Dup Scout

Dup Scout is a feature-rich program that finds duplicate files on your computer, enabling you to free up valuable space. This type of utility is recommended for HDD size management.

A configuration dialog is shown at startup, where you can make the app process system files, directory links and junctions, or process and show file user names.

The main application window is divided into several panels. You can create multiple profiles for duplicate searches and point out the locations to look into; it can be a directory or network share, all hard disks, servers or NAS devices, or all servers on the network.

During the scanning procedure you can check out the current found duplicate files, wasted space, all files and space, process time, performance and errors.

Results shows the file path, default action, total duplicates, size and wasted space for each duplicate set, and they are organized in the list by wasted space. The bottom half of the panel reveals the duplicate files in question, and they can be categorized by extension, file size, creation date or other attributes.

An action can be triggered for all items in the list, multiple selected ones or individual duplicate sets: replace duplicates with shortcuts or hard links, move them to a custom directory, compress items (and move to a custom directory), or delete all duplicates.

It is also possible to create an exclusion list (e.g. by location, extension or file name), view a pie and bar chart, generate a report for further scrutiny (HTML, TXT, CSV, XML, PDF, DupScout or SQL database), as well as select the newest or oldest files as duplicates.

Dup Scout supports a backup and restore service, alongside layout customization. As far as program settings go, you can integrate a Windows shell extension, enable the detection of recursive directories, use a custom HTML report header and footer, enable notification sounds and a crash log file, reconfigure keyboard shortcuts, as well as change proxy settings, to name just a few.

The application uses a low-to-moderate quantity of system resources, carries out a scan job quickly and works smoothly. Aside from the free edition, Dup Scout has a Pro, Server and Ultimate version. Compared to these ones, Dup Scout Free supports a smaller maximum storage capacity and maximum number of files. It does not let the user process specific file types or analyze duplicate files per host, nor does it support a command-line module, among other observations.

Dup Scout comes bundled with numerous useful features for identifying and removing duplicate items from your computer and, thanks to the user-friendly environment, it should be mastered by users in no time.