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FDUPES(1) General Commands Manual FDUPES(1)

NAME

fdupes - finds duplicate files in a given set of directories

SYNOPSIS

fdupes [ options ] DIRECTORY ...

DESCRIPTION

Searches the given path for duplicate files. Such files are found by comparing file sizes and MD5 signatures, followed by a byte-by-byte comparison.

OPTIONS

For every directory given follow subdirectories encountered within.
For each directory given after this option follow subdirectories encountered within (note the ':' at the end of option; see the Examples section below for further explanation).
Follow symlinked directories.
Normally, when two or more files point to the same disk area they are treated as non-duplicates; this option will change this behavior.
Consider only files greater than or equal to SIZE in bytes.
Consider only files less than or equal to SIZE in bytes.
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 indicated below). Please note that this option may not be available on some systems.
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

The options prune, clear, and vacuum may be employed without supplying a DIRECTORY argument, and will take effect even if readonly is also specified. The order of operations is always clear, prune, update signatures (unless readonly), and vacuum.

Exclude zero-length files from consideration.
Exclude hidden files from consideration.
Omit the first file in each set of matches.
-1 --sameline
List each set of matches on a single line.
Show size of duplicate files.
Show modification time of duplicate files.
Summarize duplicate file information.
Hide progress indicator.
Prompt user for files to preserve, deleting all others (see CAVEATS below).
In interactive mode, defer byte-for-byte confirmation of duplicates until just before file deletion.
With --delete, use a line-based prompt (as with older versions of fdupes) instead of the new screen-mode interface. On installations where the screen-mode interface is not supported, fdupes will default to a line-based prompt.
When used together with --delete, preserve the first file in each set of duplicates and delete the others without prompting the user.
Delete duplicates as they are encountered, without grouping into sets; implies --noprompt.
Don't consider files with different owner/group or permission bits as duplicates.
Order files according to WORD: time - sort by modification time, ctime - sort by status change time, name - sort by filename.
Reverse order while sorting.
Log file deletion choices to LOGFILE.
Display fdupes version.
Display help.

NOTES

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.

EXAMPLES

Will follow subdirectories under b, but not those under a.
Will follow subdirectories under both a and b.

CAVEATS

When using -d or --delete, care should be taken to insure against accidental data loss.

When used together with options -s or --symlink, a user could accidentally preserve a symlink while deleting the file it points to.

Furthermore, 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!).

AUTHOR

Adrian Lopez <adrian2@caribe.net>