Duplicate Folders
The Duplicate Folders docking pane analyzes duplicate search results to reveal folder pairs that contain duplicated files - for example, a photo folder that was copied wholesale to a backup drive. It is located at the bottom of the main application window by default, and helps you act on duplication at the folder level rather than file by file.
The analysis runs automatically when the pane is first shown after a duplicate search completes. Use the Refresh toolbar button to re-run the analysis at any time (for example, after changing markings or processing files).
Report Columns
- Status - Confidence in the folder match:
- Complete - Every scanned file in each folder was matched by a duplicate in the other.
- Partial - The folders share duplicates, but each also contains unmatched files.
- Incomplete scan - The folders share duplicates, but scan coverage was incomplete (e.g. skipped files or scan errors), so the true overlap cannot be fully determined.
- Folder A / Folder B - The two folders in the pair.
- Duplicated (A) / Duplicated (B) - How much of each folder is duplicated in the other, shown as a percentage with matched/present counts (e.g. "80% (8/10)"). For imported results, where scan coverage information is unavailable, a plain matched-file count is shown instead.
- Recoverable - The amount of disk space that could be recovered from the duplicated files.
Columns can be sorted by clicking their headers (values sort numerically), and the column layout is remembered between sessions. Right-click a column header for additional column options.
The status line above the report shows the file matching criteria the analysis was based upon (e.g. "name + size + contents (SHA-256)"), how many folder pairs are displayed versus analyzed, and how many are complete matches. Analysis is limited to the first 5,000 folder pairs; a note appears in the status line if this limit is reached.
Toolbar Commands
- Refresh - Re-runs the duplicate folder analysis against the current search results.
- Mark Folder A / Mark Folder B - Marks every duplicate file found directly in the chosen folder, in preparation for moving, zipping, or deleting. A confirmation prompt states exactly how many files will be marked - including duplicates matched outside the selected folder pair - and warns you if the folder contains files that were not scanned, or if errors occurred while scanning it. The standard marking rules apply, including protected file handling and the "ensure one unmarked file per duplicate group" safeguard.
- Complete Matches Only - When enabled (the default), only folder pairs with Complete status are listed. Disable it to see partial and incomplete-scan pairs as well. This preference is remembered between sessions.
Tips
- Double-click a row to open the folder in Windows Explorer. Double-clicking within Folder B's columns opens folder B; anywhere else opens folder A.
- The quality of folder-level analysis depends upon your comparison settings - content-based matching (checksums) yields the most trustworthy folder pairs. See Comparison Options.
See also: