How to Scan Computer for Duplicate Files

As you use your computer over time, it's easy for duplicate files to accumulate, taking up valuable storage space. Removing these duplicates not only helps you regain space but also ensures your computer runs more efficiently.

In this article, we'll explore three effective methods to scan your computer for duplicate files on Windows 10 and delete them. We'll start with built-in solutions using Windows File Explorer and PowerShell and then introduce a powerful third-party tool to simplify the process.

Using Windows tools to scan computer for duplicate files

Now, we’ll show you how to use File Explorer and PowerShell commands to find duplicate files on your Windows computer.

Method 1. Search duplicate files via File Explorer

Step 1. Press Win + E or click on the File Explorer icon in the taskbar to open it.

Step 2. Go to the location (folder or drive) where you want to scan for duplicate files. Make sure you're in the correct directory.

Step 3. In the top-right corner of File Explorer, you'll see a search box. Click inside it or press Ctrl + F to activate it. You can also just start typing while in the folder to begin searching.

Step 4. To find all the files in the folder or drive, you can type *.* (an asterisk and a period) in the search box. This will instruct Windows to search for all files, including duplicates.

Step 5. Once the search results populate, you'll see a list of files. To easily identify duplicate files, it's helpful to sort them by name. Click on the "Name" column in the file list. This action will group duplicate files together since they share the same name.

Method 2. Find duplicate files with PowerShell

Step 1. On the lower-left corner, right-click on the Windows icon, and then select Windows PowerShell (Admin). A pop-up confirmation window will appear. Click Yes to proceed.

Step 2. Enter this script: set-location –path C:\ (You can change the drive letter to your target drive) in the Windows PowerShell window.

Step 3. Enter the script for the list of all duplicates and their location:

ls "(directory you want to search)" -recurse | get-filehash | group -property hash | where { $_.count -gt 1 } | % { $_.group } | Out-File -FilePath "(location where you want to export the result)"

In (directory you want to search), enter the folder location of your User Account.

In (location where you want to export the result), enter the folder location you want the result to be exported or saved (e.g. Documents or Desktop).

Step 4. Open the folder location you have exported or saved.

Step 5. Check for each location in the text file.

Fast scan computer for duplicate files in Windows

However, Windows tools have some cons in searching for duplicate files. File Explorer searching needs time and your OS resources, while PowerShell requires commands that might be complex for most users. So, if you want to efficiently and safely scan all your drives and delete duplicate files, a handy third-party tool can be your best option.

AOMEI Partition Assistant for Cleanup can scan selected drives or location to scan all kinds of files and list redundant files. Then, users can choose to move these files to another location or directly delete them.

It is an outstanding piece of software that not only facilitates duplicate file removal but also provides a plethora of comprehensive disk management functions to keep your computer efficient and organized.

AOMEI Partition Assistant for Cleanup

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Step 1. Initiate Find Duplicate Files. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant for Cleanup. Click the "Find Duplicate Files" tab.

Step 2. Select a path to scan duplicate files. You can either click "Scan Now" to start the scan of your system C: drive. Or, click "Custom Scan" to manually select paths to be scanned. (Here, we take the "Custom Scan" as an example.)

Step 3. After clicking "Custom Scan", all local and external drives on your PC will be displayed. You can also click the "Add Path" button, and then a browse folder window will pop up. So you can add more paths on this PC, like Desktop, Downloads, and other folder paths.

Step 4. Once necessary paths are added, you can click the "Scan Now" button to start the scan process.

Step 5. The scan process might take time. After the scan is complete, all duplicate files will be listed. You can click the button behind to locate them.

Step 6. Select duplicate files to start deletion. You can either manually select duplicate files, or click the "Smart Select" button to automatically select unnecessary duplicate files to delete.

Tips: If the "Smart Select" is ticked, only the oldest duplicate file will be unticked. It means that all duplicate files except the oldest one will be ticked to delete. (The oldest file means the file that was created first. This file will not be deleted. All other duplicate files are considered copies of the oldest file. )

If you manually select all copies of duplicate files, you will get a pop-up warning window to keep at least one copy of the duplicate files. If you indeed want to delete all copies of duplicate files, you can click "OK" so all copies of duplicate files will be selected to delete.  

After unnecessary duplicate files are selected, please click the "Clean Now" button to start the deletion.

Step 7. Delete successfully. The deletion might take time. After the process is finished, the selected files will be deleted, and you will get a cleaning completed window displaying how much data you deleted in total. 

Conclusion

In this article, we've explored three effective methods to scan your computer for duplicate files and regain valuable storage space. Windows File Explorer and PowerShell provide built-in solutions for manual duplicate file removal, while AOMEI Partition Assistant for Cleanup offers a comprehensive, user-friendly, and efficient approach to managing and deleting duplicate files. 

Besides cleaning duplicate files, this tool can also clean junk files and delete large files on the disk and improve PC performance with efficient functions.