dupeGuru Review 2020: Is dupeGuru Safe, Free and Alternatives

We often copy and download the same file twice to different locations, or save the same document repeatedly just with the name changed. A large of copies would use up the memory space on our computers sooner or later. But sometimes we didn’t even realize that the computer is full of redundant copies.

Thanks to dupeGuru for Mac/ Windows, which can quickly retrieve and delete duplicate documents, music, pictures, etc. Now I will walk you through the dupeGuru reviews and alternatives, then you will know it better.

• What is dupeGuru?
• dupeGuru Review: A Closer Look
• Is dupeGuru Safe and Free
• Top 3 Alternatives to dupeGuru

What is dupeGuru?

Dupeguru is an open-source, cross-platform GUI program that followed by many Reddit, Quora, advanced users, etc.. You can remove duplicate files on Mac, Windows, and Linux via Dupeguru.

It’s consisting of 3 application modes: Standard edition, Picture edition alongside the Music edition. Each mode contains 2~5 scan types, like Filename, Contents, TEXIF Timestamp and more. Some scan types in Dupeguru offer fuzzy-matching algorithm, which lets you find duplicate files without the exact name sharing.

Pros:

• Multiple operational modes and scan types
• The fuzzy matching algorithm helps to find similar files
• Show Dupeguru results: filename, size, kind, match percent, bitrate (Music only) and dimensions (Picture only).
• Display scanning process and details of scanned files
• Preview duplicate files before deleting
• Filter special files by keywords

Cons:

• The interface is old-fashioned
• The features are not clear at a glance
• Not friendly enough for novices
• Bad support for the newest system version
• Failed to detect the identical text, music, etc. files at times

dupeGuru Review: A Closer Look

This part will mainly present the dupeGuru review for Mac. Since the software for Windows has similar functions and was created by the same developer with Mac version. We won’t repeat the introduction again.

Download & Installation

The original developer of dupeGuru- Hardcoded Software didn’t maintain the software anymore. You have to go to https://dupeguru.voltaicideas.net/ to download the program.

There are 4 download options in Voltaic Ideas: Windows (x64), Linux (ppa), OS X, and Source. The Windows and Mac ones are the most popular options.

As a lightweight application, the installation of dupeGuru will not take up much space.

Interface

dupeGuru for Mac has an uncluttered and simple interface.

It’s divided into 3 sections. From the first section, you can see 3 application modes: Standard, Music, and Picture. Below shows the scan types, as we mentioned before, the types under each mode are varying. Continue to look down, it is the field used for adding scan folders.

You can scan folders in a batch, both of them display the name and state (normal, reference and excluded).

Preferences

Click dupeGuru in the status bar at the top > choose Preferences from the drop-down menu > the dupeGuru Preferences dialog will pop out.

In the basic tab, you can set the filter hardness from 0 to 100. The small value should get more results while the large one gets fewer. Besides, you are also able to define the font size, word weighting, ignore files smaller than appointed sizes, etc.

Swift to advanced tab, you can check or uncheck the boxes of more options, type your custom command and determine the behavior of Copy and Move operations.

To deeply understand each setting, please visit: https://www.hardcoded.net/dupeguru/help/en/preferences.html.

dupeGuru Results

This dialog demonstrates the scanning results of your duplicate files.

• Details– Empower you to look through the details in the text of a selected file. It’s helpful to check if a duplicate really is a duplicate.
• Dupe Only– Once enabling this mode, the system will automatically filter duplicate files (displayed in orange color) to the front row.
• Delta– Show the value relative to the duplicate’s reference. For example, if a duplicate is 31KB and its reference is 186KB, the size column will give you the value -155KB.
• Preview- Let you look at the original file directly before handling it.

Besides, there is a gear icon on the toolbar that allowing you to do more operational of the scanned files.

How to Use dupeGuru on Mac?

1. Launch dupeGuru on Mac.
2. Select a scanning mode and type.
3. Click on the “+” button or “Load Results” button to add the folder to the scanning window.
4. Start to scan duplicate files and wait for the process.
5. Once completed, mark the duplicate files that you want to delete in the Results window, and verify the selections.
6. Click the gear icon on the top left corner, and choose “Send Marked to Trash” option. All selected duplicates will be removed at once.

