How to find and delete duplicate files in Windows 11 (with and without a program)

Windows 11 can tell you which files are large or unused, but not which ones are duplicates. There is no "find duplicates" button in File Explorer or in Settings. So you have three options: look by hand, use PowerShell, or use a program that compares files by content. Each is described below, from simplest to most reliable.

Before you delete anything

• Don't touch system folders: C:\Windows, C:\Program Files, C:\Program Files (x86) and C:\ProgramData. Programs keep identical copies of libraries on purpose, and deleting one can break the program.
• Same name doesn't mean same file. Two photo.jpg files can be different photos, and report (1).docx can differ from report.docx. Only a content comparison tells you they are identical.
• Delete to the Recycle Bin, not permanently, so you can restore a file if you made a mistake.
• Careful with OneDrive. Files that are "online-only" are downloaded when something reads their content. Comparing a large OneDrive folder can download all of it.

Method 1: File Explorer, by hand

Good for one folder, like Downloads or Pictures.

1. Open the folder and switch to View → Details.
2. Sort by Size: identical files have exactly the same size, so they end up next to each other.
3. Look for neighbours with the same size and a similar name — IMG_2041.jpg and IMG_2041 (1).jpg, setup.exe and setup (2).exe.
4. Open both to make sure they are the same, then delete the extra copy.

To check a whole drive, type * in the search box of the folder: Explorer lists all files in all subfolders, and you can sort that list by size. It's slow on big drives and easy to miss things, but it needs nothing extra.

Method 2: PowerShell, without installing anything

PowerShell can compare files by their content hash: the same hash means the same file. This command lists duplicates in a folder and its subfolders — change the path to yours:

Get-ChildItem -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\Pictures" -File -Recurse |
  Group-Object Length | Where-Object Count -gt 1 |
  ForEach-Object { $_.Group } |
  Get-FileHash -Algorithm SHA256 |
  Group-Object Hash | Where-Object Count -gt 1 |
  ForEach-Object { $_.Group | Select-Object Path; '' }

How it works: first it groups files by size and only hashes files whose size matches another file — this saves a lot of time. Then it hashes those files and shows groups with the same hash. Each group is one file and its copies.

The command only lists files; it doesn't delete anything. Review the list and delete the copies you don't need in File Explorer. On a drive with hundreds of thousands of files this takes a while, since every candidate is read in full.

Method 3: a duplicate finder

When you want to check whole drives, see the results as groups and decide what to keep, a program is easier. FileHunter is a free file manager for Windows and Mac, and duplicate search is built right into its search bar.

1. Open a folder or a drive and type dup: in the search bar. Typing just "dup" shows a short list of the three options.
2. Choose the scope:

• dup: checks the open folder and all its subfolders;
• dup:all checks all drives and connected S3 storage;
• dup:size is an instant first look: it lists folder copies and files of the same size straight from the catalog, without reading the disk. These are candidates only, the content is not compared yet.

1. Narrow it down with the usual filters: dup:all ext:mp4 for videos only, dup: size:>1gb for big files only. By default files from 1 MB are checked; add size:>0 to include smaller ones.
2. Go through the groups. The biggest groups, where you save the most space, are checked first. Each group is first marked "matches by sample" (beginning, end and 16 pieces of the file), then "exact copy" once the files are compared in full.
3. Select the copies you don't need — ordinary selection with Ctrl or Shift — and press Delete to move them to the Recycle Bin. Shift+Delete removes them permanently; the confirmation shows the full path of every file.

FileHunter doesn't pick copies for you: what to keep is your decision. It also stays out of trouble on its own: system folders are excluded, and hard links aren't counted as copies, because they are one file seen from two places. Results of the comparison are cached, so the next check only reads new and changed files.

S3 storage too. Copies inside S3, MinIO or R2 are found by their checksums (ETag) without downloading anything, and a local file can be matched against an object in S3 the same way.

FileHunter finds exact copies. A photo resized or re-saved by another app is a different file to it, so it won't be shown as a duplicate.

Duplicate photos

Photos are the most common source of duplicates: the same pictures imported from the phone twice, copied from a camera, synced from the cloud. For exact copies, all three methods work. Start with your Pictures folder and the folders where the phone and camera import photos. Similar-but-not-identical photos — bursts, edited versions, resized copies — need a different kind of tool that compares images visually.

FAQ

Does Windows 11 have a built-in duplicate file finder?

No. Settings → System → Storage → Cleanup recommendations shows large and unused files, but not duplicates. Use File Explorer by hand, PowerShell, or a separate tool.

Is it safe to delete duplicate files?

In your own folders — documents, photos, downloads — yes, if you check that the files are identical and delete to the Recycle Bin. In system and program folders, no: programs rely on their own copies of files.

Why are files with the same name not always duplicates?

A name says nothing about the content. Only the size and a content hash prove that two files are the same.

How do I find duplicates on an external drive?

The same way: in PowerShell change the path to the drive, for example E:\. In FileHunter, choose the drive in the list of sources.

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