Synology tip: How to find duplicate files or large files automatically

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I love my Synology, as I use it for many things and it just works. From media server, to file archive, to backup, to photo server, to surveillance... It has many possibilities. If you add high capacity drives (I have 2 x 3 TB), it can hold quite a lot of information.

Lately I've been centralizing all digital information on the Synology, mainly because I used to have info on multiple computers, external hard drives, backups of backups, etc... and wanted to have everything in one place. After copying and organizing a bit, I found out that I had multiple copies of same files, pictures, videos, etc...

But how to check and erase only duplicates?

 

I started by using Gemini, a duplicate finding software for MacOS. However the search needs to be done via network (executed on the Mac) and takes forever to generate a report. Wouldn't it be great if Synology could do this without a computer involved?

Luckily, Synology thought of a way to do this automatically by the DSM. Not only that but it can automatically generate duplicate reports on a regular basis and email them to you. The email contains a link which takes you to a webpage where you can delete the duplicate file. EASY!

How to set it up:

Enter your Synology via the desktop DSM ( or simply put login to your Synology ). If you have DSM 5, you should see something like this:

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Open the control panel and under "System" go to "Info center"

Information on your Synology product will appear. On the top there is a tab named "Report". Click on it

Press "Create" to start the report wizard

In the next screen give a identifiable name to your report. I called mine "Duplicates". Also add an email so that your Synology can email you a direct link when the report is ready.

 

After pressing next, the screen will contain several options. Check Only "Duplicate File Candidates" and press next.

 

 

The next screen is about scheduling, when do you want Synology to generate the report. I have it once per week every Monday at 00:00. To note this is when it starts generating the report, not when it finishes or sends you the email. In the case you want to verify duplicated (next screen), and depending on the quantity of files you have it make take a while.

After pressing next, you can check "Find confirmed duplicates", which makes 100% sure the files shown are duplicates. I definitely recommend this option. Here you can also choose to check every files in the Synology or only specific folders.

In the next screen verify your options and press "Apply". And there it is! After a some time you will get your first duplicate report.

 

And within it you can erase the files you don't want to keep!