tool to find duplicate files on your computer. It can scan either filenames or contents. The filename scan features a fuzzy matching algorithm that can find duplicate filenames even when they are not exactly the same. dupeGuru runs on macOS and Linux. Works great on Microsoft’s Windows 10 and Apple’s macOS.

• dupeGuru is good with music. It has a special Music mode that can scan tags and shows music-specific information in the duplicate results window.
• dupeGuru is good with pictures. It has a special Picture mode that can scan pictures fuzzily, allowing you to find pictures that are similar, but not exactly the same.

↓ 05 – CloneSpy | Windows

CloneSpy is a Free Duplicate File CleanUp Tool for Windows. CloneSpy can help you free up hard drive space by detecting and removing duplicate files. Duplicate files have exactly the same contents regardless of their name, date, time and location.

Also, CloneSpy is able to find files that are not exactly identical, but have the same file name. Perhaps you have different versions of a file and you want to find all of them and remove the older versions. CloneSpy can also find zero length files.

↓ 06 – AllDup | Windows

AllDup is a freeware tool for searching and removing file duplicates on your Windows computer. The fast search algorithm find duplicates of any file type, e.g., text, pictures, music or movies.

• Find, remove, delete, copy and move duplicate files!
• Delete duplicate music files!
• It can be especially useful if you have large Music, Pictures, Downloads or Documents folders!

↓ 07 – VisiPics [ Image Comparison ] | Windows

VisiPics does more than just look for identical files, it goes beyond checksums to look for similar pictures and does it all with a simple user interface. First, you select the root folder or folders to find and catalogue all of your pictures. It then applies five image comparison filters in order to measure how close pairs of images on the hard drive are.

↓ 08 – Fast Duplicate File Finder | Windows

Fast Duplicate File Finder FREEWARE will find duplicate files in a folder, computer or entire network. The application will compare the content of the files and will find duplicates even if they are using different file names.

The Professional version can find similar files regardless of their file types. It will analyze the file data in order to find duplicates and not just file attributes like name and size as the standard clone removers do. It uses advanced algorithms while searching for related files and provides accurate results, which is not true for the commonly advertised FUZZY search methods.

• Find duplicate files or find similar files in user specified folders, hard drives, computers or entire networks
• Fast binary comparison algorithm
• Internal preview supporting images, videos, music, text and binary files
• Older or smaller files can be automatically marked for deletion
• Redundant files can be moved to Recycle Bin, custom folder or deleted permanently
• Support for all kinds of removable media – usb drives, diskettes etc.
• Has intuitive interface and rich documentation
• Process priority settings that will let the application scan in your computer’s IDLE time
• Protection for system files and folders that will prevent damages to your system files when removing redundant files
• Automatically locate duplicate files in Windows Explorer
• Open file with associated program
• Native support for 64 bit and 32 bit operating systems

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.

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

Find Duplicate Files On Mac

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.

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

1. Quickly find all types of duplicate files on Mac based on content
2. Also find near-duplicate images
3. Support Mac and external storage devices
4. Safely remove duplicates from Photos, iPhoto, Music and iTunes
5. Come with 3 preview modes, including a side-by-side mode
6. Provide a smart Auto-Select feature and up to 8 selection rules
7. Offer 3 deletion methods, including Move to Trash
8. 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.

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

1. Comes with a beautiful interface
2. Scan your Mac for various types of duplicate files
3. Support Photos and iTunes
4. Let users directly preview files within the app
5. Provide an innovative Duplicates Monitor feature

Cons

1. Incompatible with macOS 10.9 or earlier
2. 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

1. Search for a variety types of duplicate files on Mac
2. Find and delete duplicates in Apple Photos on Mac
3. Provide 2 modes for users to choose from
4. Highly customizable
5. Support hard links

Cons

1. Don’t support macOS 10.11 or earlier
2. Not good at finding duplicates in iTunes
3. 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

1. Capable of detecting common types of file duplicates
2. Support iTunes
3. Provide an Auto Remove feature for quick duplicate removal
4. Very user-friendly interface

Cons

1. Relatively slow scan
2. Poor support for Mac’s Photos
3. 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

1. Support all common file types
2. Can find the duplicates in Photos on Mac
3. Offer an option to create an alias when deleting duplicates
4. Easy to use
5. Lightweight

Cons

1. Incapable of finding all duplicate files in a location
2. Can’t work well with iTunes

#6 Duplicate Sweeper for Mac

Compatibility: macOS 10.8 or later

Duplicate File Remover Windows 10

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

1. Able to look for photo duplicates and other common types of duplicates
2. Lightweight
3. Ease-to-use interface

Cons

1. Can’t identify the duplicates in iTunes and Photos
2. Sometime fail to detect all dupes
3. 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

1. Completely free to use
2. Open source
3. Offer 3 modes to handle different types of duplicate files
4. Fairly configurable
5. Can find certain visually similar pictures

Cons

1. Possible compatibility issues
2. No support for Photos and iTunes
3. 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

1. Free to use
2. Easy-to-understand interface
3. Scan Mac folders for file duplicates

Cons

1. Incapable of detecting all duplicate files
2. Can’t scan Photos and iTunes
3. Inconvenient preview

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.

Microsoft Duplicate File Finder Tool

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.

Free Duplicate File Finder And Remover Mac

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?