Why is My Mac Duplicating Files?

1. Free Duplicate Remover App For Windows
2. Free Duplicate File Remover For Mac
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4. Free Duplicate File Remover Mac
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No matter which operating system you are using currently, at one point of time you are bound to run off space if you use it recklessly without paying attention to the issue of duplicate files. You would face the same consequential aspects on Mac computers. So what is duplicate file and why my Mac keeps duplicating files?

Simply put, a duplicate is a digital file that has other exact (or sometimes very similar) copies with the same content and size. There are several reasons for files being duplicated on your Mac. iTunes is notorious for harboring fugitive duplicate music files on your Mac. iCloud would sync multiple copies of photos on different iOS devics. The plethora of file-sharing utilities that we use everyday can be another reason. Sometimes, just transferring data from an external device to your Mac can cause duplicates to be generated. In addition, there are email attachments, files generated by macOS applications and other sources of duplication. Any one or all these channels could be responsible for cleaning up your Mac computer with duplicate files and photos.

Duplicate File Remover free download - Duplicate File Remover, Auslogics Duplicate File Finder, Fast Duplicate File Finder, and many more programs. Our website provides a free download of Duplicate File Finder Remover 6.14.4 for Mac. Our built-in antivirus scanned this Mac download and rated it as virus free. This free software for Mac OS X was originally created by Nektony Limited. The application belongs to System Tools. “ Duplicate File Finder Remover is a nice, easy-to-use, free app to help find and delete duplicates on your Mac. The app lets you specify a minimal duplicate file size, get details about any duplicate, preview duplicates by type, see similar folders, check out a log of duplicates removed, and much more.”. Aug 27, 2021 Duplicate File Finder lets you get more free disk space by removing unnecessary identical or similar files and folders from your Mac. It works with a variety of file formats and has a really fast scanning algorithm to find matches. The app takes only a few minutes to fully scan my computer. Download the latest version of Duplicate File Finder Remover for Mac for free. Read 10 user reviews and compare with similar apps on MacUpdate.

How to Find and Remove Duplicate Files on Mac?

Manual Searching : The problem is, it's almost impossible to find and delete these space-hoggers unless you have the right tools for the job. Manually finding duplicate photos and files is certainly possible, but it's not the best use of your time. Besides, if the files have modified file names or they're in different directories, it's almost impossible to spot them manually.

Remove via Terminal . Alternatively, you could do some command line work create a list of duplicates, but you still have to delete them manually after referencing them with that list. It's either that or resorting to extensive command line work that average users won't have the skills to handle. It also gives room for human error, which means you might miss a lot of duplicate files or inadvertently change critical system settings. In short, it could 'break' your computer.

Use Duplicate Finder App (Recommended). The third method is to use specific desktop applications that use complex algorithms to find and delete duplicates. The biggest advantage is that there is usually very little manual input required. The software will typically identify all duplicates and give you the option to delete them in bulk. If you're a busy person who needs the job done quickly and efficiently, this is the recommended way to do it.

So, what are the tools available to find and delete duplicate files, photos and other data? Below, we've reviewed six different software utilities that you can use for this purpose. Each of them has their own set of advantages and drawbacks, as you will see. We have tested all of these on various Mac devices running different versions of macOS, and we have given our expert views on how effective they are, and the pros and cons of each.

No.1 TunesBro CleanGeeker - Best Duplicate Finder and Remover for Mac

Developed by the talented team at TunesBro, CleanGeeker is by far one of the most efficient duplicate finding utilities we tested. The deep-scan and quick-scan functionalities are marginally faster than in the other tools we've reviewed here except for PhotoSweeper, but the best part is that it comes with several other utilities that are all aimed at keeping your Mac lean and mean. That means effective resource optimization at a very deep level, and you can try it for free.

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Highlights of TunesBro CleanGeeker

• 10 X faster to find and removal all duplicates on Mac.
• Clean hidden junk files and app caches to free up more storage.
• Uninstall third-party apps that can't be deleted by normal means.
• Permanently delete priviate information and files from Mac.
• Disable backgound apps auto-starting at the login.
• Release more memory to accelerate the overall performace.

