How to Delete Duplicate Files
The following steps may repair the issue:
- Step 1. Download Auslogics BoostSpeed application See more information about Auslogics and uninstall instructions. Please review Auslogics' EULA and Privacy Policy.
- Step 2.Install and launch the application
- Step 3.Click the Scan Now button to detect issues and abnormalities
- Step 4.Click the Repair All button to fix the issues
| Compatibility | Win 11, 10, 8, 7 |
| Download Size | 11.9 MB |
| Requirements | 300 MHz Processor, 256 MB RAM, 50 MB HDD |
Limitations: trial version offers an unlimited number of scans, backup, restore of your Windows system elements for FREE. Registration for the full version is USD 59.95.
Most computer hard drives end up with duplicate files on them in the normal course of operation. Users may copy photos, music or movies to different locations for sending/printing/storing. Moving application folders may result in duplicate files being created in two or more locations. Downloading software updates or any other files from the web, moving photos from camera to PC, making attempts to organize files on the drive with no clear plan will also often lead to file duplication. Large media file duplicates, such as movies or high-quality videos, can lead to a hard drive getting full very quickly.
Duplicate files can be cleaned out and their accumulation can be prevented with special software that detects and eliminates duplicates.
The article provides details on the symptoms and causes of duplicate file accumulations, as well as ways to remove file duplicates from a PC.
Contents
[hide]Ways to remove file duplicates from a PC
Even advanced PC users might experience difficulties locating file duplicates, especially if they have different names. There is a possibility that a file that has the same name, but is not a duplicate, may get deleted in a cleaning spree that might potentially result in various malfunctions later on. It is recommended to use special software to locate and delete duplicate files in a safe and efficient way.
The following steps may remove file duplicates from a PC:
- Download Auslogics BoostSpeed
Special offer. See more information about Auslogics; uninstall instructions; EULA; Privacy Policy. - Install and launch the application
- Click the Scan Now button to detect duplicate files and other issues
- Click the Repair Now button to clean up PC
The same application can be used to run preventative measures to reduce the chance of this or other system issues appearing in the future.
Symptoms of duplicate file accumulations
The most common symptom of duplicate file accumulations is low percentage of free disk space remaining. Unlike plain temporary files or other regular junk files, duplicate files will take up more space, as each of them weighs the same as the original file. When it comes to duplicate movie copies, they can each weigh up to several gigabytes. If the amount of free space is low, you may experience issues, such as failed software downloads or installs, file copying issues, virtual memory malfunctions and similar. Some symptoms of an almost full hard drive may not be attributed to it right away, such as longer antivirus scans or disk defrags, which happens because antivirus programs and defragmenters have to process more data, a lot of it being file duplicates. Another symptom may be a certain level of fragmentation that cannot be reduced by defragmenting, because there is no consecutive free space large enough to place the defragmented files.
Causes of duplicate file accumulations
Among the most common causes of duplicate file accumulation are user actions that lead to repeat downloads of the same photos, music, movies or other files. Other reasons for the issue may be malfunctions with software updates or efforts to organize files by an inexperienced user, who may copy instead of move files between locations. The files become more difficult to locate and remove when they get renamed by the user or the system in the process of duplication. For instance, a file is being copied to the same folder where it is located: the system will slightly modify the file name and the user may never realize it is a duplicate. When downloading a second or third copy of the same file or program from the web, a user may give the file a different name, which may prevent them from being able to identify the file as a duplicate later.