Using Araxis Find Duplicate Files

Araxis Find Duplicate Files is really simple to use. Just follow the four steps below.

Warning Always take a backup before deleting files using Araxis Find Duplicate Files. Your data is important, so please also be sure to read and understand the cautions in Step 4 before you delete any files.

1. Choose what to scan

Drag the folders you want to scan from Finder onto the Choose what to scan table.

Alternatively, add folders to the table using the Add Folders Plus button button at the top of the application window.

You can remove folders by selecting them and then clicking on the Remove Folders Minus button button.

Information Folders are scanned in the order listed in the table, from the top down. The scanning order affects which duplicates the Select Duplicates Excluding First Occurrences button will choose, as described below in step 4. You can drag folders in the list to re-arrange them.

Information We recommend that you scan only those folders whose contents you are responsible for managing. In particular, we suggest that you do not endeavour to scan your entire system drive. Although Find Duplicate Files is highly optimized to scan folders quickly, including unnecessary folders can significantly increase the time it takes to generate results. Scanning the entire system drive also risks including essential system or application files in the results, which you may then accidentally delete.

2. Review Preferences

Click the File Kinds… button to open the Preferences window. This window contains settings to customize the behavior of Find Duplicate Files. When you are happy with the settings, close the window.

Include these file kinds in search results

You can configure Find Duplicate Files to only look for duplicates of certain types of file. The table contains a list of common types of file. Use the check boxes to select the types of file to look for. You can add and remove file types using the Add Folders Plus button and Remove Folders Minus button buttons to the right of the table.

You can double-click in the Kind and Pattern or UTI columns to edit them. The values in the latter column are used to match files based on their name or their UTI type. To match files by name, use wildcard patterns as shown in the examples below:

Kind Pattern Description
JPEG and PNG files *.jpg,*.jpeg,*.png Files with an extension of .jpeg, .jpg, or .png
.tmp files *.tmp Files with an extension .tmp
DSC*.jpg files DSC*.jpg Files beginning with DSC and with an extension .jpg
Makefiles Makefile Files named Makefile
Photos/*.raw files Photos/*.raw Files with an extension .raw contained directly within folders named Photos
Photos/**.raw files Photos/**.raw Files with an extension .raw at any level under folders named Photos

To match files based on their type, you can enter a UTI (Uniform Type Identifier) prefixed with uti:. A list of system-declared UTIs can be found on the Apple website. Third-party applications can also declare their own UTIs in addition to those listed on that page.

3. Go!

Click on the Start Scan button. As the scan proceeds, progress is reported next to the button.

4. Work with scan results

When the scan is complete, any duplicate files found are displayed in the Work with scan results table. A file and its duplicates are assigned a distinct background colour to aid identification.

To choose which scan results to show:
  • Choose one of the following from the Show menu:
    • All scanned items, to show all files scanned, regardless of whether or not they have duplicates.
    • All occurrences of items with duplicates, to display every file that has one or more duplicates.
    • The first occurrence of each duplicated item, to show only the first encountered occurrence of each duplicated file. (Recall that the folders you added in the Choose what to scan table are scanned in order, topmost first.)
    • The other occurrences of each duplicated item, to show all occurrences of each duplicated file except for the first found.
    • Items without duplicates, to show only those files without duplicates.
To preview one or more files in the bottom panel:

  • Select one or more files in the Work with scan results table. Any duplicates of the selected file will also be shown in the preview panel.

    Information To select a single file, click it. Hold down Cmd while clicking to select more than one file. You can also select all the files in a range: click a file, hold down Shift, and then click the second file.

To view one or more files with Quick Look:
  • Select one or more files from either the Work with scan results table or the preview panel at the bottom of the Find Duplicate Files window.
  • Press the Space key.
  • Or, select several files, right-click, and choose Quick Look.
To open one or more files:
  • Double-click a file.
  • Or, select one or more files from either the Work with scan results table or the preview panel at the bottom of the Find Duplicate Files window, then press Enter.
  • Or, select several files, right-click, and choose Open with Finder.
To show the location of one or more files in Finder:
  • Select one or more files from either the Work with scan results table or the preview panel at the bottom of the Find Duplicate Files window.
  • Right-click the selection.
  • Choose Show in Finder.
To delete or move duplicate files:
  • Do one of the following to choose the files to delete or move:

    • Click the Select Duplicates Excluding First Occurrences button, then deselect any of the selected files that you want to keep. You can hold down Cmd while clicking to add to, or remove from, an existing selection.

      Information If the Select Duplicates Excluding First Occurrences button is disabled, change the option selected in the Show drop-down to one that displays duplicated items.

      Information The Select Duplicates Excluding First Occurrences button selects all duplicate copies of all the files found in the scan except the first one that it encounters. Recall that the folders in the Folders to be scanned list are scanned in sequence, from the top down. Files in the top folder will therefore be encountered before those in the lower ones. You can arrange the order the folders in the Folders to be scanned list to control which duplicates will be selected by the Select Duplicates Excluding First Occurrences button.

    • Or, select just the file or files that you want to delete or move.

  • Check each selected file and its location carefully to ensure that you _really_ want to delete or move it.

    Warning Be careful not to select and delete (or move) all the duplicates of a particular file. If you have selected All scanned items or All occurrences of items with duplicates from the Show drop-down, all the found copies of each file are shown – you’ll almost certainly want to keep at least one of them! In particular, therefore, do not blindly select all of the files shown and delete or move them, as this would remove all the copies of all of those files.

    Warning To avoid inadvertently deleting or moving files required by your system, or the applications you use, make sure that you only select and remove files whose purpose you understand.

  • When you are sure that you do not want any of the selected files, delete them by clicking the Delete Selected button, or by pressing Cmd+Backspace. Alternatively, click the Move Selected To… button, or press Cmd+T to move the selected items into a destination folder of your choosing.

    Information Find Duplicate Files tries to send the items you delete to the Trash.

    Information If you delete or move all but one duplicate of a particular file, and All occurrences of items with duplicates, The first occurrence of each duplicated item or The other occurrences of each duplicated item is selected in the Show drop-down, the last remaining copy will disappear from the list of found items because it no longer has any duplicates.

To put items back after moving them to a folder of your choosing:

In certain circumstances, it is possible to put all the items you have moved back into their original locations.

Information Items can only be put back automatically if the moved items and Put Back Items file remain in the location where they were originally placed by Find Duplicate Files.

Warning Do not rely on this capability. It is provided as a convenience only, and may not work under all situations. It is far better to move files from their original locations only when you are certain that this is what you wish to do.

  • In Finder, open the folder into which the items have been moved using Find Duplicate Files.
  • Double click the Put Back Items or Put Back Items.araxis-fdf file.
To save the list of files displayed to a text file:
  • Click the Save Item List… button.
  • Select the location and name of the file.
  • Click Save.
To compare one or more files using Araxis Merge:

  • Select two or three files from either the Work with scan results table or the preview panel at the bottom of the Find Duplicate Files window.

    Information The Professional Edition of Araxis Merge is required for three-way comparisons.

  • Right-click the selection.

  • Choose Compare with Araxis Merge.

To process one or more files using an external program:
  • Select the files that you want to process in the Work with scan results table.
  • Choose the File▸Process Items Selected in the Scan Results Table… menu item.
  • Work with the Process Selected Items Panel that appears.
To operate upon files in the preview panel:

  • Select one or more files in the preview panel at the bottom of the Find Duplicate Files window.

  • Right-click the selection.

  • Choose the action you wish to perform.

    Warning If you use the Delete or Move Selected To… commands, be careful not to select all the duplicates of a particular file – you’ll usually want to keep at least one of them.