How to find and manage duplicate files

Updated Jul 01, 2025

The information in this article applies to customers on Dropbox Advanced, Business, Business Plus, Essentials, Professionals, and Standard.

On dropbox.com you can find and manage duplicate files in your Dropbox account. If you have copies of the same files stored in multiple locations, with our Find duplicates feature you can identify and locate those files, helping you free up space, stay organized, and improve your overall file management experience.

How to find and manage duplicate files on dropbox.com

Log in to dropbox.com.
You can find duplicate files in the following ways:
- If you have an individual account, click ☑ (settings) next to All files or next to a specific folder.
- If you have a team’s account, click ☑ (more options) next to a folder you have edit access to.
  - Note: Admins and members of team’s accounts can only find duplicates in the folders they have edit access to.
Click Organize.
Click Find duplicates.
A list of all your duplicate files will appear.
- To delete a file, click ☑ (delete) next to the duplicate file you’d like to delete.
- To delete multiple files at once, select your desired files and click Delete in the top-right corner.
- To see a preview of a file, click ☑ (more options) next to the duplicate file you’d like to preview, then click ☑ Preview.

Learn more about deleting Dropbox files and folders.

Notes:

If you’re a member of a Dropbox team, your admin may have limited your ability to permanently delete files and folders, including with a data retention policy.
You can only delete files that you own. If someone shares a file with you and you create a copy, you can only delete the copy. You can’t delete the original shared file.
Deleted files don't count against your storage quota, so permanently deleting them won’t free up space.
If other Dropbox users have a copy of the files you permanently delete, their copies won’t be deleted.
Deleting a folder that contains local files that aren’t syncable may cause issues with the deletion process. Learn more about how to manage unsynced files when deleting folders.