Removing duplicates program. Universal programs for finding duplicate files on your computer. This is useful to know

Good day!

I think that many users have dozens (or even hundreds) of gigabytes of pictures, wallpapers, videos, music, and other files on their disks. And I should note that in different catalogs (in wallpaper collections, for example) there may be quite a lot of copies (duplicates). Often, after removing them, it is possible to free up several gigabytes of space on the HDD!

To find duplicates there are special programs and utilities. They are ways for relatively not big time scan your HDD(and) and present to you everything that is the same. Then, as a rule, all you have to do is tick off what to delete - and voila, the place is cleared!

In this article I will give several such “cleaners” that will help you free up space on your hard drive. So...

Addition!

Universal (search for any files)

Universal programs to search for duplicates, they are suitable for working with any files: documents, photographs, videos, etc. As a rule, their work is based on searching for files of the same size and checksum. Those. these programs are looking for exact copies, matching 100%!

Thanks to this, their work speed is quite high. However, they cannot find, for example, almost identical pictures that are saved in different formats and with excellent resolution. To do this you need to use special. The software I recommend below...

CCleaner

One of the most famous PC cleaning utilities. However, not many users know that it has a duplicate search function (and a very good function!).

To open this option: you must download latest version programs, in the menu "Service" choose "Search for duplicates" , specify settings and click the button "Find" .

I note that search is underway quickly enough, you can filter files by their size, name date. You can also manually specify specific drives (folders) to search. In general, quite convenient!

Glary Utilities (Glary Duplicate Cleaner)

Glary Utilities is an excellent set of utilities for all occasions. Contains all the most necessary tools for cleaning, maintenance and Windows optimization. I have already recommended this complex several times on the pages of my blog...

In its arsenal of built-in software there is one small utility Glary Duplicate Cleaner. It allows you to quickly find duplicates of a wide variety of file formats: TXT, RAR, ZIP, MP3, WAV, AVI, JPG, BMP, etc. (in general, all the most popular ones are definitely there, see the screenshot below).

Setting Scan Settings / Glary Duplicate Cleaner

There is also a small filter with search criteria: by name, size, time. There is an option to skip files of a certain size (for example, you can skip files that weigh less than 100 KB).

I note that the package Glary Utilities free, and fully translated into Russian. In general, the rating is 5 on a 5-point scale!

AllDup

This is a small free utility that can very quickly scan all your drives and remove all duplicate files. The developers note that their search algorithm is 10-30% faster than other similar products.

Personally, I haven’t checked the speed, but I would note the following: the utility works on all Windows 2000, XP, 7, 8, 10 operating systems (this is a certain advantage!).

After the search, the AllDup utility will present you with the results: you can familiarize yourself with each duplicate and delete it directly from the program interface. Comfortable!

Duplicate File Finder

A free tool for cleaning disks of duplicate files. The program compares files byte by byte. specified disk(catalogue). There are standard filters: file extension, file name, creation date, and size.

You can either view the search result (an example is shown in the screenshot above) in the program itself (and make a decision) or export it to HTML, CSV and TXT files. By the way, I would note that the program has a fairly convenient viewer that allows you to view a picture, text, video.

Total Commander

This famous Commander (a good replacement for Explorer) also has a file search function. To open it, click on the “magnifying glass” icon in the top menu of the program (see screenshot above).

Of course, there are not many opportunities here, but nevertheless...

To search for photos, pictures, graphics

These programs can search not only by the size (checksum) of the file, but also by the contents of the picture. For example, you have several identical desktop wallpapers located in two different folders(but these pictures different size and resolution).

So, the programs given above would not have found these duplicates, because... they “cannot” appreciate what is shown in the pictures. In this case, you need to use special. tools (more about them below)...

Image Comparer

This is a very small utility that specializes in searching for similar images. I note that she compares not just the size, but what is shown in the picture (see screenshot above). All are supported popular formats pictures and photos: RAW, JPEG, J2K, BMP, GIF, PNG, TIFF, TGA, etc.

After the search, you will be presented with a list of duplicates: after going through it, you can view all copies and delete those that you do not need. What’s interesting: the program shows you the percentage of similarity of certain pictures (the difference between them stands out as squares when viewed).

Of the minuses: if you specify big disk(several terabytes) - the program will take a very long time to scan. I recommend that you go through the pictures using rougher tools before using it. (for example, CCleaner, AllDup, etc., see above).

