Find files with the same content in one folder (and all its sub-folders)












1















Say I have a folder named container and there are many files/sub-folders in it. I would like to find all the files with the same content (they can have different names but the content should be the same).



Is there any way I can do this on Mac?










share|improve this question

























  • I'd calculate the md5 checksum for all the files in the directory hierarchy and look for checksum duplicates.

    – Nimesh Neema
    Jan 1 at 5:06
















1















Say I have a folder named container and there are many files/sub-folders in it. I would like to find all the files with the same content (they can have different names but the content should be the same).



Is there any way I can do this on Mac?










share|improve this question

























  • I'd calculate the md5 checksum for all the files in the directory hierarchy and look for checksum duplicates.

    – Nimesh Neema
    Jan 1 at 5:06














1












1








1








Say I have a folder named container and there are many files/sub-folders in it. I would like to find all the files with the same content (they can have different names but the content should be the same).



Is there any way I can do this on Mac?










share|improve this question
















Say I have a folder named container and there are many files/sub-folders in it. I would like to find all the files with the same content (they can have different names but the content should be the same).



Is there any way I can do this on Mac?







macos file






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Jan 1 at 5:07









Nimesh Neema

15.2k64176




15.2k64176










asked Jan 1 at 4:38









AGamePlayerAGamePlayer

3751516




3751516













  • I'd calculate the md5 checksum for all the files in the directory hierarchy and look for checksum duplicates.

    – Nimesh Neema
    Jan 1 at 5:06



















  • I'd calculate the md5 checksum for all the files in the directory hierarchy and look for checksum duplicates.

    – Nimesh Neema
    Jan 1 at 5:06

















I'd calculate the md5 checksum for all the files in the directory hierarchy and look for checksum duplicates.

– Nimesh Neema
Jan 1 at 5:06





I'd calculate the md5 checksum for all the files in the directory hierarchy and look for checksum duplicates.

– Nimesh Neema
Jan 1 at 5:06










1 Answer
1






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oldest

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3














If you're comfortable using the Terminal, you can try rdfind which purpose is precisely to find duplicate files.



You'll need to install it with Homebrew first: brew install rdfind



Then, let's say you want to run a dry test on your ~/Download folder:



rdfind -n true -outputname result.log ~/Downloads/




  • -n true is for dry mode: no files will be affected


  • -outputname result.log will output the scanning into that file


  • ~/Downloads/ is the argument of the root folder you want to scan
    (you can pass more than one folder)


Running that command will look something like that:



$ rdfind -n true -outputname result.log ~/Downloads/
(DRYRUN MODE) Now scanning "/Users/ym/Downloads", found 20132 files.
(DRYRUN MODE) Now have 20132 files in total.
(DRYRUN MODE) Removed 0 files due to nonunique device and inode.
(DRYRUN MODE) Now removing files with zero size from list...removed 75 files
(DRYRUN MODE) Total size is 59782752628 bytes or 56 GiB
(DRYRUN MODE) Now sorting on size:removed 3795 files due to unique sizes from list.16262 files left.
(DRYRUN MODE) Now eliminating candidates based on first bytes:removed 579 files from list.15683 files left.
(DRYRUN MODE) Now eliminating candidates based on last bytes:removed 134 files from list.15549 files left.
(DRYRUN MODE) Now eliminating candidates based on md5 checksum:removed 94 files from list.15455 files left.
(DRYRUN MODE) It seems like you have 15455 files that are not unique
(DRYRUN MODE) Totally, 324 MiB can be reduced.
(DRYRUN MODE) Now making results file result.log




Or, you can use an application with a graphical interface like dupeguru:



choose folder to scan



scan result






share|improve this answer

























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    1 Answer
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    1 Answer
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    active

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    oldest

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    active

    oldest

    votes









    3














    If you're comfortable using the Terminal, you can try rdfind which purpose is precisely to find duplicate files.



    You'll need to install it with Homebrew first: brew install rdfind



    Then, let's say you want to run a dry test on your ~/Download folder:



    rdfind -n true -outputname result.log ~/Downloads/




    • -n true is for dry mode: no files will be affected


    • -outputname result.log will output the scanning into that file


    • ~/Downloads/ is the argument of the root folder you want to scan
      (you can pass more than one folder)


    Running that command will look something like that:



    $ rdfind -n true -outputname result.log ~/Downloads/
    (DRYRUN MODE) Now scanning "/Users/ym/Downloads", found 20132 files.
    (DRYRUN MODE) Now have 20132 files in total.
    (DRYRUN MODE) Removed 0 files due to nonunique device and inode.
    (DRYRUN MODE) Now removing files with zero size from list...removed 75 files
    (DRYRUN MODE) Total size is 59782752628 bytes or 56 GiB
    (DRYRUN MODE) Now sorting on size:removed 3795 files due to unique sizes from list.16262 files left.
    (DRYRUN MODE) Now eliminating candidates based on first bytes:removed 579 files from list.15683 files left.
    (DRYRUN MODE) Now eliminating candidates based on last bytes:removed 134 files from list.15549 files left.
    (DRYRUN MODE) Now eliminating candidates based on md5 checksum:removed 94 files from list.15455 files left.
    (DRYRUN MODE) It seems like you have 15455 files that are not unique
    (DRYRUN MODE) Totally, 324 MiB can be reduced.
    (DRYRUN MODE) Now making results file result.log




    Or, you can use an application with a graphical interface like dupeguru:



    choose folder to scan



    scan result






    share|improve this answer






























      3














      If you're comfortable using the Terminal, you can try rdfind which purpose is precisely to find duplicate files.



