Easy question - Comparing files/folders in linux (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 day ago by bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works to c/linux@lemmy.world

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So I have a problem. I have WAY too many hard drives and backups from decades of computing. I just hoard everything. The issue is now I don't know what I have duplicates of and what I don't. or when I want to format an old external drive for something else, I'm not sure if I actually have a backup of it.

I just want a way to basically compare folders and see what files are missing or what are duplicates. I'm fine with CLI but I may prefer a GUI for this so I'm not deleting files by accident as easily...

I have searched around for this question but all the solutions seem way too complex for me.

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[-] DarkSirrush@piefed.ca 1 points 22 hours ago

If you only care about saving drive space, you can also just use a file system that has deduplication built in, like btrfs, and just run a dedup pass.

This doesn't deduplicate file references, but does save space on disk.

this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2026

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