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Last updated: December 12, 2023
Best Duplicate File Finders for Mac

Top 8 Best Duplicate File Finders for Mac

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Most of us have gigabytes worth of files and folders that end up being duplicates of a few important files. Not only is this super confusing, but duplicates can quickly eat up storage space and even slow down your computer.

Deleting them one by one would be a nightmare… Fortunately, there are tools that automate the process with safeties in place to preserve the files you don’t want to get rid of. Need some help choosing? Here are the top 8 duplicate file finders for Mac.

Duplicate File Finders Review Summary

Here are some basic stats on our findings for this article:

⚙️ Number of tested tools 8
💻 macOS version macOS Sonoma 14.1.1
💲 Average cost $20 ~ $35
💲 Minimum cost Free ~ $2.99

Best Duplicate File Finders for Mac

There are dozens of duplicate file finders for Mac on the internet, which can be super overwhelming – especially since they initially all look alike. However, the best duplicate finders (which we compiled for you below) provide certain features that make the cleanup process faster, safer, and smarter.

For example, some tools can help automate cleanup using AI to intelligently group and categorize identical files or improve its detection capabilities over time. Others allow you to customize its scan parameters so you can get the exact results you want. On the other hand, you may need a tool that created symlinks, which ensures that any duplicates you delete don’t affect the apps that use them.

To help you quickly find a suitable app for your needs, we compiled the most important details in this table:

Tool Name Price (USD) Notable Feature Trial Available
CleverFiles Duplicates Finder $2.99 Creates symlinks for app continuity No
dupeGuru Free Highly customizable scanning and actions Yes (Open Source)
Tidy Up Starts at $29.99 Deep scan customization with AI smart grouping Yes
Duplicate File Finder Remover $34.99 Advanced features in fully functional trial Yes
Gemini 2 Starts at $19.95 AI-enhanced learning for detection Yes
MacClean $19.99/year or $29.99 lifetime Comprehensive cleanup suite with multiple tools Yes
Easy Duplicate Finder $39.95 User-friendly with easy-to-follow wizard Yes
Duplicate Files Fixer $8.99 Google Drive support and external media compatibility No

1. CleverFiles Duplicates Finder (Recommended)

What we like about the Cleverfiles Duplicates Finder is that it’s straightforward, intuitive, and does its job well. You have the core features: one-click duplicate scanning, batch selection, and exclusion lists.

Cleverfiles Duplicates Finder main window

Additionally, you can preview duplicates before deleting them, search for duplicates, and create symlinks to keep file-dependent apps running after deleting their associated duplicates. These features are easily accessible from the app’s clean and easy-to-navigate user interface. We highly recommend this tool because it’s affordable and easy to use for beginners, yet it’s a powerful dupe file finder for Mac.

✅ Pros:

  • Super simple but good-looking GUI (graphical user interface), great for beginners
  • One-click scan and delete
  • Configurable exclusion lists
  • One of the most affordable paid apps on this list

📛 Cons:

  • No free trial

💲 Pricing: 

  • $2.99
  • Free Trial: ❌

2. dupeGuru

dupeGURU is a free and open-source file duplicate finder for Mac, Linux, and Windows computers. It uses advanced algorithms to find similarities in both filenames and content.

dupeGuru app scan results window

dupeGuru’s best feature is its customizability. Aside from configuring scanning parameters, users can customize the automated actions. It’s a great tool for users who want to set it and forget it, but don’t mind spending some time tweaking the app to their liking.

✅ Pros:

  • 100% open-source and free duplicate file finder for Mac
  • Highly customizable scanning and actions

📛 Cons: 

  • The app has a slight learning curve because there are a lot of settings

💲 Pricing: 

  • Free

3. Tidy Up

Tidy Up is one example of the pricier tools on this list, but this macOS duplicate file finder feels like a premium-quality program with an impressive user interface and lots of useful features.

Tidy Up advanced mode menu

Users can easily apply deep customizations to their scans or go straight to scanning multiple locations in a single click. Scan results are organized neatly into sensible categories and can be filtered by type, source, or by smart grouping by the app’s AI.

There are multiple ways to browse files and quickly decide what to do with them. This app makes cleaning up duplicates of your documents, photos, and other images a much less tedious task.