2 FAQs about dupeGuru

Q 1. Is dupeGuru safe to use on compatible platforms?

A: From my aspect, dupeGuru is super safe.

• Download: It’s a green and reliable program that has been served for users for many years. To avoid downloading dupeGuru malware or virus, you should get the software on the official site or authoritative download sites.
• Install: The installing process is very fast, secure, and no additional virus files or adware will be installed.
• File deletion: Not only does dupeGuru allow you to inspect duplicate files before deleting them, but all the selected files to ignore list. So you will no need to worry about deleting important files by mistake.

Q 2. Is dupeGuru free?

A: I am sorry to say, dupeGuru is not 100% free. After erasing 10 copy files, you have to donate $9.99 to continue your work.

Top 4 Alternatives to dupeGuru

If you have a little trouble getting started with dupeGuru or it can’t meet your demands, take a shot at dupeGuru alternatives. The well-known tools- Gemini 2 and Easy Duplicate Finder are not specifically mentioned below, you can also take a crack at them.

#1 Cisdem Duplicate Finder (Windows and Mac)

Known to be one of the best duplicate file finders for Mac and Windows, Cisdem Duplicate Finder runs the task of detecting and deleting the copied files efficiently. It designs for people who desire to get rid of duplicates from a variety of file types, like videos, music, archives, pictures, documents, etc. Plus, this dupeGuru alternative can accurately and quickly scan the files in internal, external hard drive as well as similar images in Mac’s Photos and iTunes.

Pros:

• Ignore list to exclude files you don’t wish to scan
• Reclaim an amount of storage space on the hard drive
• Preview and compare scanned files in different filters
• Works with most popular file formats

Cons:

• Not free

Download for Mac | Download for Win

#2 Auslogics Duplicate File Finder (Windows)

Auslogics Duplicate File Finder, an intelligent dupeGuru alternative, offers free features to locate duplicates on Windows and free up space. It scans your specified folders for copies and sorts the results through images, music, videos or others. You are capable of removing duplicates permanently or keeping them in a rescue center. Also, you can configure the search parameters, such as types, file size, names, dates, and so on.

Pros:

• Simple and intuitional interface
• Fast to scan files, detect duplicates and provide results
• Bring back accidentally deleted files via rescue center
• Plenty of operational options for scanning, filtering, marking

Cons:

• Might show inaccurate results
• Can’t deeply dig out identical files

Free Download

#3 Duplicate Sweeper (Windows and Mac)

When speaking about the alternatives to dupeGuru, Duplicate Sweeper should be on the list. It assists you to add special folders to the search, including documents, music, photos, contacts, etc.. After you click the “Start Duplicate Search” button, you may get a bunch of duplicate files, which display in a graphical representation classifying into various types.

Pros:

• Easy-to-navigate interface
• Find hidden duplicates
• The scanned duplicates are shown in groups
• Offer preview screen

Cons:

• Shareware, the free trial can only detect duplicates

Download for Mac | Download for Win

#4 Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder (Windows)

Famous for duplicate photo retrieving, this dupeGuru alternative undertakes an astonishing task in discovering copied images. With custom scanning, you can easily catch sight of the duplicate pictures in major formats (JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF, etc.). In addition, it’s able to compare compressed images or even images with corrected colors. Just preview the pictures to determine which one to remain, and which one to erase, finally remove the unneeded duplicates.

Pros:

• Support to compare images visually
• Personalize the degree of similarity between items
• Fast folder scanning speed

Cons:

• Primarily applied to duplicate photo findings
• Missing multi-selection to remove duplicates
• Bad support on new Windows system

Free Download

Verdict

That’s the whole on dupeGuru Review. In short, it’s a piece of safe and effective software to find and eliminate duplicate files on Mac and Windows. dupeGuru contains some intricate parameters that make it uneasy to use for newbies. But fortunately, you have multiple dupeGuru alternatives when it comes to duplicate files detecting and removing. Anyway, pick the most suitable one for yourself and your system.