Search For Duplicate Files?

Cool Workflows
1

What’s the best way to search for duplicate audio files?
I need to sort, filter, and archive a hard drive for one of the local churches.
I was given a drive with 2,000 audio files (mix of wma, m4a, mp3), going through very quickly I found the following.

Root Folder containing the files…
FileA.mp3
File A.mp3
FileA.m4a

FolderA (containing the above mentioned files again)

Another problematic naming of files I received.
Root folder/

  1. 2015 - Lecture Title.mp3
    2015 - Lecture Title.mp3

Folder called 2015 with the same files above.
Folder called Lectures with the same files above.

That’s 3 copies. :thinking::sob:

I am trying to think of a good workflow that does the following.

  1. Sort out the duplicates
  2. Compare them to the ones in the folders
  3. Compare the extensions to each other to verify it’s the same file.
  4. Keep the highest quality (file extension) and delete the rest.
2

Try MacPaw Gemini - it does more or less exactly what you require.

6 Likes
3

Another vote for Gemini. I just started using it as part of a Setapp subscription but would likely purchase it should I cancel Setapp.

4

Another vote for Gemini. But be careful whatever you do. Another approach is to get a big HDD for the archive and just don’t worry about it!

3 Likes
5

I am trying to use Gemini, I am finding it extremely sluggish. It could be because I am having it scan a specific folder on my NAS, not sure. Maybe the folder is huge (80GB).

Since everyone speaks so highly of DTPO, I am still learning it and giving it a shot.

Would there be a way to have it index that specific folder and search for duplicates? (would it be faster)?

1 Like
6

DEVONthink will not perform well with an 80GB index. DEVONthink is not a good choice to locate duplicates in the file system – that’s not really the function of the app. Also, if you check their forum you will find frequent complaints and/or concern about falsely reported duplicates.

1 Like
7

Is Gemini still the best? I’d like one where I can drop a file on the dock and find its duplicate ideally.

8

Also @FrMichaelFanous was this task successful? Super intrigued now!

9

Gemini 2 is great for this and, as far as I know, leads the pack by a long shot.

1 Like
10

It found the duplicates and then I would just compare before taking an action. For my use, it simplified and reduced my time to compare the files. (instead of having several windows of finder open) But it took a long time.

2 Likes
11

If I can jump on to this, I have a similar need to sort through decades worth of files from my main hard drive and three cloud based storage areas (iCloud, Dropbox, and OneDrive). It seems that Gemini and others want to download the files locally in order to compare them. I don’t have enough storage space to allow that to happen. Is there any way to do this?

1 Like
12

A one-year license to Duplicacy costs $20.

Image on 2020-06-13 06.15.39 PM
Image on 2020-06-13 06.15.39 PM936×646 121 KB

2 Likes
13

That’s a great question. I’d be interested too!

14

Is this fully baked? Anyone using it ?

15

Awesome. Thank you. I’ll dig into that for sure!