Deduplicate Files with Hashing

Two files with the same SHA-256 hash have identical content, regardless of filename or modification date. Use this to find exact duplicates.

Hash each version of a document to see if two "different" files are actually the same. Useful for auditing shared drives with redundant copies.

For large-scale deduplication across thousands of files, use a command-line tool that hashes in bulk. This tool is best for spot-checking.

Note: perceptual similarity (visually similar images) requires specialised tools. SHA-256 only detects exact byte-for-byte duplicates.