✅ Pros:

  • Simple mode provides users with one-click duplicate cleaning
  • Advanced mode makes deep customization easy
  • Well-designed and functional user interface

📛 Cons: 

  • There is a bit of a learning curve before you can maximize the app

💲 Pricing:

  • Starts at $29.99
  • Free trial: ✔️

4. Duplicate File Finder

Duplicate File Finder Remover is a highly-rated Mac duplicate cleaner with a fully functioning trial app. Get access to advanced features for free, such as deep customization, duplicate history, and customizable auto-selection. The Pro version provides bulk actions and advanced actions like merging, moving, and restoring duplicates.

Duple File Finder scanning process

The app itself is highly visual and you’ll quickly find the worst offenders of your dwindling storage space. And despite its abundance of features, Duplicate File Finder Remover makes it easy to start scanning in a few clicks.

✅ Pros:

  • The free trial provides a lot of powerful features
  • Thanks to its visual GUI, even beginners can easily figure out what to do next

📛 Cons: 

  • Bulk actions are only available for Pro users

💲 Pricing:

  • $34.99
  • Free trial: ✔️

5. Gemini 2

Gemini 2 is an intelligent duplicate file finder created by well-known developer MacPaw. This stylish app learns from your habits and provides better suggestions the more you use it.

Gemini 2 app

It has a few other cool features like the Duplicates Monitor, which stays on top of any newly created duplicates, and Smart Cleaning – a full version-only feature that allows users to find and delete all duplicates in a single click. The free version still allows users to review found duplicates and delete them one by one.

✅ Pros:

  • Fully functional free trial
  • Nice GUI that’s super easy to use
  • Uses artificial intelligence to continuously improve user experience
  • Moves deleted duplicates to the Trash folder, so they’re still retrievable

📛 Cons: 

  • Starts at $19.95
  • Free trial: ✔️

6. MacClean

MacClean is one of the more unique entries on this list. It’s an all-around maintenance utility that not only finds duplicates but also provides other cleanup and optimization tools.

MacClean app task selection screen

Notable features include a duplicate photo finder, an app uninstaller, an old and large file scanner, an iOS backup cleaner, and other utilities to help users clean up their Mac. The app throws a lot more information at the user at once, but it does a good job of organizing cleanup tasks. The free trial will allow you to see how much space you can potentially clean up, but you’ll need to purchase the full version to actually delete anything.

 Pros:

  • Offers a lot of tools for an affordable price
  • Well-designed multi-tool interface

📛 Cons: 

  • The additional tools may just be considered clutter by some users
  • The free trial won’t actually let you delete anything

💲 Pricing:

  • $19.99 per year
  • $29.99 for a lifetime license
  • Free trial: ✔️

7. Easy Duplicate Finder

Easy Duplicate Finder has been around since 2007. While its chunky interface may look just as old, the app’s functionally holds up really well in 2022.

Easy Duplicate Finder app

It’s a straightforward duplicate finder tool that does its job well. It may not be very pretty, but its wizard makes it very easy to scan for, review, and remove duplicate files. Users can also easily customize scans with folder exclusions. Easy Duplicate Finder provides a fully functional free trial – users can use all of the app’s features to remove 10 duplicates for free (plus 20 more if you subscribe with your email address).

✅ Pros:

  • Straightforward duplicate finder tool with an easy-to-follow wizard
  • Fully functional free trial (with limited deletes)

📛 Cons: 

  • Old school interface
  • Feels kind of spammy with the upgrade popups whenever you attempt to close the window
  • Pricey, considering what it offers compared to other apps on this list

💲 Pricing:

  • $39.95
  • Free trial: ✔️

8. Duplicate Files Fixer

Duplicate Files Fixer (“Duplicate Finder and Remover” on some versions of the App Store) has some interesting and valuable features aside from its 1-click duplicate deleter.

Duplicate Finder and Remover appstore screen

It has the usual bonus features, such as folder exclusion and customizable scanning. On top of that, Duplicate Files Fixer supports Google Drive, allowing users to remove duplicates directly from the cloud. It also works for external media, such as USB drives and external hard drives.