How to CleanGeeker Duplicate Finder: One of the first things we noticed was that software is very intuitive even for first-time users. All you need to do is to go to the 'Duplicates Finder' section and start the scan. A deep scan takes a few minutes, but we found that CleanGeeker does a very thorough job of rooting out duplicates that would be impossible to find manually. If you just want to scan individual folders, simple import them or drag and drop them into the interface, then click on 'Quick Scan'.

Once the scan is complete, the software segregates them by type so you can focus on just media, documents, music or another category, or you can simply delete all duplicates. The preview feature makes it easy to see what to keep and what to remove. The dupes are all selected by default, making it easy to just hit 'Delete.' The UI is clean and there aren't any complex settings to intimidate you. If you're a noob to such software, this is the ideal one for you.

No.2 MacPaw Gemini 2 - Smart Duplicate File Finder on Mac

This is the second iteration of a hugely popular duplicate finding software, and it does justice to the fact that it's a sequel. You'll see lots of settings options, yet it is quite intuitive for new users. The intelligent algorithms not only find duplicates, but also files that are similar to each other, sort of like how Google Photos recognizes similars as well as duplicates. Developed by MacPaw, Inc. of CleanMyMac and The Unarchiver fame, Gemini 2 works especially well on old Macs where the hard drives are chock full of unnecessary files, many of them duplicates.

MacPaw obviously has access to some great UI and UX talent, and you'll see that in Gemini 2 as well as every product they've released in the past - even their website is pretty cool. Probably the best feature of Gemini 2 is that it recognizes file associations and retains the files that were generated by Mac applications. For example, if a song was in your iTunes library and duplicated in other locations, the original is kept while the others are selected for deletion.

How to use Gemini 2 Duplicate Finder: The process of duplicate scanning and deletion involves three steps, although the many settings options can be unsettling to a newbie. Although the scanning part is fast, it was a smidgen slower than CleanGeeker on MacBook Pro 2015 laptops running El Capitan and Sierra. Once you complete the scan, the duplicates and similars will be shown by category so you can quickly review them. You need to be a little careful about similars because you don't want to delete the best file. The software leaves the decision to you, so take note of that. After reviewing everything, just click 'Remove'.

One useful feature is that you can undelete images, but only if you send them to the trash instead of permanently removing them. This can cause some confusion if you're not prepared for it. Moving to trash merely puts them in a different location, so it doesn't really help from a space saving perspective.

Cons:

• Different types of deletion can be confusing for new users who aren't aware of the feature.
• Expensive for just one functionality and no additional features presented.
• Scanning is not as fast as some reviews claimed.
• Heavy computing resource being used during scan.
• The 'Review Trashed' button at the end throws you off.

No.3 dupeGuru - Best Free Mac Duplicate File Finder and Remover

dupeGuru is advertised as free (donationware) duplicate finders for Mac. It is a lightweight duplicate finding tool that's great for not only finding duplicates with the same file names, but even those with variations. This is accomplished by its fuzzy matching algorithm. It also offers flexibility with settings so you can specify the kind of duplicate files or photos you're looking for. The Power Marker feature lets you spot the bad dupes, and you can even move files to another location instead of deleting them.

Another unique feature is the Match % column in the results page, which shows you whether it's an exact copy or a similar one. Aside from the Standard Edition, dupeGuru used to offer Music and Picture Editions that worked in much the same way, but now it's just different modes.

How to use dupeGuru Duplicate Finder: The interface is minimalistic, which makes sense for freeware like dupeGuru, but it doesn't take away from the functionality. Select the folders and then click 'Scan' to put the fuzzy algorithms to work. Once the results show up, you can choose to check the 'Dupes Only' box, which will hide all other non-100% matches. Then click on 'Actions' and select the one you want. It can get a little confusing here, but the first one is what you'll be using most often 'Send Marked To Recycle Bin…' .

You can also choose between sending dupes to the trash or directly removing them from the system. The confirmation window also has an option to link the deleted files to the originals with hardlinks or symlinks. This is useful when you know the location of a duplicate, but not the original. However, these links will break if the original gets deleted at a later time.

Cons:

• Poor user interface without any polish or esthetics.
• Not 100% freeware. Should donate $9.99 After 10 removing files.
• Not maintained by the original developer.
• Bad support for macOS High Sierra and Mojave.
• Not very good at finding dupes with different filenames but identical content.
• Preview is hidden in the Details Panel, not intuitive to access.

