When you start using your Mac, you never think that 256 GB, 512 GB or even 1TB SSD will not be enough. However, when it happens, your machine slows down, hindering your work and spoiling your experience. The problem is that among the files you badly need, there are also duplicates that may take up the lion`s share of your storage. Photos, videos, and documents, as well as iTunes duplicates, appear on your Mac over time. That’s why it is better to detect them among other files and remove.
What You Should Know About Duplicate Files
Duplicates are the files that appear on Mac without you knowing it and make your hard drive get full. There are many reasons why duplicates can strike your device. Suppose you move an awful lot of photos from your incredible vacation in Venice. You relocate them into Photos and then start sorting them out. The only thing that slips out of your sight is a great deal of duplicates now stored both in the initial folder and in the photo library. You won`t believe it, but it always happens if you save photos on Mac first and then move them into Photos. That`s one of the ways yet not the only one how gigabytes of your hard drive space are wasted. You never notice when and how exactly it happens until your hard drive is full. Only then, you puzzle over the way out for your mac. The things get worse when you try to find duplicates manually and realize it`s like looking for a needle in the haystack. Don’t forget you’re always able to use mac memory cleaner. Duplicates may appear everywhere, but photos and iTunes are two places where such files are the most common.
Photos
Almost everyone today has a smartphone with a top-notch camera and multi-shot mode which makes things even more complicated. You capture different moments of your life, overloading your hard drive with duplicate photos or shots very similar to each other. Do you really need all of them? We don`t think so. You also don`t need all those duplicates that happen after you synchronized photos on your Mac and iPhone. You can accidentally import the same photos twice or forget to delete a folder full of shots you already have in your photo library. Here, we remind you only a few paths you can choose to clutter your hard drive.
iTunes Duplicates
iTunes library is one more place where duplicates are commonplace. When you add some media files to iTunes, you can accidentally add the same file twice. When you press the ‘next’ button, you hear the same track playing once again. That`s a duplicate which slipped into your Mac and nipped off some megabytes of your hard drive space. It`s not a big deal actually when the same track appears twice. However, when most of your iTunes files have duplicates, their presence is tangible. You may find duplicates and delete them in iTunes or simply download a duplicate finder and do it in several clicks.
How to Handle Duplicates
There are two ways to handle duplicates on your Mac. First, you can do it manually. If you have lots of off-hours or simply adore making life more complicated than it really is, manual cleaning is what you need. However, if you value your time, it`s better to download ax` duplicate finder – an app which does everything for you fast. You won`t need to worry that you skipped something or otherwise – deleted the files you needed. You see that removing duplicates manually is like playing with fire – you never know for sure that file you`ve deleted is a byte-to-byte duplicate.
How to Scan for Duplicates Manually
If after our heads-up you aren`t going to back down, here are some tips for how to handle duplicates manually. Use Finder to avoid a painful and onerous search. It will help you find duplicates and sort them by name, type, or date rather fast. Follow the steps below to delete duplicates:
- Open Finder window
- Type asterisk (*) in the search window
- If you go right, you will see kind and size columns displayed on your Mac
- Filter all your files by kind and find duplicated arranged in the columns
- Start deleting the files you no longer need
While using Finder, double check every file you are determined to remove to make sure they are 100% duplicates. This method is not a way out for impatient people since you need to click every file manually, check it, and only then delete it. Nonetheless, if you are a risky person, you will probably like it.
Duplicate Finder is a Way Out
If our words have touched your soul and helped you think straight, you will download duplicate finder, install it, and remove all duplicates with a touch of the button. Duplicate finder is a program which helps you detect duplicates automatically. It scans your Mac, sorts files by type, name, or size, finds hidden duplicates, and safely removes them. You may either detect duplicates for certain files, remove the biggest duplicates, or find out duplicates and delete them one by one. Many such apps are available to Mac users, and you may choose one that best fits your needs. For instance, Mac Pro Cleaner is one of those cutting-edge cleaners that safely takes out duplicated from your Mac. You simply have to click one button and enjoy your duplicates free laptop. Mac Pro Cleaner has built-in Manager – a feature which scans your mac and marks all possible duplicates among audio tracks, videos, photos, and archives. It shows you the list of files suggested to delete. It never deletes anything for good without your approval. So, you don`t have to worry that something vital will be wiped out. With Mac Pro Cleaner, you don`t have to worry about duplicates and fear that they will eat up your hard drive.