fdupes - Man Page

• Search a single directory: fdupes path/to/directory
• Search multiple directories: fdupes directory1 directory2
• Search a directory recursively: fdupes [-r|--recurse] path/to/directory
• Search multiple directories, one recursively: fdupes path/to/irectory1 [-R|--recurse:] path/to/directory2
• Search recursively, considering hardlinks as duplicates: fdupes [-rH|--recurse --hardlinks] path/to/directory
• Search recursively for duplicates and display interactive prompt to pick which ones to keep, deleting the others: fdupes [-rd|--recurse --delete] path/to/directory
• Search recursively and delete duplicates without prompting: fdupes [-rdN|--recurse --delete --noprompt] path/to/directory

tldr.sh

fdupes [ options ] DIRECTORY ...

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.

-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 option; see the Examples section below for further explanation).

-s --symlinks

Follow symlinked directories.

-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 in bytes.

-L --maxsize=SIZE

Consider only files less than or equal to SIZE in 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 indicated below). Please note that this option may not be available on some systems.

-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

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.

-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 duplicate file information.

-M --quicksummary

Summarize dupe information quickly, skipping the slower byte-for-byte match confirmation.

-q --quiet

Hide progress indicator.

-d --delete

Prompt user for files to preserve, deleting all others (see Caveats below).

-D --deferconfirmation

In interactive mode, defer byte-for-byte confirmation of duplicates until just before file deletion.

-P --plain

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.

-N --noprompt

When used together with --delete, preserve the first file in each set of duplicates and delete the others 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=WORD

Order files according to WORD: time - sort by modification time, ctime - sort by status change time, name - sort by filename.

-i --reverse

Reverse order while sorting.

-l --log=LOGFILE

Log file deletion choices to LOGFILE.

-v --version

Display fdupes version.

-h --help

Display help.

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.

fdupes a --recurse: b

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

fdupes a --recurse b

Will follow subdirectories under both a and b.

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!).

Adrian Lopez <adrianlopezroche@gmail.com>

duperemove(8), fdupes-help(7), rmlint(1).