No.4 Tidy Up - Pricey & Fully Featured Duplicate File Remover for Mac

This duplicate finder from Hyperbolic Software offers several options, which is great if you want a custom solution. It's essentially a beefed up version of their DupeZap software. You can find and remove duplicates by almost any criteria, including date or age, time created, extension type or even owner. It also allows you to search by metadata and duration in the case of audio duplicates, and location and camera make and model for photos.

The directories are all pre-listed on the left side, and selecting them will allow you to search entire drives or just specific folders. It also looks for duplicate packages, which is great because these can really build up over time. We really liked the integration with iTunes because you can directly search all of your music and audio files in your database. Additional support for other libraries such as Adobe Lightroom, iPhoto, Aperture and Mail is provided. It also has an option to search for empty files. They don't take up space, but they tend to clutter your drives when you're viewing files in Finder.

How to use Tidy Up Duplicate Finder: Most reviews will tell you that the interface is simple, but it won't be for a new user. For example, you have a 'Strategy' button and a series of 'Criteria Panes Visibility' buttons that might stump the average user. All you actually need is the 'List to View' button on the top left, the directory and folder menu on the left panel and the 'Search' button on the bottom right. The rest of it is mostly fluff, but we won't deny that it could be useful for some advanced users, like professional photographers, for instance.

Fortunately, Tidy Up 5 comes with 'Simple' and 'Advanced' modes, but you still have to pay the full price even if you only need basic functions. If you're using the first one, just select and search. In the next page you'll be shown the total size of all duplicates by type. Clicking on 'Show Result' will let you preview all duplicates, and on the bottom right you'll see a button for deleting whatever you've chosen. There are also convenient tabs at the top for viewing specific content types. Finally, you can include hardlinks for duplicates, and even specify whether you want to trash a file when there is no 'master' file found. Great safety feature, in our opinion.

Cons:

• UI not very intuitive.
• Most expensive among the apps reviewed in this post.
• Promos for upgrading are persistent and invasive.
• Apparently not enough beta testing before a release as major bugs were regularly reported.

No.5 PhotoSweeper - Best Duplicate Photo Finder for Mac

As the name suggests this utility is only for images, but it does a great job of removing duplicate photos on Mac, and the UI has been deliberately designed to give you the optimal viewing size when previewing dupes and similars. It does work with video files as well, but the scope is limited. Smart algorithms powering the Auto Mark feature help identify the best photo to retain, and the Auto Lock feature lets you exclude photos from being selected for deletion. Since this is a bit of a complex piece of software, the help section after installation and the quick start popup guides should be read carefully. They really help give you an overview before you dive into using the app.

As a photo-centric utility, the flexible preview modes are great because let you see photos one at a time, face to face and everything together. It supports RAW formats, as well as PDF, WebP and DNG. Probably the best feature is the ability to find dupes that seem identical, but are created on different apps and have different dimensions, contrast or other aspects. If you're a pro photographer or even an enthusiastic amateur, this could be a very useful utility to save space on your Mac.

How to use PhotoSweeper Duplicate Finder: Before you start using this application, we recommend that you go into the Preferences section and setup how you want your image duplicates to be treated. You can choose to Auto Mark the best ones, compare settings, filter and sort preferences, cache location and so on. It'll save you a lot of back and forth time later on. That done, you can import specific folders or libraries into the interface and hit 'Compare' to rapidly match the photos against the rest of the library or folder and find duplicates. Resource usage is surprisingly light, and you can scan more than 70 GB worth of images in under two minutes on a mid-2012 4GB MacBook Pro with Intel Core i5.

Once the duplicates have been found, you can choose to Auto Mark the best copies to retain. If not, you'll have to review them manually, which is where the multiple viewing modes come to the rescue. The metadata in the sidebar shows you elemental differences between similars. Or, you could just match duplicates by file name to simplify the process. The final step is to click on 'Trash Marked', which sends all auto or manually marked photos to the Recycle Bin. Note that the bin needs to be emptied before the images are truly deleted.

Cons:

• First-time setup can take a while since preferences are very important for this utility.
• Only for finding and deleting photos and videos, and the latter is limited in scope.
• Some users might not like the dark interface.

