Duplicate File Finder
This tool lets you search your drives for duplicate files. This function has
two distinct modes:
- To search for all files that appear more than once (i.e. all
duplicate files)
- To search for duplicates of one or more specific files
To access the duplicate file finder, select the Find Duplicate Files
command from the Tools menu. The duplicate file finder
appears at the bottom of the Lister in the Utility Panel.
The top section of the duplicate file finder panel lets you specify where to
search. You can search one or more folders (or entire drives) at once by adding
entries to the Find in list.
Each entry in the list corresponds with a folder to search. To add a folder
to the list, double-click the Add folder to search item. You can also
use the Select Folders to Search () button on the toolbar - this displays a
folder selection dialog with checkboxes so you can select multiple folders
simultaneously. You can edit a folder path in the list by double-clicking
it (or select it and press F2 if you want to enter the path
using the keyboard).
To remove a folder from the list, select it and click the Remove
Folder () button.
The Reset Folder List () button
clears the folder list, and the Lock Folder () button locks the Find in
location to the folder displayed in the current file display. When
the folder is locked, the Find in list will automatically
reset to the current location whenever you navigate in the file
display.
The bottom section of the panel lets you specify which files you want to
search for duplicates of. If this list is empty, the finder will search for
all duplicated files (mode one). If you specify one or more files in
this list, the finder will only search for duplicates of those files (mode
two).
Each entry in the list represents a file that the finder will search for
duplicates of. To add a file to the list, double-click the Add file to
search for duplicates of item, or click the Browse () button on the toolbar. You can edit a
file path in the list by double-clicking it (or select it and press F2
if you want to enter the path by hand). Use the Remove File
()
button to remove a file from the list, and the Clear File List
()
button to clear it.
The right-hand side of the panel contains options that let you control how
Opus searches for duplicates.
- Show results in: This lets you specify the name of the File Collection that the
results of the search will be displayed in. The current file display will
automatically navigate to show this collection when the search begins, and as
files are found they will appear in the display. The display will be
automatically grouped to keep duplicate files together. If the specified
collection doesn't already exist it will be created automatically.
- The Comparison method drop-down lets you specify what
method of comparison Opus uses to determine whether two files are
duplicates:
- Filename only: The comparison is based on filename
only. If two files have the same name they will be considered duplicates.
- Filename and size: The comparison is based on filename
and size. If two files have the same name and are the same size they will be
considered to be duplicates.
- MD5 checksum: This is the slowest but most accurate
method of comparison. Filenames are not considered using this method;
instead, for any two files Opus first compares their sizes. If the sizes are
the same Opus then calculates the MD5 checksum for both files - if the
checksum matches then the two files are considered to be duplicates.
- Clear previous results: If this option is on the contents
of the Show results in file collection will be automatically
cleared before the search begins.
- Delete mode: If the reason you are searching for
duplicate files is to eliminate wasted space, this mode can be handy. When
this option is turned on and you perform a search, the file display showing
the results is automatically put into checkbox mode. When the search is complete, Opus
will automatically select all but the first file of every duplicate file
group. You can then use the Delete button at the bottom of
the panel to delete the checked files. The Select button lets
you re-run the delete selection process without having to re-run the search.
This can be useful if you want to re-sort the list to affect which files are
checked for deletion.
- Filter: The filter field lets you define a filter to
control which files and locations are searched. You can use this in two
ways:
- You can enter a simple wildcard pattern to control
which files will be considered by the duplicates search. For example, enter
*.jpg to only search for duplicate JPG
files.
- You can click the Define Filter button () to define a filter using the
advanced filter control (or use the drop-down to select a previously saved
filter). You can use this to specify files to search for as well as control
(using Sub-folder clauses) which sub-folders are searched. See the Filtered Operations page
for more information on filters.
- Number duplicate groups: The Duplicate Finder
creates groups for each set of duplicate files found, and normally these
groups are named after the criteria used for the duplicate search. If you
turn this option on then each group of duplicates will be numbered (from
1 to X, in the order they are found).
- Search inside archives: The function will also search the
contents of any archive files that are found in the specified locations.
- Search inside subfolders: The function will search the
contents of all sub-folders of the specified locations as well as the
locations themselves. You can use the Filter option below to
control which sub-folders are searched.
When you have specified the locations and parameters for the duplicates
search, click the Find button to begin.