A Guide to Managing Duplicate Documents in Windows 11 January 15, 2024December 4, 2024 Sorcim Technologies (pvt) Ltd Official Data Management, Windows While using Windows 11, you may be seeing duplicate docs in the Documents folder. Our regular activities such as copy-pasting docs, and collaborating with our colleagues, can contribute to the problem. Nevertheless, there are other reasons as well. In this comprehensive guide, we will cover how these duplicate docs affect your experience, and what steps you can take to fix them and free up your storage. How Do Duplicate Docs Affect Your Experience? There are several ways duplicate documents could affect your experience. Here are some of them: Storage Issues Duplicate documents are often scattered across multiple folders and drives. They can take precious storage, and lead to storage issues. You can free-up your precious storage by deleting unneeded duplicates. Problem Finding Files Duplicate docs do not just create storage issues. With too many duplicates, it becomes difficult to find your important documents when you need them. Eventually, you will waste a lot of time finding your docs, and it will lower your productivity. Slower Performance Fewer duplicates may not affect your system performance. However, as you accumulate too many duplicates and run short of storage, it can lead to various problems such as system slow-down, and computer freezes, among others. To retain your computer speed, it’s best to get rid of the duplicates. Larger Backups Duplicate files affect your backups. With too many duplicates, your file backups become larger and take longer to back up and restore. You can reduce your backup size and processing time by de-duping your PC. Delayed File Syncing File syncing is the process of updating local copies of your documents on your cloud storage. If you’re using a cloud syncing Desktop application such as OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox, syncing unnecessary identical copies can increase the file syncing time and take up your cloud storage. Chaos & Confusion Multiple file versions can lead to chaos and confusion. It’s easy to forget which file version you worked upon, and start reworking on an outdated version. By cleaning duplicates, you ensure that you have access to the most accurate and up-to-date information. Finding Duplicate Docs in Windows 11 Much like its predecessors, Windows 11 is not equipped with any duplicate file-finding tool. However, there are other ways to find duplicates and get rid of GB’s of junk. Method 1: Using File Explorer A simple way to find duplicate documents is to sort files inside a folder by their names and look for files with identical name patterns. This method is recommended if you have fewer files. Steps Open the File Explorer. Open the Documents folder from the left panel. Click on the View icon, and select Details. Click on the Sort icon, and select Name. Click on the Sort icon, and select Group by > Name. File Explorer will sort your files in ascending order and group them. Look for files with similar name patterns. (For example, a file named “invoice (2).docx” can be an identical copy of another “invoice.docx”) Move all potential duplicate documents to a separate folder on your hard disk, so that you can get them back, in the event you need them again. Benefits This method is free. You do not need to download or purchase any software. It’s a simple process that can be accomplished from the File Explorer. You can find duplicate documents from your computer as well as cloud storage (downloading your cloud syncing software is a must) Drawbacks Manually finding duplicates can be a time-consuming job and often prone to errors. Not suitable if you have hundreds of thousands of documents to compare. If you don’t take proper care, you may end up deleting the original files. Method 2: Using Clone Files Checker CFC is a small yet effective tool for finding and removing duplicate documents. It supports finding different file formats such as documents, photos, music, videos, and archives. With a few clicks, you can get rid of hundreds of thousands of duplicate documents. Steps Download and install Clone Files Checker. Click on the System Scan tab Set the Scan Mode to File Search. Click on the Add button in the Select Drive/ Folder. Select your Documents folder, and then click on Open. You can add more folders if required. In the Customize Scan, select the Custom option > Documents. Click on Start Search. Once the scan finishes, click on Review & Fix. Click on Select Duplicates, and choose a selection pattern of your choice. Click on Select Action, and choose whether you want to delete the duplicates, or move them to a separate folder. Benefits The scan process is fast and automated. Offers a backup feature to automatically compress and backup your duplicates before deleting (This feature is disabled by default.) Provides various advanced features: File Scan, Music Search, iTunes Search, and Remove Empty Folders. Each of these features can be accessed from a single interface. Provides a comprehensive history of past scans In-house file previews Tabbed classification of duplicate documents to make the reviewing process simple and quick Provides a Fix Wizard to automate the duplicates deletion/ moving with simple 3-steps Available for both Windows and Mac Drawbacks CFC is not free The trial version offers to delete limited duplicate documents The scan may take longer if you have lots of files Best Practices to Avoid Duplication of Your Documents It’s not possible to completely avoid duplication of your documents. However, you can take steps to slow down the accumulation of duplicates. The following best practices could be helpful: Centralise your files into a structured directory Before downloading a new document, make sure you don’t already have the same file Avoid syncing too many top-level folders with your OneDrive account. If they contain duplicates scattered across different sub-folders, it will only add up to your problem. While collaborating with your colleagues, make sure that you’re not downloading the same documents again and again After extracting files from a Zip file, either keep the Zip file or extracted files to avoid duplication Regularly clean duplicate files, at least once a week Remove duplicates from the external storage media you use, such as your external hard disk or USB stick. Summing Up… Windows 11 Documents folder accumulates new duplicates due to both our actions and software applications. While it’s not possible to completely get rid of future duplications, you can reduce the extent of duplication by following the best practices of file management. A small utility, Clone Files Checker, could come to your help.