No.6 MacKeeper Duplicate File Finder- Repoarted as Malware (Not Recommended)

The reason why we put it in our list is that a lot of people would install the app due to massive adversting across the website, even include some famous ones to let you believe it is a pretty good app. The truth is that MacKeeper is widely thought to be some kind of malware, and in many ways it behaves like it. Unfortunately, that's due to the overly aggressive marketing techniques used by the German company that acquired Zeobit, the original development company. But there really is a very fine line between MacKeeper and the average malware because of auto-downloads, fear-oriented advertising and the fact that it's notoriously hard to get rid of MacKeeper once you install even the trial version. That being said, the software does have its good points, albeit overshadowed by negative reviews and genuine inconveniences.

How to use MacKeeper Duplicate Finder: If you can get past all the noise, the software has six major and six minor modules for optimizing your Mac. The duplicate finder is one of the major functions, and is quite simple to use. You just select the 'Duplicates Finder' option on the left panel, then select the media or file type from the tabs at the top, and hit 'Scan'. After a while, all the files identified as duplicates are listed in the main window. You now have a choice of removing them or relocating them to another folder. You can also preview them individually before choosing an action.

There are no complex settings to mess around with, but the software itself is an aggressive piece of code that distributes support files all over your system. That's one of the reasons it is considered to be malware rather than a genuine software utility. We've listed the cons below, but even if you're willing to handle that, we don't recommend installing this application. It does more harm than good in the end, and it's a headache you can certainly do without.

Cons:

• Aggressive marketing, and intrusive and misleading advertising strategy.
• Hard to uninstall, and usually leaves a lot of residual files that are difficult to remove.
• Not much of an improvement even after the company was acquired.

The Bottom Line

It is not hard to find an app dedicated to duplicate file removal. The challenge is how to find the best on among a long list. You might also read other candidates from other blog posts but it is really not recommended trying them out one by one. The apps listed above are the ones shorten from 20+ nominees. So don't wast your time on it. Just download and install the ones you like. You will definitely like one of those bascause it is well crafted list from a great list of amazing apps for Mac.

Related Articles & Tips

Duplicate files is a silent killer as far as your Mac is concerned. They have troubled you for the past years, and they might trouble us in 2021 as well. But how about getting rid of them for a new year’s resolution?

Duplicate files are shady. You won’t know their impact until you see a ‘Disk Space Full’ warning from your Mac.

As it happens, you cannot simply prevent your macOS from creating duplicate files. When you add music into iTunes, for instance, duplicate files are created. The same goes for the case of Apple Photos.

On top of these, you will be adding duplicate copies of photos, documents, music and videos on your own. Think of those repeated file downloads as well. In short, your Mac gets choked with excess files the more you use them.

So, what’s the solution? Well, regularly removing duplicate files would certainly help you, and it’s certainly the way to go in 2021 as you would want a much cleaner and quicker Mac this year.

In a hurry, here are top picks:

• For most people: Gemini 2
• For advanced users: Tidy Up 5
• For duplicate photo finder and cleaner: PhotoSweeper

Note: If you buy something from links on this page we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Can my Mac find and delete duplicate files?

Many Mac users forget that Apple’s Finder is a mighty tool integrated into every Mac computer. Finder has one particular option to help every Mac user find and list duplicate files in just minutes.

All you have to do is open Finder and click File -> New Smart Folder.

In there, you can set up the kind of file list you would like to look out for and the type of files you would like to list. Finder will do all the work from there, and it will come up with a list of all files on your Mac.

When you see a list, the last step you have to do is go through the list and find duplicate files. Even though you will still have to do the work manually – it won’t be hard to find duplicate files as they’ll have the same name and will be listed one under another.

This is convenient if you have duplicate files that have a similar name as well.

Even though Finder can be a great option to start with – it’s not ideal or as powerful as some third-party picks we’ve tested. Finder is good at displaying all files, but it cannot just automatically delete duplicates with great accuracy. You can forget about finding files or images that are similar as well.

That’s something that only dedicated third-party remover tools can do, and that’s why you should keep on reading to find how they can benefit your Mac in the long run.

What makes a good duplicate file finder and remover?

Not every remover will be suitable for your needs, and that’s why it’s essential to learn how to find a decent file finder and remover that won’t break the bank or, even worse yet — harm your Mac.

