The main reason for removing duplicates is to free up disk space. If your duplicates only take up a few kilobytes, the benefit will be minimal. However, in the case of a video library containing multiple copies of the same movie, especially in 4K, removing these copies can quickly free up several gigabytes.

Another advantage, directly related to the previous one, is financial savings. By freeing up the space occupied by duplicates, you reduce the need to buy new hard drives or subscribe to more expensive cloud storage plans.

The third reason is clarity and organization of your files. A bit of tidying never hurts. Fewer files mean a more readable structure, making searches easier and reducing the risk of confusing different versions of the same document.

Finally, deleting duplicates can improve certain operational performances. After a cleanup, and contrary to what some might claim, you should not expect your PC itself to run faster, but tasks such as backups or file transfers will certainly take less time.

Warning: not all duplicates should be removed. For example, Windows contains many identical files, especially in the C:\Windows system folder. Deleting them could render your computer unusable. Therefore, limit your actions to your own personal files.

How to find and delete duplicates?

With the rise of cloud storage, we create more and more duplicates: the same file can exist simultaneously on your computer, your NAS, and in the cloud… Windows does not provide any built-in tool to search for duplicates, so you will need to use third-party software. If your duplicates are spread across different devices, I recommend the excellent program Duplicate Media Finder. Even in its free version, this software can analyze not only the previously mentioned devices but also your smartphones and tablets.

Going further

There is an alternative to deleting duplicates. Instead of deleting them, it is possible to replace them with links pointing to a single target file. This method frees up just as much disk space as deletion while keeping all file paths accessible. It may sound a bit mysterious, but you can read this article Links, an Alternative to Duplicate Deletion which explains the process in detail.