DupeGuru Picture Edition

A very simple utility that is designed to quickly search for identical pictures. I note that similar pictures will be found even if they have different formats (for example, JPG and Tiff as in the screenshot above).

Among the advantages of the utility:

visual comparison of pictures;
the program is completely free;
simple interface, designed in a minimalist style;
Russian language support;
ability to export search results;
support of all the most popular versions Windows XP, 7, 8,10.

ImageDupeless

Program ImageDupeless allows you to find duplicate pictures, regardless of file size, format, resolution, etc. characteristics (it will sort of “look” at all the pictures for you and find similar ones).

The program also has very interesting feature recording images on CD discs (creating unique CD galleries).

Note: to save time, compare newly received pictures with an existing gallery (this way you will save a lot of time, because a complete scan of all the pictures on the disk is much longer than searching in the created gallery).

Comparison result: please note that the resolution and size of the pictures are different!

Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder

The program uses advanced algorithms for comparison graphic images available in pictures and photographs. Thanks to this, it is possible to find similar and identical images, even if they have different formats (GIF, PNG, JPG, etc.) and resolution.

I note that the user has the option to specify a similarity feature (that is, you can set, say, to find only those pictures that are 95% similar to each other).

After conducting a search: you will be able to view all found duplicates and manually delete all unnecessary ones. By the way, the program places 2 identical images next to each other (see example above) so that you can clearly see the difference. Very convenient!

To search audio and video files

Audio Comparer (Electronic Ear)

Audio Comparer - the program will listen to almost 300 tracks in 10 minutes.

Audio Comparer is not as simple an application for finding duplicates among music files (MP3, MP2, MP1, WMA, AIF, WAV, WavPack, FLAC, APE, AAC and OGG) as it might seem at first glance... It " listens to music and compares tracks with each other using a special algorithm: the comparison is made by audio track, and not by size or file name (as is done in many other analogues).

Thanks to this, identical tracks can be found even if they are saved in different formats. Audio Comparer is a kind of electronic ear that can listen to all your music very quickly.

I note that similar programs Quite a few, so each deserves special attention! I recommend you to get acquainted!

DupeGuru Music Edition

A very interesting program dupeGuru Music Edition for searching for identical and similar music tracks. There are filters for searching: by bitrate, information in tags, duration, size, etc.

All the most popular formats are supported: MP3, WMA, AAC, WMA, OGG, FLAC. After the search, the found duplicates can either be deleted or moved to other directories.

I would also note the presence of the Russian language and support for modern OS Windows 7, 8, 10 (including 64 bits).

Music Duplicate Remover

Music Duplicate Remover - a utility that allows you to easily and quickly find copies of audio files located in different folders (disks) and saved in various formats. Thanks to its electronic ear technology, it can listen to all your songs on the disc, analyze them and provide you with a report with all similar tracks (an example of such a report is shown in the screenshot above).

I note that the utility works great with standard presets (that is, after downloading and launching it, there is no need to delve into the settings for a long time, you can immediately start scanning).

Note! Music Duplicate Remover supports following formats audio: MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, APE, WAV.

Duplicate Video Search

Enough powerful program to delete identical videos saved in different folders (suitable for those who have a lot of different videos, music videos, top 100 collections, etc.). It will help you “go through” your collection of files and remove all duplicates.

I note that the program uses a unique “cast” technology (i.e., a kind of “electronic eye”), which allows you to find similar videos, even if they are saved in a different format, they have a different resolution and they are compressed with a different codec.

Peculiarities:

The following video formats are supported: AVI, MKV, 3GP, MPG, SWF, MP4, WMV, WTV and FLV (see screenshot above);
search for full copies of videos and similar ones (where excellent resolution, bitrate, format, codec);
the program automatically selects videos from worst quality among all duplicates (however, you can manually specify which copy to delete);
comfortable and visual representation search results: thumbnails for each video and the path to the directory where it is stored;
You can either view the video or delete it directly from the program window.

Video Comparer

Video Comparer - a program designed to search and compare videos on your hard drive. In a relatively short period of time, she can view all your videos and show you in a convenient table all the files that repeat each other (complete takes, similar videos, videos with the same content but different quality, etc.).

I note that the program has various filters that will allow, for example, to search for videos only of a certain format (or set the duration of the video).

