Introduction

FDUPES is a program for identifying duplicate files residing within specified directories.

Usage

Usage: fdupes [options] DIRECTORY...

-r --recurse for every directory given follow subdirectories encountered within -R --recurse: for each directory given after this option follow subdirectories encountered within (note the ':' at the end of the option, manpage for more details) -s --symlinks follow symlinks -H --hardlinks normally, when two or more files point to the same disk area they are treated as non-duplicates; this option will change this behavior -G --minsize=SIZE consider only files greater than or equal to SIZE bytes -L --maxsize=SIZE consider only files less than or equal to SIZE bytes -c --cache speed up file comparisons by keeping track of their signatures in a database; additional parameters may be provided using one or more cache parameters (as below) -x cache.OPTION supply an optional cache parameter, where OPTION is one of the keywords below and multiple options may be supplied via successive -x arguments: readonly read but do not update file signatures prune look through entire cache and delete orphaned entries clear clear all entries from cache vacuum reduce size of DB file, if possible (note that the options prune, clear, and vacuum may be employed without supplying a DIRECTORY argument, and will take effect even if readonly is also specified) -n --noempty exclude zero-length files from consideration -A --nohidden exclude hidden files from consideration -f --omitfirst omit the first file in each set of matches -1 --sameline list each set of matches on a single line -S --size show size of duplicate files -t --time show modification time of duplicate files -m --summarize summarize dupe information -q --quiet hide progress indicator -d --delete prompt user for files to preserve and delete all others; important: under particular circumstances, data may be lost when using this option together with -s or --symlinks, or when specifying a particular directory more than once; refer to the fdupes documentation for additional information -D --deferconfirmation in interactive mode, defer byte-for-byte confirmation of duplicates until just before file deletion -P --plain with --delete, use line-based prompt (as with older versions of fdupes) instead of screen-mode interface -N --noprompt together with --delete, preserve the first file in each set of duplicates and delete the rest without prompting the user -I --immediate delete duplicates as they are encountered, without grouping into sets; implies --noprompt -p --permissions don't consider files with different owner/group or permission bits as duplicates -o --order=BY select sort order for output and deleting; by file modification time (BY='time'; default), status change time (BY='ctime'), or filename (BY='name') -i --reverse reverse order while sorting -l --log=LOGFILE log file deletion choices to LOGFILE -v --version display fdupes version -h --help display this help message

Unless -1 or --sameline is specified, duplicate files are listed together in groups, each file displayed on a separate line. The groups are then separated from each other by blank lines.

When -1 or --sameline is specified, spaces and backslash characters () appearing in a filename are preceded by a backslash character. For instance, "with spaces" becomes "with\ spaces".

When using -d or --delete, care should be taken to insure against accidental data loss. While no information will be immediately lost, using this option together with -s or --symlink can lead to confusing information being presented to the user when prompted for files to preserve. Specifically, a user could accidentally preserve a symlink while deleting the file it points to. A similar problem arises when specifying a particular directory more than once. All files within that directory will be listed as their own duplicates, leading to data loss should a user preserve a file without its "duplicate" (the file itself!).

Contact Information for Adrian Lopez

email: adrianlopezroche@gmail.com

Legal Information

FDUPES Copyright (c) 1999-2019 Adrian Lopez

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.