✅ Pros:

  • Decent lineup of features for its price
  • Works with Google Drive
  • Decent-looking interface

📛 Cons: 

  • No free trial
  • Aside from Google Drive integration, nothing makes this tool particularly unique

💲 Pricing:

  • $8.99
  • Free trial: ❌

How to Find File Duplicates for Free Using Mac Terminal

If you’re willing to use the Terminal app, you can find duplicate files using a well-known code that turns out to be a built-in Mac duplicate file finder. This method will work on one folder at a time, so consider the tools we featured in the last section if you prefer bulk deletion.

This method has been tested on machine running macOS Sonoma. But the steps for the macOS Monterey and macOS Ventura are similar.

To use the Terminal app to find duplicates:

  1. Open the Terminal app (Finder > Applications).
    Terminal app icon in Finder
  2. Type the following command and hit Return:
    cd desktop

    Replace “desktop” with the location you want to scan.
    CD command execution in the Terminal app

  3. Copy and paste the following command in Terminal and hit Return:
    find ./ -type f -exec md5 {} \; | awk -F '=' '{print $2 "\t" $1}' | sort | tee duplicates.txt

    Find Duplicates command in the Terminal app in Finder

  4. In the location you defined in step 2, you’ll find a TXT file called duplicates.txt, which contains a list of the duplicates it found in said location.
    Txt file of found duplicate files

FAQ

There are a few possibilities why your Mac is duplicating files:

  • Backup software is saving multiple versions of the same files.
  • You copied a file to an external drive and forgot to delete it on your Mac.
  • You enabled Live Photos on your iPhone (or similar tools).
  • Malware or faulty software is causing this behavior.

There are free third-party duplicate file finders and paid software that offers free trials. If you don’t want to use a third-party software, you can use the following commands in Terminal:

cd ~/desktop

Replace “desktop” with the folder you want to check for duplicates. Then, type the following command and hit the return key to generate a TXT file with a list of duplicates in the folder you specified in the last command:

find ./ -type f -exec md5 {} ; | awk -F '=' '{print $2 "t" $1}' | sort | tee duplicates.txt

To delete duplicate files on Mac, you can either (1) use a third-party duplicate file finder or (2) use the following Terminal commands:

cd ~/desktop

Make sure to replace “desktop” with the location you want Terminal to scan. Then:

find ./ -type f -exec md5 {} ; | awk -F '=' '{print $2 "t" $1}' | sort | tee duplicates.txt

You’ll find a TXT file showing duplicates in the location you specified.

After trying dozens of apps, we settled on the 8 best duplicate file finders for Mac. The tools we chose are effective for cleaning up duplicates on your Mac and each has unique traits that make them extra useful.

  1. CleverFiles Duplicates Finder
  2. dupeGuru
  3. Tidy Up
  4. Duplicate File Finder
  5. Gemini 2
  6. MacClean
  7. Easy Duplicate Finder
  8. Duplicate Files Fixer

To learn more about these apps including their main features, pros and cons, and prices, read our entire article about the 8 best duplicate file finders for Mac above.

  • cd desktop (replace “desktop” with the location you want to scan)
  • find ./ -type f -exec md5 {} \; | awk -F ‘=’ ‘{print $2 “\t” $1}’ | sort | tee duplicates.txt

Execute these commands in order so Terminal will generate a TXT file (called duplicates.txt) in the specified location that lists all the duplicates it found.

Conclusion

Finding the best duplicate file finder is more like finding the tool that best suits your personal needs. They come in a wide range of prices (from free to over $30), but more importantly, the best tools have unique features that make them better for some users over others. We suggest that you check out the free trials for the apps that offer them and get a feel of the differences yourself!

Alejandro is a content strategist and writer with a deep love for creative technology. Even though he’s been building PCs all his life, he’s become an advocate for the Mac as the perfect machine for creative professionals. He also has a deep respect for his tools and knows them like the back of his hand – if you have a problem, he knows how to fix it.
avatar approver Andrey Vasilyev Approver
Andrey Vasilyev is an Editorial Advisor at onMac. Andrey is a software expert with extensive experience in data recovery, computer forensics, and litigation. Andrey has over 12 years of experience in software development, database administration, and hardware repair.
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