Peculiarities:

supports formats: 3GP, AVI, ASF, ASX, WMV, VOB, XVID, MP4, MPEG;
the ability to search among hidden files;
opportunity automatic selection similar videos for removing;
video filters by duration, quality and extension;
convenient presentation of search results: previews for each video; size; the folder where it is located; Name; similarity percentage.
opportunity Reserve copy in a separate folder;
logging;
almost everyone's support popular Windows XP, 7, 8, 10 (32/64 bits).

Additions, as always, are welcome.

Happy work!

Good day.

Statistics are an inexorable thing - for many users hard drives Sometimes there are dozens of copies of the same file (for example, pictures, or music track). Each of these copies, of course, takes up space on the hard drive. And if your disk is already “filled” to capacity, then there can be quite a lot of such copies!

Cleaning duplicate files manually is not a rewarding thing, which is why I want to collect in this article programs for finding and removing duplicate files (even those that differ in both file format and size from each other - and this is quite difficult task!). So…

List of programs for finding duplicates

1. Universal (for any files)

Carry out a search identical files by their size (checksums).

By universal programs, I mean those that are suitable for searching and deleting duplicates of any type of file: music, movies, pictures, etc. (below in the article, “its own” more precise utilities will be given for each type). Most of them work according to the same type: they simply compare file sizes (and their checksum), if among all the files there are identical ones in this characteristic - they show you!

Those. thanks to them, you can quickly find complete copies (i.e. one to one) of files on the disk. By the way, I’ll also note that these utilities work faster than those that are specialized for specific type files (for example, searching for images).

DupKiller

I put this program in first place for a number of reasons:

supports simply a huge number of different formats in which it can search;
high speed;
free and with Russian language support;
Very flexible setup search for duplicates (search by name, size, type, date, content (limited)).

Duplicate Finder

This utility, in addition to searching for copies, also sorts them as you please (which is very convenient when there are an incredible number of copies!). Also add byte-by-byte comparison and reconciliation to the search capabilities checksums, deleting files with zero size (and empty folders Same). In general, this program does a pretty good job of finding duplicates (both quickly and efficiently!).

Those users who are new to English will feel a little uncomfortable: Russian is not in the program (maybe it will be added later).

Glary Utilities

In general, this is not one utility, but a whole collection: it will help you delete “junk” files, set optimal settings in Windows, defragment and clean up the hard drive, etc. Including this collection there is a utility for searching for duplicates. It works relatively well, which is why I will recommend this collection (as one of the most convenient and universal - as they say, for all occasions!) once again on the pages of the site.

2. Programs for finding duplicate music

These utilities will be useful to all music lovers who have a decent collection of music accumulated on their disk. I’m picturing a fairly typical situation: you download various music collections (100 best songs October, November, etc.), some of the compositions are repeated in them. It is not surprising that, having accumulated 100 GB of music (for example), 10-20 GB can be copies. Moreover, if the size of these files in different collections were the same, then they could be deleted by the first category of programs (see above in the article), but since this is not the case, then these duplicates cannot be found by anyone except your “hearing” And special utilities (which are presented below).

Music Duplicate Remover

The result of the utility.

This program differs from others, first of all, in its fast search. It searches for duplicate tracks by their ID3 tags and sound. Those. she will listen to the composition for you, remember it, and then compare it with others (thus doing a huge amount of work!).

The screenshot above shows the result of her work. She will present her found copies to you in the form of a small tablet, in which a percentage similarity figure will be assigned to each track. In general, quite convenient!

Found duplicate MP3 files...

This utility is similar to the one above, but it has one undoubted advantage: the presence of a convenient wizard who will guide you step by step! Those. a person who launches this program for the first time will easily figure out where to click and what to do.

For example, in my 5000 tracks in a couple of hours, I managed to find and delete several hundred copies. An example of how the utility works is shown in the screenshot above.

3. To search for copies of pictures, images

If you analyze the popularity of certain files, then the pictures will probably not lag behind the music (and for some users they will surpass them!). It’s hard to imagine working on a PC (and other devices) without pictures! But finding pictures with the same image on them is quite difficult (and time-consuming). And, I must admit, there are relatively few programs of this kind...

ImageDupeless

A relatively small utility with fairly good performance in finding and eliminating duplicate images. The program scans all the images in the folder and then compares them with each other. As a result, you will see a list of pictures that are similar to each other and you will be able to make a conclusion about which one to keep and which one to delete. It is very useful, sometimes, to thin out your photo archives.

