How to Find and Delete Duplicate Files for Free with Duplicate File Finder

Here is a writeup of the Duplicate File Finder app on our website.
https://onlinecomputertips.com/support-categories/software/find-duplicate-files-for-free-with-duplicate-file-finder/

Running out of storage space? Duplicate files can clutter your hard drive and slow down your system. In this video, we show you how to use "Duplicate File Finder," a simple and effective free tool to scan your PC for identical files, photos, and documents.

Learn how to compare folders by file name, size, or content using the SHA-1 hash algorithm for 100% accuracy. We demonstrate how to use "file masks" to target specific file types like Word documents (.docx) or spreadsheets (.xlsx), and how to safely move duplicates to the recycle bin. We also compare the installable and portable versions to help you choose the best option for your needs.

0:00 Introduction: Clearing Disk Space with Duplicate File Finder
0:35 Free vs. Paid Version: What’s the Difference?
0:50 Installable vs. Portable Versions
1:10 Setting Up the Scan: Adding Folders and Drives
1:35 Comparing Files by Name: Reviewing the Results
2:05 Managing Duplicates: Checking, Inverting, and Deleting
2:45 Comparing Files by Size: Finding Matching File Footprints
3:25 Using Content SHA-1 for Maximum Accuracy
3:45 Advanced Filtering: Using File Masks (.docx, .jpg, etc.)
4:40 Exporting Results and Scanning Multiple Locations
4:55 Summary and Final Cleaning Tips

Here is a link where you can download the free Duplicate File Finder software.
https://vovsoft.com/software/duplicate-file-finder/

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1 - Download the Tool: Choose between the Installable version or the Portable version (which runs from a zip file without installation). The free version includes all core features but may show a "nag screen" on startup.
2 - Add Your Folders: Open the app and click the Add button. You can select specific folders or entire drives (e.g., your Documents folder and your external E: drive) to compare against each other.
3 - Choose Your Search Criteria:
* By Name: Best for finding files that share the exact same filename.
* By Size: Useful for finding different files that happen to take up the same amount of space.
* By Content (SHA-1): The most accurate method. It compares the actual data inside the files to ensure they are identical, even if the names are different.
4 - Set a File Mask (Optional): If you only want to find duplicate photos or documents, change the "File Mask" from *.* to something specific like *.jpg or *.docx.
5 - Run the Scan: Click Start. The app will generate a list of all matching files across your selected locations.
6 - Review and Select: Manually check the boxes for the files you want to remove, or use the Check Duplicates button to let the app pick them for you. You can also use the Inverse tool to swap your selection.
7 - Delete the Duplicates: Once you've verified your selection, click the Recycle Bin icon to move the checked files out of your storage.
8 - Export Your List (Optional): If you want to keep a record of what was found, use the Export option at the top to save your duplicate list as a text file.

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Closed Caption:

[Music]
hi in this video we're going to show you
a free tool you could use to help find
duplicate files on your computer so it's
simply called duplicate file finder so
there's two versions of it there is an
installable version which you install
like a normal program and a portable
version where you just download the zip
file extract it and run the executable
and there's also a free version and a
pay for version so the pay for version
is
$19 and the free version does the same
thing as the pay version except you just
have to look at a nag screen when you
start it and you don't get any updates
or
support all right so once you download
it just simply run
it so as you can see here here's your
nag screen now you just have to click on
continue or you could click on buy now
to buy it or enter a key if you already
bought it so the interface is pretty
basic and compared to some of the other
duplicate file finder apps we've tested
out this is pretty simple so it doesn't
do some of the more Advanced things that
the other apps will do but for a free
app it's nice and if you just need basic
duplicate file finder capabilities it
should work just fine all right so we
just need to load a couple folders here
to compare so you can click on ADD here
or just drag and drop your
folders so let's say we're going to do
the documents
folder and then we'll do the entire e
Drive here so we're going to compare
files in both these locations and the
file mask is set to compare all files
which you could change which we show you
in a second here so once you have your
options set on the top here if you want
to search by name size or content
sha-1 you could do that so let's do it
by name click on
start let's make this full screen so we
can see a little better so we could see
our duplicates here with the directory
the name and the
size like so and then all you need to do
is go through and check the ones you
want to let's say get rid of and click
on this button here to move check files
to recycle bin or you could come here
and click on check duplicates which will
choose the duplicates for
you it might not pick the ones you want
to have selected so that's up to you to
check that out you could check all if
you want check none and if you do click
on check duplicates you could also come
here and do the inverse so it'll select
the other files in the other directory
and then you have this tab here to show
all the
files like so in both locations all
right so that's how you do it for file
name so if you come here and click on
size and then
start you can see the files that were
found that have duplicate sizes here so
right here at the top these two have the
same size because they're the same
file but this one actually has has the
same size too even though it's a
different
file and all these have the same size
right here some of these are copies
which explains the same
size and these are the same size because
they're the same file but in two
different directories and of course you
could check the ones that you want to
have deleted once you go through the
list right then there's the content
sha1 so this could be used if you wanted
check the secure hash algorithm to
compare the information contained within
the files here to see if they're
matching or
not for the same kind of results all
right so now let's say you want to edit
the mask so let's say on the E
drive we want star.
dox so it's only going to find matching
Word documents let's put this back to
name first and then we'll click on
start so now you can see it don't found
files with the dox word document and you
can see it's supposed to find just files
with dox but it did find some ones with
XLS as well and then some inii files so
let's actually change this as
well to.
dox click on
start now you can see it found only Word
Documents
so that might be something you want to
do if you want to just search for a
specific type of file change the file
mask for all of your locations and of
course you could have more than two
locations if you want to find duplicates
on multiple drives or multiple folders
right then at the top here we have
another option to add more
folders export your file list export
your duplicate list and then you have
some basic
help all right so like I said it's a
pretty simple program but if you're just
looking for basic duplicates it should
do the job for you so I'll put a link in
the description where you can download
duplicate file finder and you can try it
out for yourself all right thanks for
watching and be sure to subscribe
[Music]