{"id":340,"date":"2018-12-12T14:40:22","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T14:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pictureecho.com\/blog\/?p=340"},"modified":"2025-11-24T10:42:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T10:42:48","slug":"deleting-duplicate-jpg-jpeg-png-and-gif-images-from-the-computer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pictureecho.com\/blog\/deleting-duplicate-jpg-jpeg-png-and-gif-images-from-the-computer\/","title":{"rendered":"Deleting Duplicate .JPG, .JPEG, .PNG and .GIF Images from the Computer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Duplicate files are a reality, and they are here to stay. Almost every single one of us possesses a computer\/ laptop that contains anywhere between a modest to a gigantic number of duplicates stashed on the hard disk.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Whether you are a professional photographer, a big-time selfie lover, someone who is too big in computer graphics or even a casual snap lover who captures several dozen images, there is every likelihood that your photos collection comprises of duplicate images. These duplicates occupy valuable storage space on your <\/span>DSLR<\/b>\u2019s memory card, the computer\u2019s hard disk and even the cloud storage service you use to back up the images. <\/span><\/p>\n

You will have to step up and take matters in your hands. There are various ways you can take corrective action to clean up these pesky duplicate images.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Manual Way to Delete Duplicate and Similar Images<\/b><\/h2>\n

This method requires the user to do some manual work, determine the duplicates and kill them off. Firstly, you might want to tinker with the indexing options and then we will switch to the search.<\/span><\/p>\n

For those of you who don\u2019t know, <\/span>Indexing<\/b> forms an index of the overall contents( files as well as folders) located on the hard drive. This procedure is designed to speed up searches, and the results are very positive. Strangely enough, sometimes the computer launches the indexing operation even when the computer is in use, and diverts valuable resources from where the user requires them. This leads to an overall slowdown, and the user suffers. You can either turn off indexing completely if you don\u2019t perform searches that often, or you can even limit the indexing operation to include only those file types(e.g. images) which you frequently search (<\/span>Windows 7<\/b> onwards). This way you will save up all the lag caused by all the indexing performed in locations which you don\u2019t need to search.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you simply need to disable indexing for a hard drive:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Right-click the hard drive in <\/span>My Computer<\/b>\/ <\/span>This PC<\/b> and select <\/span>Properties<\/b>. <\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Now simply uncheck the checkbox for <\/span>Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties<\/b>. <\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Click <\/span>OK<\/b>, and restart your computer to apply the changes.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If you need to disable indexing for a file\/ folder:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Right-click the file\/ folder, and select <\/span>Advanced<\/b> under the <\/span>General<\/b> tab.<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Now uncheck the checkbox for <\/span>Allow this file to have contents indexed in addition to file properties<\/b>\/ <\/span>Allow files in this folder to have contents indexed in addition to file properties<\/b> (as applicable).<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Click <\/span>OK<\/b> | <\/span>OK<\/b> and restart your computer to apply the changes.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      If you limit indexing to select file types, here is what you need to do.<\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Click the <\/span>Start<\/b> menu, type in <\/span>index<\/b> and select <\/span>Indexing Options<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
      2. Click <\/span>Advanced<\/b>, then select the <\/span>File Types<\/b> tab in the next window.<\/span><\/li>\n
      3. Now you can happily select (and deselect) file types, depending on your requirements. Also, select the radio box for <\/span>Index Properties and File Contents<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
      4. Click <\/span>OK<\/b> | <\/span>Close<\/b>, and restart your computer to apply the changes.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Navigate to a drive which you think contains duplicate images buried somewhere. Now we must first adjust the view as well as the results layout so that we can easily spot duplicates once we launch the search. To do so:<\/span><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Press <\/span>Ctrl<\/b> + <\/span>F1<\/b> to bring up the <\/span>Ribbon<\/b> interface.<\/span><\/li>\n
        2. Click <\/span>View<\/b> (tab) | <\/span>Preview pane<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
        3. In the <\/span>Current view<\/b> category, click <\/span>Group by<\/b> | <\/span>Name<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
        4. In the final step, click <\/span>Details<\/b> under the <\/span>Layout<\/b> category.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Now you will get search results that will be arranged alphabetically, show up attributes such as name, type, size etc. You will also be getting a preview to make matters easier for you.<\/span><\/p>\n

          Simply click the <\/span>Search Box<\/b> (just next to the address bar), and type in these keywords (one by one) to bring up relevant results.<\/span><\/p>\n