ImageDupeless example

By the way, here small example personal test:

experimental files: 8997 files in 95 directories, 785MB (archive of pictures on a flash drive (USB 2.0) - gif and jpg formats)
gallery occupied: 71.4MB
creation time: 26 min. 54 sec.
time for comparison and output of results: 6 min. 31 sec.
result: 961 similar images in 219 groups.

Image Comparer

I have already mentioned this program on the pages of the site. Represents the same small program, but with pretty good image scanning algorithms. There is a step-by-step wizard that starts when you first open the utility, which will guide you through all the “thorns” of first setting up the program to search for duplicates.

By the way, just below is a screenshot of the utility’s operation: in the reports you can even view small parts, where the pictures are slightly different. In general, it’s convenient!

4. To search for duplicates of films and videos

Well, the last popular file type that I would like to dwell on is video (films, videos, etc.). If once before, having a 30-50 GB disk, I knew in which folder where and what movie takes up how much (and they were all against each other), then, for example, now (when disks have become 2000-3000 GB or more) - they are often found the same videos and films, but in different quality (which can take up quite a lot of space on your hard drive).

Surely, any of us have duplicate files accumulated on our disk over time. Files in "Downloads" that you have downloaded several times, identical photos and musical compositions, lying in such depths that hands simply cannot reach them. You can get rid of all this manually, but they will do the work for you much faster special utilities, searching for identical files.

A very popular “cleaner” that probably everyone has installed. Yes, he's not only looking system garbage and clear history and browser cookies, but also remove duplicate files.

Platforms: Windows, Mac.

Price: free, $24.95 for premium version.

The program searches for files with the same or similar names and identical content. Works well with music and can find similar music files, even if they have different tags. In addition, dupeGuru can compare images to find not only identical, but simply similar photos.

Developed for Mac and Linux. Version for Windows more is not supported by the developer, but it can be downloaded from the official website - it is fully functional.

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux.

An advanced file search application that, among other things, can remove duplicates. SearchMyFiles has flexible filters so you can customize search results the way you want.

Platforms: Windows.

A popular Mac application that searches for the same or similar files and shows you the difference between them. Copies in “Photos”, in the iTunes music library - nothing will pass by Gemini 2. The developers have announced a smart duplicate search mechanism that remembers which files you leave and what you decide to delete.

Platforms: Mac.

Although AllDup is free, it does a lot. Searches for, deletes, copies and moves duplicate files, including identical audio recordings with different tags. There is a flexible search setting. Using the built-in viewer, you can examine files and choose what to delete.

Platforms: Windows.

Duplicate File Finder quickly and efficiently finds duplicate files. Provides an interesting opportunity to search for duplicates not only on the hard drive, but also on the local network. Can work with images and music, comparing both tags and content. The preview function will help you figure out what to really delete and what to leave. Unfortunately, in demon paid version Quite a lot of options are not available.

Platforms: Windows.

Price: free, $29.95 for premium version.

A universal file manager that can do anything with your files. Including finding duplicate files. You can enable the search for copies option on the search parameters tab, in the same place where you specify other attributes of the searched files.

Platforms: Windows.

DupeGuru looks like the most attractive option. It's free, but it offers everything necessary functions to rid your disk of accumulated junk. The only sad thing is that development of the Windows version has been stopped. For Windows users who don't want to pay for commercial alternatives, AllDup is a better choice. CCleaner and Total Commander are more universal and widespread solutions that are probably already installed on everyone.

What a pity that hard disks not rubber! I wanted to download a couple of movies for the weekend and install them on my PC new game, but it’s a shame - the free space is almost gone. And you can’t free it, because only the important and necessary are stored on the disk.

Chin up! You can increase the volume free space by 5-50% without the risk of losing valuable information. How? By deleting identical copies of documents, photographs, audio recordings, videos and other goodness, of which several hundred accumulate over a year of computer operation. So, how to find and remove duplicate files in Windows

Unfortunately, the disk cleaning tool built into the system is not “trained” to search for identical copies of data, and we will have to turn our attention to third party applications. In today's review – 5 free utilities who do this work quickly, clearly and cleanly.