      You'll need to install it with Homebrew first: brew install rdfind



      Then, let's say you want to run a dry test on your ~/Download folder:



      rdfind -n true -outputname result.log ~/Downloads/




      • -n true is for dry mode: no files will be affected


      • -outputname result.log will output the scanning into that file


      • ~/Downloads/ is the argument of the root folder you want to scan
        (you can pass more than one folder)


      Running that command will look something like that:



      $ rdfind -n true -outputname result.log ~/Downloads/
      (DRYRUN MODE) Now scanning "/Users/ym/Downloads", found 20132 files.
      (DRYRUN MODE) Now have 20132 files in total.
      (DRYRUN MODE) Removed 0 files due to nonunique device and inode.
      (DRYRUN MODE) Now removing files with zero size from list...removed 75 files
      (DRYRUN MODE) Total size is 59782752628 bytes or 56 GiB
      (DRYRUN MODE) Now sorting on size:removed 3795 files due to unique sizes from list.16262 files left.
      (DRYRUN MODE) Now eliminating candidates based on first bytes:removed 579 files from list.15683 files left.
      (DRYRUN MODE) Now eliminating candidates based on last bytes:removed 134 files from list.15549 files left.
      (DRYRUN MODE) Now eliminating candidates based on md5 checksum:removed 94 files from list.15455 files left.
      (DRYRUN MODE) It seems like you have 15455 files that are not unique
      (DRYRUN MODE) Totally, 324 MiB can be reduced.
      (DRYRUN MODE) Now making results file result.log




      Or, you can use an application with a graphical interface like dupeguru:



      choose folder to scan



      scan result






      share|improve this answer




























        3












        3








        3







        If you're comfortable using the Terminal, you can try rdfind which purpose is precisely to find duplicate files.



        You'll need to install it with Homebrew first: brew install rdfind



        Then, let's say you want to run a dry test on your ~/Download folder:



        rdfind -n true -outputname result.log ~/Downloads/




        • -n true is for dry mode: no files will be affected


        • -outputname result.log will output the scanning into that file


        • ~/Downloads/ is the argument of the root folder you want to scan
          (you can pass more than one folder)


        Running that command will look something like that:



        $ rdfind -n true -outputname result.log ~/Downloads/
        (DRYRUN MODE) Now scanning "/Users/ym/Downloads", found 20132 files.
        (DRYRUN MODE) Now have 20132 files in total.
        (DRYRUN MODE) Removed 0 files due to nonunique device and inode.
        (DRYRUN MODE) Now removing files with zero size from list...removed 75 files
        (DRYRUN MODE) Total size is 59782752628 bytes or 56 GiB
        (DRYRUN MODE) Now sorting on size:removed 3795 files due to unique sizes from list.16262 files left.
        (DRYRUN MODE) Now eliminating candidates based on first bytes:removed 579 files from list.15683 files left.
        (DRYRUN MODE) Now eliminating candidates based on last bytes:removed 134 files from list.15549 files left.
        (DRYRUN MODE) Now eliminating candidates based on md5 checksum:removed 94 files from list.15455 files left.
        (DRYRUN MODE) It seems like you have 15455 files that are not unique
        (DRYRUN MODE) Totally, 324 MiB can be reduced.
        (DRYRUN MODE) Now making results file result.log




        Or, you can use an application with a graphical interface like dupeguru:



        choose folder to scan



        scan result






        share|improve this answer















        If you're comfortable using the Terminal, you can try rdfind which purpose is precisely to find duplicate files.



        You'll need to install it with Homebrew first: brew install rdfind



        Then, let's say you want to run a dry test on your ~/Download folder:



        rdfind -n true -outputname result.log ~/Downloads/




        • -n true is for dry mode: no files will be affected


        • -outputname result.log will output the scanning into that file


        • ~/Downloads/ is the argument of the root folder you want to scan
          (you can pass more than one folder)


        Running that command will look something like that:



        $ rdfind -n true -outputname result.log ~/Downloads/
        (DRYRUN MODE) Now scanning "/Users/ym/Downloads", found 20132 files.
        (DRYRUN MODE) Now have 20132 files in total.
        (DRYRUN MODE) Removed 0 files due to nonunique device and inode.
        (DRYRUN MODE) Now removing files with zero size from list...removed 75 files
        (DRYRUN MODE) Total size is 59782752628 bytes or 56 GiB
        (DRYRUN MODE) Now sorting on size:removed 3795 files due to unique sizes from list.16262 files left.
        (DRYRUN MODE) Now eliminating candidates based on first bytes:removed 579 files from list.15683 files left.
        (DRYRUN MODE) Now eliminating candidates based on last bytes:removed 134 files from list.15549 files left.
        (DRYRUN MODE) Now eliminating candidates based on md5 checksum:removed 94 files from list.15455 files left.
        (DRYRUN MODE) It seems like you have 15455 files that are not unique
        (DRYRUN MODE) Totally, 324 MiB can be reduced.
        (DRYRUN MODE) Now making results file result.log




        Or, you can use an application with a graphical interface like dupeguru:



        choose folder to scan



        scan result







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited Jan 1 at 6:47

























        answered Jan 1 at 5:39









        YoricYoric

        5439




        5439






























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