How to Delete Duplicates in Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox

Having duplicate files is a common issue when managing cloud storage. Several factors can contribute to duplicate files, such as incorrect syncing, file name conflicts, or version control problems. However, manually identifying and deleting duplicate files can be extremely challenging, especially when there may be thousands of them.

That’s why a dedicated tool is essential to find and delete duplicates on your preferred cloud storage service, whether it’s Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox. Today, I will show you how to use a duplicate file deletion tool to automatically remove duplicate files from your cloud storage.

Importance of Deleting Duplicate Files

Managing duplicate files is crucial. They can lead to numerous long-term problems, making cloud data management difficult. Below are some common issues caused by duplicate data:

• Duplicate files can easily eat dozens of GBs of data, forcing you to upgrade your storage plan.
• They will clutter your folders making it difficult to find the right file.
• Too many duplicate files will also delay the backup and syncing process and consume extra bandwidth.
• For files with multiple versions, duplicates can create a lot of confusion.
• Sharing files can become a chore, especially if you are collaborating on a specific file with multiple duplicates.

Use a Cloud Duplicate Files Deleter Tool

To make the duplicate file deletion process easier, I recommend using a dedicated tool that will both find and delete the duplicate files for you. I have found Cloud Duplicate Finder the easiest tool for this purpose. It supports all popular cloud storage services like OneDrive, Google Drive, DropBox, and Box. It’s also safe to use as the login and permissions are managed by the cloud storage service.

Using Cloud Duplicate Finder

First, you’ll have to register an account to access the central dashboard where all your duplicate files from different cloud services will be managed. You can register with both an email and a Google or Microsoft account.

Once inside, you can select your preferred cloud storage services from above, including Google Drive, OneDrive, DropBox, Amazon S3, and Box.

Afterward, click on the Add New Drive button to log in to the cloud storage and provide the required permissions.

Now you’ll see all your folders, you can either select individual folders or the whole drive to scan. Once selected, click on the Scan button at the top-right corner.

After the scan, it will tell you the total number of duplicate files found and the space they are consuming. Since I have fewer duplicate files, the scan took about a second to complete. It will take more time if you have dozens of GBs of duplicate files.

The tool will show both original and duplicates of files in its interface along with size, creation date, and path to the drive. You can also enable the Preview option at the top to view the files inside Cloud Duplicate Finder.

Manually selecting each duplicate file would be a bit slower. So I recommend you click on the Select Duplicates button at the bottom and select Retain the newest file in each group or Retain the oldest file in each group.

Once selected, click on the Select Action button and choose Permanent Delete or Move to folder. You’ll need to have a Cloud Duplicate Finder pro subscription to be able to automatically delete all these files. Otherwise, you have the files and their paths to manually delete them in the cloud storage interface.

Bonus

If you are a OneDrive or Google Drive user, you can also take advantage of the Similar Photo Finder feature of this tool. Using AI, this feature will find photos that are very similar to each other. For example, if you have taken selfies with burst mode or multiple photos of an object, it can help you organize them and delete them that are too similar. You just need to select the similarity level (medium worked best for me) and scan the drive.

Ending Words

In my experience, Cloud Duplicate Finder was very responsive and the scanning process went smoothly as well. However, individually selecting each duplicate file felt like a chore as it did processing animation on each selection. This is why I recommended you use the bulk selection option to select the required duplicates and make any minor changes later. Overall, you should have no problem deleting even hundreds of GBs of duplicate files using this tool.