Therefore, we have created a quick list & questions of the most important things you should look into before deciding on the tool you’ll be using:

• Scanning Features: How fast is the scanning process? How deep can the tool scan your Mac? What type of files can it find? Can the remover find similar photos, along with the duplicates?
• Preview and Custom Delete: When you have scanned your Mac, how convenient is the preview of the files? Do you get to double-check all found files to ensure the accuracy of the tool? What other options does preview bring? Are you able to delete files selectively? But most importantly, are you able to undo the delete action?
• File Compatibility: What types of files can the tool scan for? Is it compatible with the latest file types on macOS? How smooth is finding the files that aren’t often used on Mac? Is it compatible with files that aren’t common on Mac?
• Ease of Use: How quickly can you learn to use the tool? Is it easy to find duplicated? Is removing function going to give you headaches? What is the interface like? Can you easily find your way throughout the tool and use all features that it has to offer?

Based on these questions and answers, we have found the best tools you can use.

For most people: Gemini 2

Gemini 2 has been the gold standard for Mac duplicate removal for some time. After testing tens of tools for duplicate file removal, we think Gemini 2 deserves the top position.

Gemini 2 is one of the most popular duplicate file finders and removers for Mac. Developed by MacPaw, the tool allows you to accurately scan your Mac for duplicate files and remove them. It’s very easy to use and is regularly updated with awesome features. A lot of people choose Gemini 2 when they want a smart way to remove duplicates from their macOS system.

See Gemini 2 in action from the developer:

The good

Gemini 2 is great for many reasons. It addresses the three main elements that make a duplicate scanning app great — a user-friendly app design, ability to scan and delete duplicate files with ease, and the integration with photos and media. Here, we will look at each of these factors to find out what they really have to offer.

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Design

On the design front, Gemini 2 is well-recognized and has been a favorite for long. It was given the Red Dot Communication Award in 2017 in the Communication Design category.

The design is laid out in a way where all the features stand out prominent in an intuitive user interface. The icons are large, and they manage to express the functionalities of the app really well.

The intuitive user interface is pleasant on the eyes and it is fun to use. Besides, Gemini 2 also supports 12 languages, so that’s always a plus point.

Work smarter

What’s better than a duplicate finder working to clear the clutter in an intelligent way, saving you a lot of time and trouble?

One of the best parts of Gemini 2 is that it is so smart. The app can also aptly be said as an ‘Intelligent Duplicate File Finder’. That is because it uses an exclusive algorithm, which not only helps you identify duplicate files, but also spots and detects similar files, easily telling copies from originals, and adapting to the way you work with it.

While using Gemini 2, we found out that it provided us with multiple options to scan folders and directories on our Mac. We could choose between Home Folder scan, Pictures Folder scan, Music Folder scan and Custom Folder scan. The first three modes are nearly automated while the fourth one wanted us to provide the folder details.
Depending on the storage space, consumed space and performance of your Mac, the scanning process may take a few seconds to a few minutes. As a user, you would not really mind this — as long as Gemini 2 finds all duplicate files present.

Another great part which we liked was that when Gemini 2 scans the directory, we could see the amount of duplicate files it has found on the side — it was amazing to have a live track of things.

Once the scanning is done, Gemini 2 intelligently selects which should be deleted. We got two options here.

We could choose between Smart Cleanup and Review Results.

Smart Cleanup is an automated process which removes all the duplicate files that are selected by Gemini 2. As you can see in the picture, Gemini 2 automatically selected 738MB as the ones to delete from the whole 1.84GB of duplicate files it found.

The Review Results option opened up a window where we could find the list of potential duplicate files. As you can see, the whole interface is quite detailed. From the sidebar, we could view each type of duplicate files.

Gemini 2 also offers an option to customize the whole deal. We could change how duplicate files have been sorted. Once we made changes to the selection, we could click on the Remove button to delete all the selected files.

Finding similar files, and photos

Duplicate files and similar files are different, you know. But, both can be a curse for your storage space at a time. Gemini 2 has a smarter way to recognize and remove similar files from your Mac. We tried this feature and the results were great.

When we scanned a folder or directory for duplicate files, Gemini 2 also found similar files. We could access this section from the main sidebar. The app goes even a step further with listing two similar files. Thanks to its intelligent design, we could see the difference in terms of file size, modified date or the directory.