Auslogics Duplicate File Finder

Just the fact that it declares a certain level of quality and claims to be trusted by users. The program supports everything Windows editions, is regularly updated, has Russian language and is very easy to learn. To find duplicates, it uses a special intelligent algorithm - it compares not only names, but also the internal contents of files, which guarantees high accuracy results.

Auslogics Duplicate File Finder Features and Capabilities

Setting up a filter by object type: all or only images, audio, video, archives and applications.
Excludes files smaller and larger than a specified size from the search.
Excluding names, file creation/modification dates, and “hidden” attributes from the search criteria.
Finding duplicates with specific names or a given fragment in a name.
3 ways to delete duplicates: to the trash, permanently and by saving to the archive.
Recovering data from an archive.
Preview objects before deleting.
Support for custom exclusion lists from scanning files and folders.
Restore the system to a restore point from the program interface.

Use Auslogics Duplicate File Finder is easy and convenient. In addition, you don’t have to worry that the program will destroy any data without your knowledge and the possibility of recovery (unless you yourself have chosen the option to delete bypassing the trash can). The impression is spoiled only by the “unobtrusive” offer to install other products of the developer, which sometimes appears at startup.

CloneSpy

The utility is designed to search for duplicate files not only on the hard drive, but also on portable storage devices. It is a little more difficult to use than Auslogics Duplicate File Finder, but it is more functional and can work without installation on a computer - when running the installer, the user can choose its standard or portable version.

CloneSpy Features and Capabilities

Supports any file types.
Find duplicates using identical content or same name in combination with another criterion - extension, name, size.
Finding objects of zero length.
Many options for operations with copies of files: manual or automatic deletion (you can select in advance which object to delete - new or old), placing in a specific folder, creating a list of duplicates without deleting, etc.
Any operations with found duplicates (including deferred ones) using batch command files.
Replacing deleted copies with shortcuts or hard links.
Calculation of checksums to be able to check objects for identity.
Support for custom search filters.

CloneSpy functions quickly and smoothly, supports all versions of Windows, regularly receives updates, but does not have a Russian language, which makes it somewhat difficult to master. In addition, some users are put off by the interface, made in Windows style 98.

Soft4Boost Dup File Finder

The developers of the utility took care not only of functionality, but also of the beauty of their product: 11 stylish design options (skins) are at your service. In addition, the application is translated into 9 languages, including Russian, and has intuitive controls.

Soft4Boost Dup File Finder gets down to business right away - when you first launch it, a wizard window opens in the background of the main window, which will guide you step by step through all the setup steps. You won't be able to get confused and make mistakes.

Functions and features of Soft4Boost Dup File Finder

Finding copies of objects by content.
Select a search category: among all files or only images, audio, video, archives or applications.
Option to ignore object names.
Scan local and network folders, and removable media(you can select several).
2 ways to delete: to the trash and permanently.

Unlike many “free” applications that try to recoup their free nature by installing garbage or intrusively displaying advertising, Soft4Boost Dup File Finder only modestly offers to buy products from the same developer in bulk for 1,399 rubles. If you don't need them, just don't click on the banner.

Like the rest of the programs in today's review, Soft4Boost Dup File Finder supports everything Windows versions and is updated regularly.

AllDup

The utility is not as intuitive as the previous one, but it is rich in functions. Without the Russian language, not everyone would be able to master all the features in 5 minutes. Although there is nothing complicated in this program. When you first start it, a small prompt opens along with the main window - the “Quick Start” window with three buttons: “Select source folder”, “Select search method” and “Start search”. Pressing these buttons in turn opens areas where you need to select or configure something.

Users who speak English can learn AllDup using the built-in help, which opens in the right place by clicking on the question icons.

AllDup functions and capabilities

A large list of search criteria: name, extension, size, content, creation and modification dates, file attributes, hard links, similar images. Search by a combination of several criteria.
Scanning the contents of archives (finding individual duplicates in archives).
Customizable way to compare object names: by complete match, by the initial characters in the name, by a specified number of matching characters, etc.
Finding files with similar names.
Comparison of file contents.
Flexible search options with choice additional actions before and after it.
Maintaining a scan log.
Flexibly customizable filter for ignoring objects.
Creating a hard link or shortcut to the saved file in place of the deleted duplicate.
No restrictions on the number of directories scanned.
Scanning removable media.
Preview of found files with display of various parameters - in case of difficulty when making a decision about deletion.
Compiling convenient lists of search results. Export lists to txt format or csv.
Saving the scan result. Allows you to close the program without waiting for the scan to complete. And after restarting, start not from the beginning, but from the moment you stopped.
Create and save multiple settings profiles.

