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How to install fdupes in Linux


To install " fdupes" which is used to Find and Delete Duplicate Files in Linux

Fdupes is a program to scan directories for duplicate files. It recognize the duplicates using MD5 signature of files along with a byte-to-byte comparison. List, replace and delete options can be used along with fdupes. It is programmed in C Language and is released under MIT License. Installation of fdupes is explained in this article

fdupes compares the files in the following order.
Size comparison -> Partial MD5 Signature Comparison -> Full MD5 Signature Comparison -> Byte-to-Byte Comparison.

To Install fdupes on Linux

Execute the below command to Install the latest version of fdupes.


On Fedora and CentOS/RHEL based system


Enable epel repository before installing fdupes package. Then run the following command to install.

[root@linuxhelp ~]# yum install fdupes


Important: In fedora, the default yum package manager is replaced by ' dnf' .

On Debian based systems

root@linuxhelp:~# apt-get install fdupes -y
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  libavahi-client-dev libavahi-common-dev libavahi-compat-libdnssd1
  libdbus-1-dev libjs-jquery libruby2.1 libyaml-0-2 ruby2.1
  rubygems-integration
Use ' apt-get autoremove'  to remove them.
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  fdupes
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 226 not upgraded.
Need to get 16.8 kB of archives.
After this operation, 69.6 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ wily/main fdupes amd64 1.51-1 [16.8 kB]
Fetched 16.8 kB in 0s (25.3 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package fdupes.
(Reading database ... 180830 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../fdupes_1.51-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking fdupes (1.51-1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.4-1) ...
Setting up fdupes (1.51-1) ...

To use fdupes command

Lets create few duplicate files under ' /home/user1/linuxhelp' .

root@linuxhelp:~# mkdir /home/user1/linuxhelp & &  cd /home/user1/linuxhelp & &  for i in {1..25}  do echo " Welcome to linuxhelp."  >  file${i}.txt   done


Run the following command to verify whether the duplicates files are created or not.

root@linuxhelp:~/linuxhelp# ls -l
total 100
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file1.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file2.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file3.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file4.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file5.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file6.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file7.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file8.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file9.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file10.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file11.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file12.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file13.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file14.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file15.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file16.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file17.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file18.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file19.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file20.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file21.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file22.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file23.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file24.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22 May 24 09:25 file25.txt


Now we have created 25 files and all files contains the same data, " Welcome to linuxhelp."

To search for duplicate files

Run the following command to search the duplicate file.

root@linuxhelp:~# fdupes /home/user1/linuxhelp
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file1.txt        
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file2.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file3.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file4.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file5.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file6.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file7.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file8.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file9.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file10.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file11.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file12.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file13.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file14.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file15.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file16.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file17.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file18.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file19.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file20.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file21.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file22.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file23.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file24.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file25.txt


Use ' -r' option to Search for duplicate files recursively under every directory including its sub-directories.

root@linuxhelp:~# fdupes -r /home/
/home/user1/.sudo_as_admin_successful   
/home/user1/.cache/sso/sso-client-gui.log
/home/user1/.local/share/unity-settings-daemon/input-sources-converted
/home/user1/.config/compiz-1/compizconfig/config
/home/user1/.gconf/apps/%gconf.xml
/home/user1/.local/share/.converted-launchers
/home/user1/.config/unity/first_run.stamp
/home/user1/.cache/motd.legal-displayed
/home/user1/.local/share/zeitgeist/fts.index/flintlock
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file1.txt        
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file2.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file3.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file4.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file5.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file6.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file7.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file8.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file9.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file10.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file11.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file12.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file13.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file14.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file15.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file16.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file17.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file18.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file19.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file20.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file21.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file22.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file23.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file24.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file25.txt


To view the size of duplicates found within a folder use the below command.

root@linuxhelp:~# fdupes -S /home/user1/linuxhelp/
22 bytes each:
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file1.txt        
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file2.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file3.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file4.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file5.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file6.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file7.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file8.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file9.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file10.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file11.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file12.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file13.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file14.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file15.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file16.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file17.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file18.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file19.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file20.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file21.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file22.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file23.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file24.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file25.txt