Then, with a single click, Gemini 2 removes all of them from the system.

This works particularly well with photos on your Mac. For instance, if you have a series of burst photos stored in a folder, the difference between them might not really be noticeable, but the space occupied can be large. With Gemini 2, you can browse through the duplicate photos, pick the ones you want to keep, and discard the rest. Everyone’s set of files are different, but judging from the scan of our Dropbox folder, this feature could save Gemini customers a lot of additional storage space.

The bad

• It takes up a lot of resources during its scan, which can slow down your Mac
• The price tag might be a bit over the top for people who don’t clean up their Mac regularly

Pricing and availability

Gemini 2 is available for Mac only. On the bright side, it works on all Mac devices, including the ones running the brand-new macOS Big Sur.

You can purchase Gemini 2 at about $24 for one plan that can be used on one Mac. Gemini 2 is available on Setapp as well.

For advanced users: Tidy Up 5

We recommend going for Tidy Up 5 if you are looking for some advanced features. Compared to Gemini, it has a Pro-level interface as well.

The good

Tidy Up 5 has numerous features that can help you fine tune the entire process of removing duplicates from you Mac.

To begin with, it is so easy to get used to Tidy Up 5. You can choose between the Simple Mode and Advanced Mode. Even the Simple Mode offers better control over the search process. You can tell the app about the type of content you want to find — Images, Photos, Music, Folders, Documents etc. You can also decide if you want to search for a particular file format in the results.

A powerful Advanced mode

In the Advanced Mode, you can go to further depths of finding the right files. For instance, while searching for Photographs, you get a variety of filtering options. You can even select photos that were captured at a particular place on earth. In the case of songs, you can set up criteria based on name, size and the genre that the track is from.
Handy customization features

In other words, the performance levels offered by Tidy Up 5 is off the charts. Even when you are looking for the most specific files, Tidy Up 5 would not have trouble in helping you find them. Just so you know, you can also change the Source files and Drives from the left sidebars. Altogether, customization is the core element when it comes to Tidy Up 5.

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We wish, however, if Tidy Up 5 had a more intuitive UI. It does not feel that easy to use the app for finding and removing files. While the extra power is commendable, the UI does not worth the overall praise. If you have not used a duplicate remover before, you may have trouble with Tidy Up 5. At the same time, we think the Review page is not so bad.

The bad

• Customer support should be improved
• Sales pop-up strategy to upgrade is a bit too forceful

Availability and pricing

Tidy Up 5 tool is available for Mac and the pricing starts at $29.99. You can always download the free trial to test the tool. For three-devices licenses, you can also get their Duplicate Remover Suite Bundle at 25% Off here.

For duplicate photos: PhotoSweeper

Did you ever feel like you aren’t sure which photo to keep/send or what other similar images should be deleted? Having a helper that will help you and even ‘push’ you to pick one or two photos and delete other similar images is one of the most important reasons you should get one of the removal tools.

These tools can help you achieve that, and that’s precisely what they’re best for, and another reason why we’ve spent time testing them out and reviewing them for this post.

PhotoSweeper should be your go-to option if you want a straightforward tool to help you. As it happens, the interface is different from what you would expect.

The good

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Let’s look at some of the factors that made us include this app in our list of top picks for 2021.

Effective photo-based filters

Compared to other tools in the list, PhotoSweeper offers photo-based filters as well. For instance, when it comes to searching for duplicate files, you can set up the right criteria, such as not choosing the photographs that were clicked a long time ago. It’s also great that PhotoSweeper provides metadata and other data about the image on the sidebar.

Easy photograph comparison

PhotoSweeper has been designed in such a way that you can compare two photographs with the ultimate ease. The app performs impressively well when it comes to finding duplicate and similar photographs. We think the UI plays the most important role here. You can even choose between the Viewing Modes — such as One by One, Face to Face, and All-in-One.

We should understand that PhotoSweeper has been designed for duplicate photo finding only. For someone with that level of expertise, it is a privilege to have control over the scanning and removal process. Also, you would not end up deleting an important photograph from the library. By the way, PhotoSweeper lets you access photo library from Adobe Lightroom as well.

