Jul 14, 2021 Several such apps will scan and list the duplicate files, but you will have to buy the paid version to delete them. Now that you know the basics, here is how to find and delete duplicate files on Mac using an app that works great even in the free version. Download Duplicate File Finder from the Mac App Store and open it. 6 Best Duplicate File Finders for Mac. Here we have discussed the best Duplicate File Finder for Macbook. These easily help you deal with these files and free up space on your Mac. Most of these Apps will not online find but will also delete or remove duplicate files from your Mac device. Easy Duplicate Finder Mac Portable + Torrent Free Download. This software can find and remove duplicate files in seconds. With this tool, you can recover gigabytes of space. Using this software, you can speed up your computer and organize your files. Now, managing duplicate files with Easy Duplicate Finder on your PC or Mac is fast, easy and fun. The solution: Duplicate File Finder 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.
Find and Remove Duplicates
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
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
- Quickly find all types of duplicate files on Mac based on content
- Also find near-duplicate images
- Support Mac and external storage devices
- Safely remove duplicates from Photos, iPhoto, Music and iTunes
- Come with 3 preview modes, including a side-by-side mode
- Provide a smart Auto-Select feature and up to 8 selection rules
- Offer 3 deletion methods, including Move to Trash
- 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
- Comes with a beautiful interface
- Scan your Mac for various types of duplicate files
- Support Photos and iTunes
- Let users directly preview files within the app
- Provide an innovative Duplicates Monitor feature
Cons
- Incompatible with macOS 10.9 or earlier
- 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
- Search for a variety types of duplicate files on Mac
- Find and delete duplicates in Apple Photos on Mac
- Provide 2 modes for users to choose from
- Highly customizable
- Support hard links
Cons
- Don’t support macOS 10.11 or earlier
- Not good at finding duplicates in iTunes
- 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
- Capable of detecting common types of file duplicates
- Support iTunes
- Provide an Auto Remove feature for quick duplicate removal
- Very user-friendly interface
Cons
- Relatively slow scan
- Poor support for Mac’s Photos
- 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
- Support all common file types
- Can find the duplicates in Photos on Mac
- Offer an option to create an alias when deleting duplicates
- Easy to use
- Lightweight
Cons
- Incapable of finding all duplicate files in a location
- Can’t work well with iTunes
#6 Duplicate Sweeper for Mac
Compatibility: macOS 10.8 or later
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.
Mac OS El Capitan is preceded by OS X 10.10 Yosemite and it is succeeded by macOS 10.12 Sierra. Os x 10.11 dmg download free.
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
- Able to look for photo duplicates and other common types of duplicates
- Lightweight
- Ease-to-use interface
Cons
- Can’t identify the duplicates in iTunes and Photos
- Sometime fail to detect all dupes
- 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
- Completely free to use
- Open source
- Offer 3 modes to handle different types of duplicate files
- Fairly configurable
- Can find certain visually similar pictures
Cons
- Possible compatibility issues
- No support for Photos and iTunes
- 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
- Free to use
- Easy-to-understand interface
- Scan Mac folders for file duplicates
Cons
- Incapable of detecting all duplicate files
- Can’t scan Photos and iTunes
- 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.
Best Free Duplicate File Remover
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.
Best Duplicate File Finder Mac Free
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.
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.
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.
Download mac os x el capitan installer. Which duplicate file finder for Mac you are using?
Sometimes, Duplicate Files can take up an enormous amount of space in your Mac or merely just cause confusions and problems. It is not an easy task for finding them. Thus, Duplicate File Finder and remover apps are extremely popular. They search and comb through your Mac and find out the Duplicate Files that are present so that you can decide what to do with them. In this article, we will be discussing the Best Duplicate File Finder for Mac.
Contents
- 1 6 Best Duplicate File Finders for Mac
6 Best Duplicate File Finders for Mac
Here we have discussed the best Duplicate File Finder for Macbook. These easily help you deal with these files and free up space on your Mac. Most of these Apps will not online find but will also delete or remove duplicate files from your Mac device.
We will also briefly tell you about the applications and how to use them so that you can make an informed decision about the one you want. Let’s Begin!
1. Gemini 2
Even though it is paid, Gemini 2 is one of the fastest Duplicate File Finders available for Mac. You can preview the files before deleting them and easily manage them. Additionally, it supports more than 10 languages. At a price tag of 19.99$, it is definitely worth the price. However, we suggest you go for the free applications if you only want to use it for basic Duplicate File services. You can get your hands on Gemini 2 here.
2. MacClean
MacClean is a sophisticated application for mac. You can use it to remove duplicate documents, music, photos and tons of other duplicate files from your Mac easily. Known for its simple and easy to use interface, you can choose the folders that you want to be scanned. The application will scan them and find out the duplicate files. The application is also available in a variety of languages for your convenience. You can also filter content according to various parameters. We highly recommend this application as it will perfectly fit your needs. Get MacClean.
3. Easy Duplicate Finder
Easy Duplicate Finder is another beast of an application when it comes to removing Duplicate files from your Mac. It is hands down one of the fastest and most secure duplicate finder for Mac out there. You can easily manage your Photos, Music, and Videos with this application, along with organizing them. It has an intuitive interface laced with an extremely powerful search algorithm. It is able to look for true duplicates and not just files sharing the same name. You can also find duplicates in iTunes, iPhoto, and Photos. It also sports a range of Scan Modes.
Definitely worth trying, get Easy Duplicate Finder.
4. Disk Drill
Disk Drill is primarily a data recovery application for Mac, however, it’s powerful software also has a duplicate finder that is as good as stand-alone applications. You can scan the drives and the application will easily find the Duplicate Files for you. It supports a simple interface with a drag-and-drop design for your convenience. One of the best things about this application is that is very lightweight and does not occupy too much space on your Drive. You can easily select the locations that you want to scan. What makes this application extremely unique is, in case you accidentally an application by mistake, you can recover it with the application’s powerful Data Recovery system.
One of the best in the Duplicate Files game, get Disk Drill now.
5. Duplicate Files Fixer
Duplicate Files Fixer is another great Duplicate Files Finder and cleaner. All you have to do is enter a location and the application will find all the Duplicate Files for you. With an interactive and intuitive interface, this software lets you backup your files before you delete them, which makes dealing with Duplicate Files on your Mac an easy task. Get Duplicate Files Fixer here.
6. Cisdem Duplicate Finder
This powerful application lets you scan and remove Duplicate Files in easy steps. With powerful software, it will use more than just name, size, and extension of files to find the Duplicate files. True Duplicate files will be scanned by it, you can decide what to do with them, and delete them easily. You have different categories available for classifying the duplicate files including, Pictures, Music, Videos, and more.
You can get Cisdem Duplicate Finder and easily manage Duplicate Files on your Macbook.
Top 6 Duplicate File Remover Software for Mac
Here is a list of the Best Duplicate File Finder and Remover for your Mac that we have mentioned above:
- Gemini 2
- MacClean
- Easy Duplicate Finder
- Disk Drill
- Duplicate Files Fixer
- Cisdem Duplicate Finder
Besides these, there are many alternatives that you can try out. Some of them are are Duplicate Detective, Dupe Guru for Mac, and so on.
Final Take
We hope that by reading the above articles you were able to go through the 6 best Duplicate File Finders that are available for Mac, and were able to use them without any problems. These Software are powerful and pretty all of them have simple interfaces. You can pick any of them randomly or make an informed decision, your purpose will be served. If you have any further queries regarding any of the Duplicate File Finders mentioned above, you can drop us a comment below and we will do our best to get back to you with a relevant answer.
Comments are closed.