AllDup differs from many competitors in its high scanning speed and complete detection of duplicate objects. By the way, thanks to the search function similar files The program can be used to find any data on the hard drive without the purpose of deleting it.

Another nice feature of the AllDup utility is complete absence advertising. Instead, on the top panel there is a button “Support the author” with any acceptable amount, if you want it yourself.

DiskBoss

It cannot be completely classified as a program for removing duplicate files. This is just one of the functions, in addition to which the utility can do a lot, very much. DiskBoss is an optimizer disk space and an improved file manager. It is designed to analyze the use of drives and manage all the objects that are located on them.

DiskBoss Features and Capabilities

Disk space exploration with display on pie chart how much space certain objects take up.
Classification, sorting and grouping of files and folders according to multiple criteria, including user rules.
Searching and cleaning duplicates on workstations and servers under Windows control. Flexible search criteria.
Several options for dealing with found duplicates - deleting, archiving, moving to another location, etc.
Replacing deleted duplicates with links.
Saving scan reports and cleaning disks from duplicate data in html, excel, pdf, txt, csv and xml formats.
Displaying duplicate search results on pie charts.
Creation and Execution automatic scripts for cleaning disks.
Improved disk data search system.
Synchronizes data in specified directories.
Delete groups of files based on specified criteria.
Monitoring changes in file system disks in real time.
Integrity analysis and other operations with files.
Much more.

The DiskBoss utility will good choice for those who need a complete picture of the contents and state of the disks, as well as the ability to manage all the data on them using manual and automatic methods. The application is available in free and several paid versions, and the first contains almost everything that is in the paid version pro versions, except for a few automation tools.

Perhaps the only drawback of DiskBoss is the lack of Russian language, but for the sake of such a wealth of functions you can put up with it. Otherwise, the utility is very good, and for some tasks it is irreplaceable.

Of course, this is not an exhaustive list of programs designed to delete identical copies of files. There are dozens of them, maybe hundreds. However, this modest set is enough to satisfy the needs of 90% Windows users. I hope that some of them are useful to you too.

Also on the site:

Find and remove duplicate files in Windows using Five free programs updated: August 4, 2018 by: Johnny Mnemonic

In this material we will talk about tools for identifying duplicate photos. In particular, today we will review six programs for finding duplicate photos on a Windows computer. We will compare and choose the best and fastest among them.

Finding identical photos: programs and their comparison

There may be several reasons for the demand for programs for searching identical photos on a computer, for example:

Your collection may have grown so large that duplicates are already taking up a lot of space;
You need a tool that will find the same or similar photos without having to go through those images yourself.

In our selection there was room for six interesting programs, four of which are distributed free of charge. Below we are:

We’ll tell you about each of these search programs and help you quickly navigate their interface;
Let's compare all the programs and see how they cope with the search. identical images with their slight modification;
Let's check how well the programs can cope with large set photos weighing several gigabytes.

Find duplicate photos with Image Comparer

The first program in our review, looking for duplicates photo, called Image Comparer. Her strengths: good functionality and interface translated into Russian, including detailed help information.

Now about the disadvantages. First, the program is not free. However, the cost of a license is a humane 350 rubles (although for some reason the number on the website is 500). In addition, you can use Image Comparer for free for the first 30 days.

The second negative point is the slight confusion that can confuse inexperienced user. For example, in order to search within one folder (which may contain others), you need to click on the “create gallery” button and select the desired directory in which to scan.

Next, you will immediately be prompted to give a name and save the file of the gallery being created to any convenient location (the program itself will need this file). Once this is done, a list of all the images in the specified folder and its subfolders will open in front of you in the form of a list or thumbnails:

Buttons marked with arrows start a search for duplicates. The first button is a search within one gallery (the folder you selected), the second button a little to the right is within several galleries. We went with the first option.

Next, the program suggested creating another service file in which the results will be saved for further convenient access to them. Actually, creating a file for the gallery and this file with search results can be a little confusing for an inexperienced user. However, then everything is already simple. The found duplicates will appear in front of you:

You can view them in the form of thumbnails, or by clicking on the “image pairs” tab, go to the view where the photos will be compared with each other:

The center slider allows you to adjust the threshold of image similarity. Set it to 100% and you will only have a list of identical pictures that are perfectly similar to each other. More low values Only similar photos will be displayed.