The bad

• It’s not compatible with OS versions before 10.10

Pricing and availability

PhotoSweeper is available for Mac and you can download the free trial. It’s also optimized for the new M1-powered Macs (Apple Silicon). The license costs $9.99.

Other duplicate cleaners worth mention

Now, these were some of our top picks, but there are also other options out there that are quite good. Here, we will look at some other options that are out there to clean duplicate files on Mac.

Easy Duplicate Finder

If you are looking for a basic duplicate file remover for Mac, you should consider Easy Duplicate Finder. This tool does not have anything fancy to offer here. You have a three-tabbed interface that navigates you in the whole duplicate-finding process. However, we found that the scanning process is comparatively slower than our top picks.
The way Easy Duplicate Finder works is really straightforward. Once you have found the duplicate files, you can go ahead and review the files. Unlike Gemini or PhotoSweeper, Easy Duplicate Finder does not offer any option for customization.

Easy Duplicate Finder is available for both Windows and macOS and free to use. The trial version provides unlimited scanning and lets you manage 10 groups of duplicate files. After that, file management options become locked and the scanning remains available, you should upgrade with the price at $39.95 for 1 computer.

Duplicate Detective

Duplicate Detective is a pretty straightforward duplicate file remover for Mac. It comes from Fiplab, which has developed a number of Mac utilities in the past. Instead of investing in fancy features, this app is trying to offer the seamless experience. You can select the folder and the app would start the scanning in some time. In the next step, you can review the results as always.
For a simple tool like Duplicate Detective, we think the Review UI is impressive. You can choose between the various viewing modes and easily compare two duplicate files. Even better, Duplicate Detective has separate viewing options for documents, images, music etc. Although not as smart as Gemini, this app too has a Smart Select option, which is more than sufficient.

Duplicate Detective is available for Mac and you can get it for just $4.99. A free trial is also available.

Duplicate Photo Cleaner

Besides PhotoSweeper X above, Duplicate Photo Cleaner is a nice option if you want a straightforward tool to find and remove duplicate photos from your Mac. You can either drag and drop your image folders, scan for images in bulk, or select the image type precisely. This ensures that you don’t miss a single duplicate – but the options don’t stop there. I like that the tool also lets you choose the similarity threshold.

Do you have the habit of taking a couple of pictures of the same thing, just in case the first one isn’t good enough? This tool can delete such images, even if they’re not 100% duplicates. You also get to select the size limit so you can aim for the photos that take up the most of your storage first to see results quickly and efficiently.

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Even though you can free download Duplicate Photo Cleaner, the free version is a bit too limited. You can get the upgraded version (one-time payment around $40) just unlocks many more algorithms that have the incredible ability to find and offer phenomenal results.

Cloud Duplicate Finder

While you might be busy cleaning duplicates on your Mac, the fact that you might have plenty of duplicates on your cloud storage might just pass by unnoticed. Cloud Duplicate Finder (CDF) is a web application which lets you remove duplicates from the cloud. It supports OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3 and Box.

While you are using this web app, you can be assured that your privacy is well taken care of as it doesn’t access the actual data or content in the cloud.

You can subscribe to the app with a starting price of $5.83 per month for a yearly subscription. The price is cheaper — $4 per month — if you purchase a 2-year subscription.

Dupin

Dupin is an app that manages your duplicate tracks and helps you to delete them. It is compatible with the Finder, iCloud music library and Apple Music, and comes with keyboard shortcuts as well as customizable toolbars.

The app lets you automatically select the “Keeper” tracks from the duplicates through different filtering options. From there, you can consolidate the play, skip, and even access ratings information from all tracks. This way, you can re-populate your playlists by replacing “non-Keeper” tracks with “Keeper” tracks.

Dupin is available for a free trial and a registration code can be purchased for $15.

Wrapping it up

We hope that this list helped you with finding out the best app to get rid of duplicates on your Mac and keep your Mac clean. With a duplicate-free Mac, you can ensure more productivity along with saving those precious gigabytes to get more space space on your Mac (or even a cloud account). Our best picks — Gemini 2, Tidy Up 5, and PhotoSweeper X — really do the job in a flash with minimal effort.

While most of these apps have a handy interface that make sure that you do not delete your important files and folders, we really recommend backing up your Mac using Time Machine alternatives or online backup services before trying to remove duplicates. So, even if something goes wrong, you will have a backup.