To view the size of duplicate files for every directory and subdirectories encountered inside, use ' -Sr' option as follows.

root@linuxhelp:~# fdupes -Sr /home/
0 bytes each:                           
/home/user1/.sudo_as_admin_successful
/home/user1/.cache/sso/sso-client-gui.log
/home/user1/.local/share/unity-settings-daemon/input-sources-converted
/home/user1/.config/compiz-1/compizconfig/config
/home/user1/.gconf/apps/%gconf.xml
/home/user1/.local/share/.converted-launchers
/home/user1/.config/unity/first_run.stamp
/home/user1/.cache/motd.legal-displayed
/home/user1/.local/share/zeitgeist/fts.index/flintlock

22 bytes each:
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file1.txt        
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file2.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file3.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file4.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file5.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file6.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file7.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file8.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file9.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file10.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file11.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file12.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file13.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file14.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file15.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file16.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file17.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file18.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file19.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file20.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file21.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file22.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file23.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file24.txt
/home/user1/linuxhelp/file25.txt

To delete the duplicate files

Use option ' -d' to delete the duplicate files.
All the duplicates are listed and now you can delete, either one by one, all or in certain range.
Except one file, we can delete all the remaining files by running the following command.

root@linuxhelp:~# fdupes -d /home/user1/linuxhelp/
[1] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file1.txt    
[2] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file2.txt
[3] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file3.txt
[4] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file4.txt
[5] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file5.txt
[6] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file6.txt
[7] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file7.txt
[8] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file8.txt
[9] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file9.txt
[10] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file10.txt
[11] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file11.txt
[12] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file12.txt
[13] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file13.txt
[14] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file14.txt
[15] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file15.txt
[16] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file16.txt
[17] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file17.txt
[18] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file18.txt
[19] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file19.txt
[20] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file20.txt
[21] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file21.txt
[22] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file22.txt
[23] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file23.txt
[24] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file24.txt
[25] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file25.txt
Set 1 of 1, preserve files [1 - 25, all]: 2-25
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file1.txt    
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file2.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file3.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file4.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file5.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file6.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file7.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file8.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file9.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file10.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file11.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file12.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file13.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file14.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file15.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file16.txt
[+] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file17.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file18.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file19.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file20.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file21.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file22.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file23.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file24.txt
[-] /home/user1/linuxhelp/file25.txt


Here, except the file17.txt, all the remaining files are removed.

For safety purpose you may also print the output of " fdupes" to file and then delete using the following command.

root@linuxhelp:~# fdupes -Sr /home >  /home/fdupes.txt


Important: You can replace " /home" with the your desired folder. Also use " -r" and " -S" option if you need to search recursively and Print size.

To check the version

Run the following command to check the version.

root@linuxhelp:~# fdupes --version
fdupes 1.51


If you want to know more options in fdupes use ' -h' option.

root@linuxhelp:~# fdupes -h
Usage: fdupes [options] DIRECTORY...

 -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 the option, manpage for more details)
 -s --symlinks        follow symlinks
 -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
 -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
 -m --summarize       summarize dupe information
 -q --quiet           hide progress indicator
 -d --delete          prompt user for files to preserve and delete all
                      others  important: under particular circumstances,
                      data may be lost when using this option together
                      with -s or --symlinks, or when specifying a
                      particular directory more than once  refer to the
                      fdupes documentation for additional information
 -N --noprompt        together with --delete, preserve the first file in
                      each set of duplicates and delete the rest without
                      prompting the user
 -v --version         display fdupes version
 -h --help            display this help message
Tag : fdupes
FAQ
Q
how to find duplicate files in a directory?
A
you can use the following command to find duplicate files in directory
# fdupes
Q
How to check the version of fdupes command in linux?
A
use following command to check the version of fdupes
# fdupes -v
Q
which command is used to delete the duplicate files in linux?
A
by using the following command to delete the duplicate files

# fdupes -d
Q
Whether any Graphical tool like fdupes available?
A
You can try Fslint package, it is a GUI tool to find and remove duplicate files,

https://www.linuxhelp.com/search-delete-duplicate-files-fslint/
Q
How to install fdupes on fedora os?
A
use the following command to install fdupes on fedora
# dnf install fdupes