Best Free Duplicate File Finder For Windows

Duplicate files may seem harmless to many computer users. If only users knew that these files causes more trouble than good. They eat up hard disk space and system resources, further slowing down your computer. Before you will even know, your large 1 TB or more hard disk space gets filled up. All of these unneeded files causes chaos and increases disorganization in your computer system.

Recently, I started facing this inevitable issue myself. My hard disks, (internal and external, which is more than 6 TB in total) got filled up with files. As happens to any user having tons of disk space, I never organized them properly. I just saved them where ever I found space. Be it on the internal hard disk or external drives. The same version of files mercilessly cloned are now scattered across the different hard disks. That’s when the thought of organizing files came in my mind. But before that I should remove all the duplicate files from all the different storage drives. I tried to find the best free duplicate file finder software for Windows PC to help me out. During this search to find the best, I came across a number of freeware duplicate file finders. I am saying “best” as I had a few requirements in mind before I try the software.

Criteria For Choosing The Best Freeware Duplicate File Finder For Windows

The software should be a freeware, no shareware, ad-ware or trial version. It should not come with loaded “crap-ware” or browser toolbars. It should not be a “cripple-ware” which asks users to pay to access all features. It should make it easy to find duplicate files. It should not scan for duplicates based on similar file name or file size. It should support external drives. It should scan using MD5, SHA1 or CRC method. This will increase the chances that the files are true duplicate files. Although, not required but if it exports the list of duplicates to TXT, CSV, or HTML format, it’s a plus point for them.

Without any much talks, here’s the list of five best free duplicate file finder software for Windows.

Duplicate & Same Files Searcher

duplicate and same file searcher

Duplicate & Same Files Searcher (aka Duplicate Searcher) is a freeware Windows application. It comes in both standard Windows installer format and portable application. This software is unique as it searches for duplicate files and creates NTFS hard links to the same file. It uses true byte-to-byte file comparison of file contents. Regardless of the file name, if they are clones, this software utility is going to dig it out. Visual way it may not be the prettiest software, but it packs the punch. So, don’t judge it by its looks. Its uniqueness is what made it to the top of the list.

Homepage | Download

Bytessence DuplicateFinder

duplicate finder

Bytessence DuplicateFinder is the next duplicate file remover I found. Designed to detect and destroy all clones from your computer, this software is fast. The developer claims of using optimized detection algorithms and file filters to make it fast. Using automatic file selector and predefined set of actions you can remove duplicate files. The software also allows copying, moving or recycling the clone files.

Homepage | Download

AllDup

alldup duplicate file finder

AllDup is a freeware application for Windows. It helps you find and remove duplicate files on your PC. It’s interface may seem confusing to some novice users but under the hood it’s a powerful application. It offers a lot of options which you may like to tweak a bit before starting the scan. Like the others AllDup also comes in two formats, installer and portable.

Homepage | Download

Duplicate File Hunter

duplicate file hunter

Duplicate File Hunter is now a freeware application for Windows. Using it shouldn’t be a problem even for novice users. The interface is minimal and focused on the result list. Unlike the other software above, Duplicate File Hunter is slow in scanning. After it completes scanning, it displays an extensive list of files. It also includes the directory path and file size in the list.

Homepage | Download

Duplicate Commander

duplicate commander

Duplicate Commander is a freeware Windows application. It is available both in installer and portable format. It finds duplicate files and helps remove them to the Recycle Bin. Yes, it doesn’t delete the files permanently. If you can live with the odd toolbar icons, you can get it to work properly. Only one relief is placing the mouse pointer on the icons displays a small description. I hope the developer will change the present icons to something better.

Homepage | Download

Conclusion

This list is obviously not a complete list as there are hundreds of freeware duplicate file removers available. I know, I may have missed a good freeware duplicate file finder application. But you can help here to help me find the best. Let me know about it through the comments below. I will check it out myself. If it’s a good software to find duplicate files, I will write about it (along with a credit to you in the article).

Don’t forget to test the applications shared here. Let me know which one you like the most. I will also write a complete review about the application (covered on this post) that gets the maximum number of positive comments.

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