duplicate files

[kcskydancer2]

Can I delete safely my duplicate files? If so, how do I do this?

[nukecad]

Duplicate Finder can do the hard work of finding any duplicates for you.

But when all is said and done only you can decide which files you want to keep and which you don't.
Nobody else can make that decision for you, and certainly an application can't decide it for you.

There are a few things to be aware of when using Duplicate Finder:

• It's main use is to find duplicates of your own files, photos, documents, music, etc. that you may have saved or copied to more than one place.
   
• You should leave the system files alone, always set duplicate finder to ignore them. (unless you have a specific problem with some system files).
• Many system files need duplicates in different places, and if you delete those duplicates some things may/will stop working properly.
   
• Even with your own files remember that 'photo 01' in one folder may not be the same as 'photo 01' in a different folder - so it's usually best to untick 'name' and search on file size/contents rather than name.
   
• Only delete something if you are certain that you don't need/want it.
   
• If you don't know exactly what any duplicate file found is then it's best to leave it alone.

Once you have decided which, if any, files to delete then you can use the tickboxes to delete one (or more) of the duplicates.
Or you can output a list of what has been found to textfile if you want to check them out further before deciding if you want to delete them.

If using the tickboxes then you have to select them one by one, there is no 'Delete All' button - that would be just too dangerous and you could very easily delete (hundreds of) things that you want or need.

There is more information on using Duplicate Finder here:
https://support.piriform.com/hc/en-us/articles/204950144-How-do-I-use-CCleaner-for-Windows-Duplicate-File-Finder-#duplicate-finder-only-searches-for-files-via-the-categories-you-select--0-2