Duplicate photo finder

This article is the look-alike picture job. You already have photos on this machine: a camera dump, a phone backup, Pictures, screenshots, a folder of exports. Two files can look the same and still not be the same bytes. A JPEG and a PNG of the same shot. A resized copy. A crop. Removing exact copies of any file type sits on Delete duplicate files. 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 find look-alike pictures 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. Similar Images is a tool in the left panel. It is not a second product.

How to use a duplicate photo finder 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 photo album.
3. Select Similar Images in the left panel. Open the directory panel. Add photo folders you own to Included paths. Pictures is a fair first pick. Do not start with the whole system drive.
4. Click Scan. Wait until groups fill the results. Click a row. Use the preview pane. Use Compare when that button is there so you can look at two pictures side by side.
5. Select copies you no longer need. Use the Trash or Delete control the window actually shows. Read the prompt. Confirm the path first. Leave the file you want to keep unselected. We will not promise Recycle Bin always holds a copy.

That list is the photo path on this PC. You are grouping pictures that look alike. You are not hashing every document on the disk. Exact copies of any file type sit on Delete duplicate files. After the five steps, look at a group. Checking the pictures is part of the job.

What duplicate photo finder is on this PC

Duplicate photo finder here means a scan of image files that already sit on this machine: a page of groups, a preview, a chance to keep one and trash the rest. In Krokiet, that work lives in Similar Images. You install the same program you would install for exact file copies. You pick a different tool in the left panel. You add folders. You scan.

People type duplicate photo finder when two pictures look the same and Explorer still shows two files. Hash of the whole file will miss a JPEG and a PNG of the same shot. It will miss a smaller export. It will miss a copy with a watermark. Similar Images compares how the picture looks, not only the bytes.

We will not pretend this is an online locker or a phone app store. The project is a desktop window that reads folders you add. That is enough for a Pictures library you already keep here. It is not a promise to sort every camera brand on earth.

You need folders you own

A blank results list with no Included path is not a scan. Add Pictures, a camera dump, a phone backup folder, or another directory of images you control. If the tree is empty, you do not have a photo job yet. Stay on this PC. Do not upload the album to a website to get a report of it.

Mark a master folder as Ref in Included paths if you have a backup you must not delete. Reference paths are used for comparison and protected from automatic remove in the window. Use that when you compare a working folder against a keep-forever folder.

Skip C:\Windows as a first test. Skip a drive you do not own. A lab image that blocks unknown exe files will also block this job. Use a PC you control.

Similar Images settings the window actually shows

The right pane holds tool settings. Hash size default is 16. Hash type default is Mean. Max difference default is 10. Those numbers are what V12.0.1 shows. We will not invent extra knobs. If your window shows Geometric invariance, that is for mirrored or rotated copies. Leave it off for a first scan unless you already know you need it.

Lower max difference means stricter groups. Raise it if known look-alikes stay apart. A first Pictures scan can stay on the defaults. If tiny icons are skipped, the global size filter in Settings may be the reason. Lower the minimum file size if you need small images. We will not invent a size formula. Look at what the scan actually found.

Ignore images with same size, and ignore images with same resolution, sit in that pane if your build shows them. Tick those only when you already know why. For a first pass, leave them off so groups can form.

Read the groups before you trash anything

Header rows are groups. File rows show name, path, size, and extra image info the columns actually list. Click a file. Look at the preview. Open Compare when you need two pictures at once. Double-click opens the file in the default app if that is how you confirm.

Keep the shot you mean to keep. Trash the extra. A group of four exports is not a reason to delete the original RAW plus every JPEG. Read the path. A file in a backup folder you still need is a keep. A file in Downloads you already imported is a candidate.

Select helpers sit on Select: one oldest, one newest, except newest, and other presets the popup actually shows. Use a preset only after you look at a sample group. A preset that keeps the smallest file may keep a bad thumbnail. Confirm. Then Trash or Delete.

Trash, Delete, and what stays

Trash and Delete are both possible labels. Read the button you click. Permanent delete means the extra is gone from that path. Trash means the extra is sent to the system trash if that path works. We did not sit on your PC and watch Recycle Bin for every drive type. We will not write a guarantee we did not observe.

