Find and remove duplicate files Windows 10 [Step-By-Step]

Matthew Adams
by Matthew Adams
Windows & Software Expert
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  • A lot of users might need to scan for and delete duplicated files to free up hard drive space. However, Windows 10 doesn't include a duplicate file search utility.
  • This guide tells you how users can erase duplicated files with CCleaner.
  • Our Windows 10 section includes many more guides for that platform.
  • You can browse through a plethora of guides for various software at our How-to Hub.
how to remove duplicate files windows 10

Duplicated files are two, or more, of exactly the same file. You’ll be surprised just how many duplicated files there might be on your hard drive.

Even if you haven’t intentionally saved any duplicates of documents or images, software can often have various duplicated files in alternative folders.

Superfluous duplicate files can waste quite a bit of hard drive storage space. So, it’s surprising Windows 10 doesn’t include a built-in file scanner with which users can find and delete duplicated files.

The easiest way to resolve this issue is by using CCleaner. This amazing software can help you remove any duplicates and offers a wide range of other useful options.

However, there are plenty of third-party system maintenance and more specific duplicate file-cleaning utilities for Windows to scan for and erase duplicates with.

How can I delete duplicate files in Windows 10?

Erase duplicate files with CCleaner

  1. Download CCleaner and install it.
  2. Open CCleaner.
    CCleaner window remove duplicate files windows 10
  3. Click Tools on the left of the window.
  4. Select Duplicate Finder to open the utility shown directly below.
    Duplicate Finder utility remove duplicate files windows 10
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Configure the search options

  1. Select the Name and Size Match by checkboxes.
  2. Exclude system and hidden files from the search by selecting the ignore System files and Hidden files checkboxes.
  3. If you prefer not to place any file size constraints on the search, uncheck the File size under and File size over checkboxes.
  4. To scan the full hard drive, select the C: drive option.

Select specific folders and file types to scan

  1. Press the Add button to open the window shown in the shot directly below.
    Include window remove duplicate files windows 10
  2. Click Browse to choose a more specific folder or hard drive partition.
  3. Click the File Types radio button. Then you can enter more specific file types for the scan to search for, such as PNG, MP3, DOC, etc.
  4. Press the OK button.

Exclude folder and files

  1. To leave folders out of the search, select the Exclude tab.
  2. Click the Add button.
    Exclude window remove duplicate files windows 10
  3. Click Browse to select a folder to exclude.
  4. Click OK to confirm the selected folder.
  5. You can select your C: drive and the File Types radio button to specify specific file formats to leave out of searches.
  6. Click OK to exit the Exclude window.

Erase the duplicated files

  1. Click Search to initiate the scan.
  2. Now go through the list of detected duplicates. Select checkboxes for duplicate files to delete.
    Delete Selected button remove duplicate files windows 10
  3. To select all duplicates, right-click a listed file and click the Select All option.
    Select All option remove duplicate files windows 10
  4. Press the Delete Selected button to erase the duplicate files

CCleaner’s Duplicate Finder is a perfectly sufficient utility for purging duplicated files with. However, there are many other alternative duplicate file finder software.

Our duplicate finder software guide provides further details about the best utilities for deleting duplicated files.