file lists within folders

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this is a very unusual question. way back in the day when I used windows...there was a program which would allow me to open up a selected drive and allow me to print off name of every file within that categorizing all within each separate folder. did I make my questions clear enough?
can't remember what program was called now.

I am trying to organize my many external drives which have may duplicates...I thought if I could get such a list, it would be easier to determine which files where duplicate and not have to open each one to see.

is there any option on Mac to do this or a free program I could download?
 
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open the folder you want the list of
ctrl-a to select all the files
ctrl-c to copy all to clipboard
open TextEdit
In TextEDit go to EDIT: paste and match style
You will have the file list. There is a way to get this into Excel too but I have forgotten, you can google it.

But if your main problem is duplicate files, look for a free duplicate file finder. I started a job once with a mess of file structure and usb sticks with various versions and used something called Duplicate File Finder to clean it up.
This was some years ago although I still have the app in my applications folder. I didn't trust it 100% so I made copies of the folders and files first and used the Dup file finder on those. It was a bit tedious but not as tedious as doing it manually.

I'm in BC too.
 
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I thought if I could get such a list, it would be easier to determine which files where duplicate and not have to open each one to see.


I don't know if you know and it would be easier, but you shouldn't have to open each file to see what is inside, you should be able to use the OS's built-in Quickview and just Tap the spacebar when the file is selected and it should show you the contents.





- Patrick
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diane
I did this but the selection of folders and files only showed files...and not the files within the folders. will look for a free duplicate file finder....not sure how the duplicator would work...only by file name...I read somewhere that when doing this with pictures...it will ID some with same names tho different parameters changed in editing. maybe getting bit too wordy here....
I look and see what I can find.

my thought was to be able to print off a file with all the file names within folders from one huge drive...and then I could go from there to determine the dups.
was relatively easy to do on windows...but don't use anymore.

patrick..ill try quick view but don't think it will do the trick.

silly me I want something easy!!!
 
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thanks bob and Patrick ...will look into those links...
I did find this:
Top 5 Free Duplicate File Finder Apps for Mac: diskdrill, macClean, dupeGuru, easy duplicate finder, Duplicate file finder,
 

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I've used a couplle of duplicate file finders over the years. Some even give you the ability to decide whether or not you want to copy the files or do other tasks to keep the sourcce and destination copies in sync. One problem I have had is that some of these programsdo not look at enough parameters or make it difficult to tell if you are looking at the right information. You could haave, for example, two files with slightly different pathnames. You want the the program to flag that but you might also want to track differences in filesize.

I'm going to be keeping an eye on the thread. At the moment I've got two copies of my iTunes library and they are now out of sync. I've been looking at it manually but that could take forever.
 
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thnx slydude...i have downloaded dupeguru .... apparently free...and will try that...I like that it uses different algorithms in detection...so will see how that works out.
tho I need to make sure that I can retrieve any files deleted in error!!!

good luck with your iTunes library!!
 

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Thanks. As I was reading this thread I realized I have a couple of duplicate finders on my hard drive. I'm about to turn one loose and see what happens. I think I have one set so that it will move any duplicates to the maind folder so I may have created a bigger mess. Hope not.

One of the problems I had the last time I looked at this software is that some of them did npt make it clear what setting to use if you want to preserve the filesfolders to examine them later.

I'd suggest you have a good backup before running any of these ptograms.
 
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I have used Gemini2 with some success. My challenge is that I have a large external drive farm, so I have to do one drive at a time, or the report becomes so large it's unusable. It isn't free.
 
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Jake.... thnx.......I too have a farm of external drives.... loved that analogy!
Don’t want to pay so will have to find other options.
 
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Actually, Lori, the term "storage farm" is from the IT industry, where I worked for about 40 years. It referred to the area in the computer center where all the Direct Access Storage Devices (DASD) were stationed. They would end up in long rows, side by side, hence the "DASD Farm" term.
 
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Jake.... thnx.......I too have a farm of external drives.... loved that analogy!
Don’t want to pay so will have to find other options.



Hmmm...??? It seems odd to me that so many seem to have that attitude and don't want to pay for something that could work and save them so much time and effort. Oh well... and maybe I'm different as I have often sent the developer a donation for some FREE software that does something well for me and that I find worthwhile.





- Patrick
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- Patrick
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