Looking for a specific utility function for Windows

June 20, 2023 12:17 PM

Is there a utility that will look in the Windows Downloads library, and check each file to see if it exists elsewhere in the Windows libraries? One of us has hundreds of files in Downloads, and they believe that 98% of the time they move a download to a diffferent, desired, directory but it looks like they were copied rather than moved. We are searching for a utility to tell us that there's a copy elsewhere so we can delete the files from Downloads. Windows 10
posted by TimHare to Technology (5 answers total)

I believe CCleaner has a search for duplicates function.
posted by Melismata at 12:29 PM on June 20, 2023

A "merge" utility can look at two different folders and tell you if a file exists in one, the other - or both.

Myself - I prefer "WinMerge" - open-source and free.

The other option would be some sort of file "deduplication" utility - which I have never researched or used. (DupeGuru)
posted by rozcakj at 12:30 PM on June 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Glary has a free Glary Duplicate Cleaner.
I haven't used it but have used their Glary Utilities, of which it's a part.
posted by yyz at 1:00 PM on June 20, 2023 [2 favorites]

My choice for this is CloneSpy and it can just find duplicates, move them, or delete them.
posted by soelo at 1:18 PM on June 20, 2023 [2 favorites]

Not sure if this might be part of the problem, but on windows, drag-and-drop moves by default ONLY between folders on the same drive. Otherwise, it copies.

If you drag-and-drop with the right mouse button, you will be asked whether you want to copy or move.
posted by Maxwell_Smart at 1:43 PM on June 20, 2023 [2 favorites]