The Easiest Way to Find and Delete Duplicate Files on Windows

Finding and deleting duplicate files on your Windows PC can be a tedious task. Fortunately, Microsoft's PC Manager app offers a simple solution.

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How to use PC Manager to find and delete duplicate files

While there are several third-party apps and tools that can help you find duplicate files on your Windows 10 or 11 PC, PC Manager is your best bet for a couple of reasons. First, it's completely free and developed by Microsoft itself. Second, it offers a number of other useful tools to maintain your PC's health and boost performance.

To get started, you'll first need to download the PC Manager app from the Microsoft Store if you haven't already. Once installed, follow these steps to find and delete duplicate files:

1. Open the PC Manager application on your Windows computer.
2. Go to the Storage tab on the left and click Duplicate files . This will open the duplicate files window.
3. Wait for the PC Manager app to scan your system for duplicate files and it will list all the duplicate files, along with the total storage space they take up at the top.
4. Use the filters at the top if you want to find only specific types of duplicate files, such as images, videos, or documents. You can also click the Size heading to sort files by their size.
5. Use the checkboxes to select the duplicate versions of the file you want to delete. If you want to select all files, click the Smart select option at the top.
6. Click the Permanently delete button in the lower right corner.
7. Click Permanently delete again to confirm.

PC Manager will delete the selected duplicate files. Since these files are permanently deleted, there is no need to empty the Recycle Bin afterwards. You can then make the most of your newly freed storage space.

No matter how careful you are, your PC is likely to accumulate duplicate files over time. Fortunately, PC Manager makes it easy to delete these unnecessary files and free up valuable storage space on Windows with just a few clicks.