How to Eliminate Duplicate Files in Windows 10 Computer

Duplicate files are duplicates of files that already exist on your device, thus, you may have numerous duplicate files of different needed data files. The easiest approach to dealing with such files is to locate and delete them from your computer. But, how to eliminate duplicate files? How can you find all duplicate files among all files stored on your disk?

3 solutions to solve how to eliminate duplicate files in Windows 10

To answer the above questions, Windows 10 offers 2 solutions. In Windows 10, there are File Explorer and PowerShell to help you eliminate duplicate files. After cleaning, you can free up space for greater data storage and, in the long run, improve your computer performance.

Method 1. File Explorer deleting duplicate files

Step 1. Open "Indexing Options".

Go to the lower-left corner next to the Windows icon. Type "Indexing Options" into the search bar and then click on "Indexing Options".

Step 2. Search file locations.

Click on "Modify" and select "Show all locations". A pop-up will appear, asking for your login details. Make sure you're using an administrator account when making changes here.

Step 3. Check selected locations of duplicate files.

Check if all the boxes are ticked under the "Changed selected locations" section. If they are, click "OK," then hit the "Close" button. If not, make sure to check all the boxes.

Step 4. Open File Explorer and locate the files.

Press the Windows key and E key on your keyboard at the same time to open File Explorer. It's easier to locate your files under your user account. To access your user account, go to Windows (C:), and then select the Users folder.

Step 5. Search the extensions of the target files.

Click on "Search" in the upper-right corner, and enter the following extensions based on their format.

Step 6. Organize the search results by Name.

Step 7. Examine the files to find duplicates saved in different locations.

Check the "Date modified" column to identify the latest version of each file.

After going through the files, choose the one you wish to remove and hit the remove key on your keyboard.

Method 2. PowerShell commands to remove duplicate files

Step 1. Run PowerShell as admin.

On the lower-left corner, right-click on the Windows icon, and then select Windows PowerShell (Admin). A pop-up confirmation window will appear. Click Yes to proceed.

Step 2. Set searching location.

Enter this script: set-location –path C:\ in the Windows PowerShell window.

Step 3. Using commands to list duplicate files.

Enter the script for the list of all duplicates and their location:

ls "(directory you want to search)" -recurse | get-filehash | group -property hash | where { $_.count -gt 1 } | % { $_.group } | Out-File -FilePath "(location where you want to export the result)"

In (directory you want to search), enter the folder location of your User Account.

In (location where you want to export the result), enter the folder location you want the result to be exported or saved (e.g. Documents or Desktop).

Step 4. Open the folder location you have exported or saved.

Step 5. Delete duplicate files.

Check for each location in the text file, and then delete the duplicate files.

Method 3. Duplicate detective expert to safely and easily remove files

If you want a quicker, safer, and more efficient way to eliminate duplicate files, consider AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional as a great choice. This tool employs a sophisticated scanning algorithm to identify duplicate files quickly. It can detect even hidden duplicates and provides detailed reports for your review.

Before removing any duplicate files, you can preview them to ensure that you are not deleting something important. This feature reduces the risk of accidental data loss. 

Step 1. Install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant.

Click the "Free up" on the main tab and select "Duplicate Files Finder".

Step 2. Select scan range.

Here, all the partitions on the computer are displayed. Click on "Scan" to start scanning. Also, if the partition is locked, the program will still scan it and display duplicate files on the partition. However, it cannot delete duplicate files on locked drives.

Step 3. Preview all duplicate files.

After the process is finished, all duplicate files that meet the conditions you set will be displayed. You can click the "Preview" to see the duplicate files.

Step 4. Select duplicate files and relocate them.

You can select the duplicate files you want to delete. Or, click "Smart Select" to automatically select duplicate files. Then, click "Move to folder".

To sum up

Eliminating duplicate files in Windows 10 is essential for maintaining a well-organized and efficient system. While Windows File Explorer and PowerShell are viable options, they come with limitations. AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional offers a more efficient and user-friendly solution, making the process of removing duplicate files quick and reliable.

Also, there is the Server edition for Windows Server users to delete duplicate files. Besides duplicate file removal, this tool supports various disk management features such as disk cloning, allocating drive space, MBR/GPT data-safe conversion, app mover, PC cleaner...