Use the cd command to change directories.To find duplicate files on Mac using Terminal, follow these steps: How to find duplicate files with a Terminal commandīefore you start using Terminal, know this: any changes you make to Terminal and not reversible, and could have lasting effects on your Mac. Again, this is likely your downloads folder to make sure, go to your mail app, select its name in the menu bar, and choose “Preferences.” In its preferences menu, it allows you to designate where you want your downloads to go.Īll you have to do from there is search the folder your mail downloads go to for duplicate files as noted above.

Your mail downloads have a home on your Mac. In the search bar on the top right, enter the name of a file you want to find a duplicate of. To use it for your Downloads folder, open Finder, and make sure you have the “Downloads” folder selected from the menu on the left side of the window.

Downloadsįinder has a search field that can be handy for finding duplicate files. Simply choose Kind > Image > and the type of image you want to find a duplicate of. You can also use Smart Folders to find duplicate images. You can delete them in the Smart Folder, too, and those files will be placed in Trash. If you have multiple versions of a presentation, for example, Smart Folders can help you find all of your presentations, no matter where they're stored on your Mac. This is Apple's imperfect method it can help you find all types of files, but there's no automation for duplicates in Smart Folders.

Next to “Kind,” select the file type you want to isolate for the smart folder.

These folders have automated actions to make finding file types easier. Your Mac lets you create Smart Folders inside Finder.

But how long would that take you? Your files love to spread throughout multiple destinations, and some apps like iTunes or Photos keep their own libraries of your files, which are hard to get to. You can, of course, just go through every folder, hidden or not, and delete the files that you remember seeing somewhere else. You can dig through your file system and manually delete files, but that's a tedious process. Sometimes, apps download multiple files or folders they need to operate properly.

How to use duplicate finders to remove duplicates and similars.

Find and remove duplicates with Terminal commands.

You may also import images you already have in your Photos app, or have multiple video or audio files lurking. There are times when you duplicate a file to alter it, but never get around to those changes.

Having duplicate files on your Mac may not be your fault. Best ways to remove duplicates on your Mac

Remove duplicate photos mac photos