Some users randomly store files on their computers, which may result in having multiple copies of the same files at different locations. This is especially the case when we download files such as music, videos, documents, photos etc., from the internet, not knowing if we already possess a copy. It not only fills your hard drive with duplicate content, but also hogs down overall PC performance. CloneSpy is a useful tool that can help you delete these duplicates within a few minutes, depending on how much junk you have on your hard drive. It comes with a user-friendly interface and a powerful scanning engine to locate files with not only same names, but also identical data.

So how does it work? Well, it can process files of five types:

The application offers a Pool system, you can either scan a single pool (i.e. folder) for analyzing duplicates within that pool, or compare two pools (two different folders) for finding duplicate content. The process of finding duplicates is quite simple; just select your pool and add your source directory to that pool by clicking Add Folder. Now, under Search for section, specify the search technique. From Actionsection, you may click Automatically delete (without confirmation) to unlock further options for what to do with the duplicate files, or you can leave it to default (Ask user) state. Clicking Start scanning begins the scan process.

A progress window will appear, showing the current scanning process.

In case, you have chosen the default Ask user option, under the Action heading, a small window pops up from time to time, presenting you with file information such as file path and date, and the actions you can perform on duplicate files. Here, you can Execute or Explore folder of the selected file as well as, invert your file selection. To delete the file(s), double-click the files you want to delete to mark them, and then click Delete all marked files to delete the selected files. You may click Stop scanning to pause the duplicate file scanning process.

Clicking File => Options on the menu bar opens the program’s configuration window, where you can change numerous application specific settings including Input attributes, file & folders, Names, Time & size, and Output deletion, export, logging and reporting and other features.

CloneSpy works on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. We tested the program on Windows 7 64-bit edition.

If you liked this app, you might want to take a look at the other duplicate file removing tools we’ve covered so far.

Download CloneSpy