Delete duplicate files

This article is the remove-extra-copies job. You already have the same file in two folders: Downloads and Documents, a backup and a working tree, a USB stick you copied twice. The bytes match. You want the extras gone and the keep file still there. Look-alike pictures that are not the same bytes sit on Duplicate photo finder. A brand comparison sits on Duplicate file finder vs Auslogics. The short install sits home.

This is Krokiet, the current Windows GUI for the Czkawka project. GPL-3.0. Rafał Mikrut publishes it. We did not make it. Official files live on GitHub Releases. The repo is qarmin/czkawka. This site does not host the installer. Skip Softonic, CNET, and unofficial wrappers.

The button on this page goes to Install on the home page. Trust notes sit on Duplicate file finder download safe.

Install so you can delete extra copies on this PC

Paste this into Windows Terminal or Command Prompt:

winget install -e --id qarmin.krokiet

If winget is missing, install App Installer from Microsoft, then paste again. Official Microsoft links only. GitHub Releases is the other path. For most PCs take windows_krokiet_on_windows_skia_opengl.exe. femtovg_wgpu and skia_vulkan also sit on that release if the usual file will not draw a window. Live tag observed: V12.0.1, 29 July 2026. Match the file name on the list. File notes sit on Duplicate file finder releases. LICENSE sits on Duplicate file finder GitHub.

Run the file on the same machine. Files stay on GitHub. If SmartScreen warns on a first run, read the publisher. Prefer the GitHub asset over a renamed copy from search. After setup, open the program. Duplicate Files is a tool in the left panel. It is not a second product.

How to delete duplicate files tool Krokiet

1. Install Krokiet with the command on this page, or take windows_krokiet_on_windows_skia_opengl.exe from GitHub Releases. femtovg_wgpu and skia_vulkan also exist on that release if you need another Windows build.
2. Open Krokiet on this Windows PC. You should get a desktop window, not a website that asks you to upload a drive.
3. Select Duplicate Files in the left panel. Leave the check method on Hash unless you have a reason to change it. Open the directory panel. Add folders you own to Included paths. If you have a backup you must not remove, add it too and tick Ref on that row.
4. Click Scan. Wait until groups fill the results. Read paths. Use Select if a preset fits, such as except newest, after you look at a sample group.
5. Use the Trash or Delete control the window actually shows. Read the prompt. Confirm the path first. Leave the keep file unselected. We will not promise Recycle Bin always holds a copy.

That list is the delete path on this PC. You are removing extra copies whose content matches. You are not grouping pictures that only look alike. That photo job sits on Duplicate photo finder. After the five steps, open Explorer and confirm the keep file is still there. Checking is part of the job.

What delete duplicate files means on this PC

Delete duplicate files here means a scan of files that already sit on this machine, groups of matching content, then Trash or Delete on the extras you chose. In Krokiet, that work lives in Duplicate Files. You install the same program you would install for look-alike pictures. You pick a different tool. You add folders. You scan. You act.

People type delete duplicate files when Explorer still shows two names and they already know one can go. The honest method is Hash. Size alone will pair unrelated files that happen to share a byte count. Name alone will pair two different files that share a filename. Hash compares content. Blake3 is the default hash type the window shows.

We will not pretend this is a one-click wipe of the whole disk. The project is a desktop window that reads folders you add. That is enough for Downloads plus Documents. It is not a promise to clean Windows itself.

Hash first, folders you own

A blank results list with no Included path is not a scan. Add Downloads, Documents, Desktop, or another directory you control. Do not start with C:\Windows. Do not start with Program Files. Those trees are a bad first test and a bad delete target.

Check method sits in the right pane. Hash is default. Size, Name, and Size and Name also sit there. Use Hash unless you are debugging why a name match appeared. Case sensitive is for name-based methods only.

Stay on this PC. Do not upload the folder to a website to get a report of it. The scan never has to leave this machine.

Reference paths protect a keep folder

Tick Ref on an Included path when that folder is a master copy. Reference paths are used for comparison and protected from automatic remove in the window. A working folder plus a backup folder is the usual pair: scan both, protect the backup, trash extras in the working tree.

If every copy lives in folders you might delete from, do not tick Ref on all of them. Then you must pick the keep file by hand in each group. That is slower and safer than hoping a preset guessed right.

Excluded paths sit on the other side of the directory panel. Add a folder you never want scanned: a temp tree, a .git tree if you added a project root by mistake. Settings also has excluded items as glob patterns. Use what the window actually shows.

Select, then Trash or Delete

Header rows are groups. File rows show name, path, size, and extra columns the list actually has. Click a row. Read the full path. Double-click opens the file in the default app if you need to confirm it is the extra you think it is.

Select opens presets: Select All, Unselect All, one oldest, one newest, except newest, except oldest, shortest path, longest path, invert, and custom if your build lists custom. Use except newest when you want to keep the latest copy and trash older extras. Look at one group before you apply a preset across the whole list.

Trash sends selected files to Recycle Bin. Delete removes them for good. The window labels those actions. Quitting the program does not restore a Delete. Recycle Bin can restore a Trash if you have not emptied it. For a first pass, prefer Trash.

Look at the path twice

Two files with the same hash can both matter. A copy in a project folder and a copy in a backup folder are not automatic junk. The backup may be the point. Ref helps. Reading the path still helps.

A group inside Downloads is often easy: you already imported the keep file. A group that includes a file on a USB stick you still need is not easy. Do not Delete from a stick you have not copied off. Eject later, after you confirm.

