It would be nice to be able to do a file compare sort of for dupes.
The idea is one can designate folders and/or files as a "source" which then everything will compare against the database to find matches.
It should be a relatively simple feature to add. Maybe enable various ways to compare such as regex, filesize, contents, etc.
Yes, I know there are apps out there already but I've never found one that is that great.
I typically download quite a bit of stuff and need to cross check things to make sure I'm not redownloading something I did months ago.
Typically, since I use everything quite a bit, I might pick out some token in the filename and look to see if it exists or exists in another place(if I already downloaded it) but this is too time consuming when a lot of files have to be checked.
Add functionality for file comparisons?
Re: Add functionality for file comparisons?
To find duplicates in multiple locations:
Search for paths and perform a dupe: search:
"C:\Folder A\" | "D:\Folder B\" | "E:\Folder C\" dupe:size
This search will be instant and give you a good idea of what files might be duplicated.
Use dupe:size;sha256 to compare content:
"C:\Folder A\" | "D:\Folder B\" | "E:\Folder C\" dupe:size;sha256
The sha256 value is only calculated for files with the same size.
Computing sha256 is slow, this search will take a long time.
A limitation with the above searches is Everything may find all duplicates inside a single folder, for example: E:\Folder C
See below to use a source folder.
To find duplicate files by size from a list of files:
Include the following in your search:
sizefilelist1:
Right click the sizefilelist1: text in your search box and click Edit File List Slot....
Click Add Folder...
Select your source folder and click Ok.
Click OK.
One limitation I run into is small files or empty files will match a lot of other files.
This search works best when all the files are larger (> 1MB)
One way to build a list of larger files is to search for:
"C:\Folder A\" size:>1mb
Select all the results
Copy all the filenames with Ctrl + Shift + C
Change the search to: sizefilelist1:
Right click the sizefilelist1: text in your search box and click Edit File List Slot....
Click Remove All.
Paste your filenames and click OK.
From there you can find duplicates with:
sizefilelist1: dupe:size
sizefilelist1: dupe:size;sha256
If you don't want to show the source files, include !filelist1: in your search:
sizefilelist1: !filelist1:
I want to add a sha256filelist1: search at some time.
However, I suspect the performance will make it impractical.
The above searches will be instant and give you a good idea of duplicated files.
Finding duplicates in Everything
Search for paths and perform a dupe: search:
"C:\Folder A\" | "D:\Folder B\" | "E:\Folder C\" dupe:size
This search will be instant and give you a good idea of what files might be duplicated.
Use dupe:size;sha256 to compare content:
"C:\Folder A\" | "D:\Folder B\" | "E:\Folder C\" dupe:size;sha256
The sha256 value is only calculated for files with the same size.
Computing sha256 is slow, this search will take a long time.
A limitation with the above searches is Everything may find all duplicates inside a single folder, for example: E:\Folder C
See below to use a source folder.
To find duplicate files by size from a list of files:
Include the following in your search:
sizefilelist1:
Right click the sizefilelist1: text in your search box and click Edit File List Slot....
Click Add Folder...
Select your source folder and click Ok.
Click OK.
One limitation I run into is small files or empty files will match a lot of other files.
This search works best when all the files are larger (> 1MB)
One way to build a list of larger files is to search for:
"C:\Folder A\" size:>1mb
Select all the results
Copy all the filenames with Ctrl + Shift + C
Change the search to: sizefilelist1:
Right click the sizefilelist1: text in your search box and click Edit File List Slot....
Click Remove All.
Paste your filenames and click OK.
From there you can find duplicates with:
sizefilelist1: dupe:size
sizefilelist1: dupe:size;sha256
If you don't want to show the source files, include !filelist1: in your search:
sizefilelist1: !filelist1:
I want to add a sha256filelist1: search at some time.
However, I suspect the performance will make it impractical.
The above searches will be instant and give you a good idea of duplicated files.
Finding duplicates in Everything