In the settings you can see a huge list of formats from basic JPG and PNG to more exotic ones that the program works with. Formats can be added and excluded from the search. You can also configure the accounting of reflected and inverted images.

Image Comparer program. Official site ;
Russian language;

Finding identical photos in three clicks with VisiPics

The next program is VisiPics. Unlike the Image Comparer discussed above, VisiPics is free application, also specializing in photo duplicates. Alas, there is no localization into Russian here, but you definitely shouldn’t be upset about this: everything is very simple and extremely clear.

Using the side navigation bar (we've outlined it in a frame), select the desired directory. Next, click the arrow with the “+” sign to add this folder to the list that will be searched. If you wish, you can select several more folders in the same way. Finally, as a third step, click the Play button to start the process of finding duplicates.

To the right of it is a special slider where you can adjust the level of “attention” of the program. With the default baseline, VisiPics found only two groups of duplicates for us, one of which consisted of three images, and the other of the two:

These are the images that the program considers to be almost identical duplicates. However, if you lower the slider to the Loose level, then there will be images that are simply similar to each other. In our case, when installing Loose instead of Basic, the application found four more (5 in the final test below) groups of duplicates, and added one more picture to one of the two already found:

The program has relatively few additional options. Here you can configure search in subfolders (it is enabled by default), display hidden folders, accounting for photographs rotated 90 degrees. On the loader tab, you can ask VisiPics to ignore small files or, conversely, pictures that are too large high resolution. The latter is important for speed.

VisiPics program. Official site ;
English language;
Distribution: free.

Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder

If you are looking for the utmost a simple program for a high-quality search for duplicate photos and images that would be easy to understand, then pay attention to Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder. The interface is in English, but it is so simple that anyone can understand it.

Using the “+” button, specify the directory or several directories you need to search, then click Start Search and the search will begin. The Scan Subdirectories option is enabled by default and is responsible for searching subfolders. The program copes with its tasks, finding both very similar:

And here are pictures that are slightly more different from each other:

In the program settings, you can set the match to 100% if you only need absolutely identical photos.

As you can see, there are few settings. Perhaps the saddest thing is that the program works with only five main formats: BMP, JPG, PNG, GIF and TIFF. Moreover, the latter is not taken into account by default.

There are also options to ensure duplicates are deleted directly to the Trash and to disable the pop-up confirmation. The program can also update itself automatically.

English language;
Distribution: free.

The Similar Images Finder application greets us with an unkind message in English that we need to pay $34 for it. However, the program is ready to work for free for 30 days. Next, a window appears asking you to select directories to search for duplicates:

From it we learn that Similar Images Finder supports 29 image formats, and the user can select specific formats to search or exclude unnecessary ones. In the list, among other things, you can see ico and wbmp.

Clicking Next will start the search for duplicates, and when it's finished, click Next again to see additional settings. By adjusting these, you can more carefully customize what appears in the results list. Finally, by clicking Next a third time, you will see the result itself:

You can move to the next found picture by clicking the miniature arrow in the upper right corner. The entire list of found duplicates opens by clicking on the large button at the top with the addresses of the current files.

In turn, clicking the Next button at the bottom will lead to the final stage of work. There the program will display a list of what, in its opinion, are definitely duplicates and offer to delete them. In the screenshot above, Similar Images Finder coped with an image where a watermark was added and the histogram contrast was changed.

Distinguishing between the pictures, the program calculated at the level of 5.5%. Moreover, in another example, where we added a strong blur effect to the second picture, the differences, according to the application version, for some reason amounted to only 1.2%:

Alas, the program, while finding real duplicates, by default also shows many images that are completely different from each other, as if they have something in common:

Similar Images Finder. Official site ;
English language;
Distribution: paid, 30 days free use.

Universal search for duplicates with Duplicate Remover Free

Duplicate Remover Free is the only program in our review that is not focused specifically on duplicate photos, but on finding duplicates in general.

As practice shows, such universal solutions do not perform very well in problems related to some narrower area.

However, today we are giving one such program a chance. As the word Free suggests, it is distributed free of charge. The second advantage of the application is the Russian language, and the third is its relative modernity compared to other programs in this collection, many of which, unfortunately, have not been updated for many years.

