Install fdupes with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• fdupes

Project history

The official README defines fdupes as a program for identifying duplicate files in specified directories. Its CHANGES file documents an old 1.x line with features such as semi-automatic deletion, hardlink handling, no-empty-file filtering, sameline output, size summaries, and safer comparisons.

The 1.6 and 2.x lines added more automation and safety features. Version 2.0.0 introduced an ncurses mode for interactive deletion, size filters, time display, ordering controls, logging, and an autotools build system. Later releases added cache support to speed comparisons, nanosecond file-time precision where available, and more defensive deletion checks.

The current development tree warns users that the repository is a development version and recommends package-manager installs or release downloads for ordinary users. That is a very fdupes-shaped maintenance stance: the utility is small, but because it can delete data, release discipline matters.

Adoption history

The supplied package facts show fdupes packaged by Alpine, Homebrew, Debian, Fedora/dnf, MacPorts, Nix, Arch/pacman, Ubuntu, and openSUSE/zypper. That breadth is the adoption story: duplicate-file cleanup is a universal enough need that a small C utility earned a place in most Unix-like package sets.

GitHub releases show maintained 2.x releases through 2025, while the changelog preserves the older 1.x feature history. fdupes has remained relevant because it avoids becoming a storage-management suite; it does one risky filesystem job and exposes conservative prompts and options around it.

How it is used

Users run fdupes against directories, commonly with --recurse to scan trees and --delete only after reviewing duplicate groups. The README explicitly warns that deletion can cause data loss in confusing symlink or repeated-directory cases, so interactive review and careful option choice are part of normal use.

The tool compares candidates efficiently by filtering and signing file contents, and modern versions can cache file signatures. It can also summarize duplicates, omit the first file in each set, preserve by ordering, and operate non-interactively when users deliberately choose that risk.

Why package nerds care

fdupes is one of those tiny utilities package managers keep around because it solves an admin problem without pulling in a desktop app or indexing service. It is also a good example of why mature CLI tools accrete flags: each flag encodes a real filesystem edge case someone hit.

Its significance is practical rather than fashionable. It is the package you install during disk-cleanup triage, run once, and then keep in your mental toolbox.

Timeline

• 1.0: Earliest documented fdupes release in the official CHANGES file.
• 2014: GitHub release history includes fdupes 1.51.
• 2016: fdupes 1.6.0 adds nohidden, permissions, ordering, reverse, immediate deletion, and comparison speedups.
• 2019: fdupes 2.0.0 released with ncurses deletion mode and autotools installation.
• 2025: fdupes 2.4.0 released.

Related projects

• Operating-system package managers are the recommended install route for normal users.
• Filesystem cleanup tools such as rdfind and jdupes occupy a similar duplicate-file niche, though they are separate projects.

Sources

• https://github.com/adrianlopezroche/fdupes
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adrianlopezroche/fdupes/master/README.md
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adrianlopezroche/fdupes/master/CHANGES
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adrianlopezroche/fdupes/master/INSTALL
• https://api.github.com/repos/adrianlopezroche/fdupes/releases
• https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/fdupes