Leave at least one file in a group if that picture still matters. Removing every row in a group is how people lose the only copy. Preview first. Path second. Action third.

Move exists if you would rather put extras in a holding folder than trash them today. Pick a folder you control. Do not move into a path you cannot write. Save on the action bar exports a result list if you want a text copy of what the scan found. That export is not the pictures.

Pictures, screenshots, and phone dumps

Pictures is the usual first folder. A phone backup dumped into Documents is another. Screenshots on Desktop can form groups of nearly the same capture. Camera exports that differ only by size will group under Similar Images when the look is close enough.

A WhatsApp or Messenger image folder is noisy. Same meme, different compression. That is the job. Read groups slowly there. A family album with one keep folder marked Ref is the safer shape: scan both, protect the keep folder, trash extras in the working folder.

We will not walk every image format. The scan reads types the build actually supports. If a file never appears, it may be an unsupported type, below the size filter, or outside Included paths. Check those three before you assume the tool is broken.

This is not the exact-copy walk

Duplicate Files hashes content. Two identical bytes match. Two photos that only look alike often will not. If you needed byte-identical copies of any type, that walk sits on Delete duplicate files. Stay on this page for pictures that look the same.

You can run both tools on the same folders. They do not share a result list. Scan Similar Images for the photo job. Scan Duplicate Files when you want exact extras. 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 photo job on this PC.

Skipping Softonic

Skip Softonic. Skip CNET. Skip unofficial wrappers. A search for duplicate photo finder 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 photo is still the wrong place.

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

Checking the scan

The job is not finished when the status bar says it found groups. The job is finished when you looked at the groups you care about, kept the picture you meant to keep, and the extras you chose are gone from that path if you ran the action. Open Explorer and confirm the keep file is still there.

Count groups against the folders you added. An empty result can mean a strict max difference, a high minimum size, or a folder with no images. A huge result can mean you added too much. Remove a path. Scan again.

A preview that looks blank can mean the file will not decode. Skip that row until you open it in the default app. Do not Delete a file you have not seen.

First scan

Add Pictures. Select Similar Images. Leave defaults. Scan. Open one group. Compare two files. Trash one extra if you are sure. That is a first scan. A whole disk with every backup 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 images the tool reads. Add a real photo folder. If Similar Images 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 groups look wrong

Two different photos in one group: lower max difference and scan again. Two copies that should have grouped: raise max difference a little, or try another hash type the pane actually lists, then scan again. Tiny icons missing: lower the minimum size in Settings.

A file on a network share can be slow. Copy a sample folder to Pictures, scan there, then decide. A read-only SD card will refuse Trash and Delete. Unlock the volume, or copy first. A folder still open in another app can lock a file. Close extras. Work in one window.

If Compare is missing, you may have no results yet, or that button shows only when Similar Images has groups. Scan first. Select a row. Then look for Compare.

School PCs and uninstall

A lab image may block winget and unknown exe files. Then this photo 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. Use a PC you control. Scan folders there.

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 exact file copies in full. That sits on Delete duplicate files. It will not clone another brand. That map sits on Duplicate file finder vs Auslogics.

It will not invent an online album product. It will not invent a cloud for this project. Similar Images reads folders you add. Stay on this PC.

How do I use a duplicate photo finder 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 Similar Images. Add photo folders to Included paths. Scan. Preview and Compare. Keep one. Trash or Delete extras. The install pointer is Install on the home page.

Is this only for identical files?

No. Similar Images groups pictures that look alike even when the bytes differ. Exact copies of any file type sit on Delete duplicate files. The photo job on this page is look-alike pictures.

Why did the scan miss a photo I know is a copy?

The file may sit outside Included paths. It may be below the minimum size. Max difference may be too strict. The type may not be supported in this build. Add the folder, lower the size filter, or raise max difference a little, then scan again. If you still needed exact bytes, that sits on Delete duplicate files.

Did you make this duplicate photo finder?

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.