You should click on the “add directory” button and select required folders. By default, the program did not find anything for us in the given directory, however, when at the top instead of “exact duplicates” we selected the “similar images” item, four groups of duplicates were immediately found, one of which consisted of three files at once:

The application has very few additional features. In particular, you can exclude files from the search before and after a certain size.

Duplicate Remover Free. Official site ;
Russian language;
Distribution: free.

Search for matching photos using various algorithms with AntiDupl

The final participant in our review, the AntiDupl program, may appeal to you for several reasons. First of all, it's free. Secondly, it has a Russian interface. The latter, however, is not obvious. To enable Russian, open the View menu and in Language section select the appropriate item:

Unlike others, this program is not installed, but is located in a self-extracting archive that extracts it along with necessary files in a separate folder.

To prepare the search for duplicates, click on the button labeled Open and add the necessary directories in the window that appears:

Then you can click OK, and then activate it on the toolbar green button"To start searching". Using a basic algorithm, the program found several groups of duplicates for us:

Having switched the algorithm at the top to the more free SSIM, we already received two more groups of duplicates, and after increasing the “freedom” of the search from 20 to 35%, the program gave us an even more detailed list:

Moreover, in all cases, there were indeed images that were at least noticeably similar to each other. So don't hesitate to experiment with the settings.

The program has many additional options:

On the “search” tab you can find out that AntiDupl supports 13 formats, including, in addition to traditional JPG/PNG, ICON, PSD and EXIF. Of course, you can choose formats. The options also include checking for defects, blockiness and blurriness, and in the last two cases you can set a threshold. It is possible to search in hidden and system directories.

AntiDupl program. ;
Russian language;
Distribution: free.

When searching for duplicates, some users are interested in 100% matching in order to get rid of duplicates in their collection. However, the task often arises of finding simply similar pictures.

And here huge space for possible differences. This can be different formats, resolutions, cropped versions of the same image, adding frames and watermarks, changed colors and captions on the pictures.

We tried to take into account most of these factors and, after all the testing, we ended up creating a small set with more than six dozen pictures. In them we created nine groups of duplicates. Let’s be honest, our experience certainly doesn’t claim to be the ultimate truth, but it was interesting to try. The results are as follows:

Duplicate Remover Free: found only 3 groups of duplicates;
Similar Images Finder: found 4 groups, but inconvenient interface, many false results and at the same time, the paid application greatly spoiled the overall impression;
AntiDupl found 3 types of duplicates by default; installing the SSIM algorithm increased the search result to 5 groups;
VisiPics found only 2 groups of duplicates at the basic search level, but setting the slider to the Loose level allowed it to find 7 groups;
Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder found 7 groups of duplicates;
Image Comparer was also able to detect 7 groups.

At the same time, Image Comparer was able to find images that Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder and VisiPics missed, and they, in turn, filled in the gaps of Image Comparer.

The fastest programs for finding duplicate photos

At the same time, the quality of the program also depends on its speed. 60+ pictures is, of course, not something that users can work with. So we did another test. This time for speed. To do this, we took a selection of 4450 very different images, the total weight of which exceeded 2.1 GB.

Unfortunately, two programs from this review did not take any place in the test. As it turns out, Similar Images Finder, which costs $34, free version ready to process no more than 200 images at a time.

In turn, a universal search engine Duplicate Remover Free, faced with a catalog of serious size, worked intensively for more than five minutes, and then completely froze. The remaining programs showed the following times:

AntiDupl: 0:39;
Image Comparer: 1:02 (35 seconds to create gallery and 27 to search);
VisiPics: 2:37;
Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder: 3:17.

As a result, Image Comparer and AntiDupl clearly took the lead in the speed test. It took them about or, in the case of AntiDupl, less than a minute to process our archive.

Conclusion

Let's summarize. If you need to find not identical, but rather similar photographs that differ, for example, in a signature or watermark, then Image Comparer, Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder and VisiPics in Loose operating mode will cope with this task better than others.

In terms of processing speed for a large collection of images, the undisputed leaders are AntiDupl and Image Comparer.

Finally, in terms of interface convenience, we liked Image Comparer and VisiPics, which immediately allow you to visually evaluate all groups of duplicates. In turn, for the clarity of comparing the characteristics of individual duplicates, we will also note AntiDupl.