Hardlink and Softlink sit on the action bar for grouped results if your build shows them. Those replace extras with links. We will not walk every option. If you only wanted extras gone, Trash is the honest first action. Skip link tricks until you know you need them.

This is not the photo look-alike walk

Similar Images groups pictures that look alike even when the bytes differ. Duplicate Files will miss a JPEG and a PNG of the same shot. If you needed that photo job, it sits on Duplicate photo finder. Stay on this page for extra copies with matching content.

You can run both tools on the same folders. They do not share a result list. Scan Duplicate Files for exact extras. Scan Similar Images when two pictures only look the same. Do not mix the two result sets in your head.

A brand comparison sits on Duplicate file finder vs Auslogics. Official Auslogics can sit first for its own name. This page stays the remove-copies job on this PC.

Skipping Softonic

Skip Softonic. Skip CNET. Skip unofficial wrappers. A search for delete duplicate files is noisy. Portals wrap installers. The filename changes. Fetch Krokiet from GitHub Releases or winget. Trust notes sit on Duplicate file finder download safe.

If the URL is not github.com/qarmin/czkawka, stop. Match windows_krokiet_on_windows_skia_opengl.exe, or the femtovg_wgpu or skia_vulkan file on that release. This site does not host the installer. Files stay on GitHub. A lookalike domain that borrowed the word delete is still the wrong place.

We will not send you to a second site for a cleaner pack. Use folders you already have. If you later copy a keep file to a USB stick, that is your copy. It is not required for a first scan.

Checking the delete

The job is not finished when the status bar says it found groups. The job is finished when extras you chose are in Recycle Bin or gone, and the keep file still opens. Switch Explorer to Details. Confirm Date modified on the keep file. Empty Recycle Bin only after you are sure.

Count groups against the folders you added. An empty result can mean no matching copies, a high minimum size in Settings, or a folder with unique files. A huge result can mean you added too much. Remove a path. Scan again.

A file that will not Trash may be open in another program, or on a read-only volume. Close the other program. Unlock the volume. Do not Delete a path you have not read.

First scan

Add Downloads. Select Duplicate Files. Hash. Scan. Open one group. Trash one extra if you are sure. That is a first scan. A whole C: with every library attached is a terrible first test. You want to learn the panel, the group, and one keep.

If the results stay empty, you may have no Included path, or the folder has no matching copies. Add a second folder that you know holds extras. If Duplicate Files is missing from the left panel, you installed the wrong program. Uninstall a wrapper. Install from GitHub Releases or winget.

Windows may show SmartScreen on a first exe. Read the publisher. Prefer GitHub Releases. Updates live on GitHub Releases and on winget when the package updates. Match V12.0.1 until the release page shows another tag.

When nothing is found, or too much is found

Nothing found: the copies may differ by even one byte. Hash will treat them as different. That is correct. If you wanted look-alike pictures instead, go to Duplicate photo finder. If the files are smaller than the Settings minimum, lower that number and scan again.

Too much found: you added a whole drive. Remove system paths. Keep Downloads, Documents, Pictures, Desktop. Scan again. A preset that selected every row is a mistake until you unselect the keep files. Unselect All, then pick by hand for a first pass.

A file on a network share can be slow to hash. Copy a sample folder to Documents, scan there, then decide. Prehash is on by default in Krokiet and speeds later scans. We will not invent a cache lesson. If a later scan feels stuck, wait, or Stop, then scan a smaller path.

School PCs and uninstall

A lab image may block winget and unknown exe files. Then this delete job is closed for that hour. Do not fetch a wrapper. A borrowed laptop you return in twenty minutes is a bad place to leave the installer, and a worse place to Delete other people's files. Use a PC you control. Scan folders you own.

Uninstall is Apps in Windows, or the project uninstall. Closing the window is not uninstall. If other people use this PC, tell them you installed Krokiet, or take it off when you are done. Fetch again from GitHub Releases or winget, not from a wrapper.

What this article will not do

It will not host the installer. It will not be a star rating. Files stay on GitHub. The install pointer is Install on the home page.

It will not walk look-alike pictures in full. That sits on Duplicate photo finder. It will not clone another brand. That map sits on Duplicate file finder vs Auslogics.

It will not invent a one-click wipe of Windows. It will not invent a cloud for this project. Duplicate Files reads folders you add. Stay on this PC. Prefer Trash until you are sure.

How do I delete duplicate files on this PC?

Install with winget install -e --id qarmin.krokiet or windows_krokiet_on_windows_skia_opengl.exe from GitHub Releases. Open Krokiet. Select Duplicate Files. Hash method. Add folders you own. Tick Ref on a backup if you have one. Scan. Review groups. Trash or Delete extras. Confirm the keep file still opens. The install pointer is Install on the home page.

Should I use size or name instead of hash?

No, not for a first delete. Size and name produce false pairs. Hash compares content. Blake3 is the default. Use size or name only if you already know why you need that debug view. The delete job on this page is extra copies with matching content.

Why did Trash fail on a file?

The file may be open. The volume may be read-only. The path may sit on a stick that was removed. Close the other program. Unlock the volume. Confirm the path still exists. Prefer Trash over Delete on a first pass. If you still needed look-alike pictures, that sits on Duplicate photo finder.

Did you make this delete duplicate files tool?

No. Rafał Mikrut publishes Krokiet under GPL-3.0. Official files live on GitHub Releases. This site only points at that page. We do not host the installer.