Scan modes

Every scan has a mode, which decides how files are compared. You choose the mode when you create the scan on the Home page; its settings are then at the top of the scan’s What to find tab.

Mode	Use it to find…
Same content	Exact copies of any kind of file, regardless of name or date. The fastest mode, and the best place to start.
Attributes Only	Files that match on their name, size, dates or folder, ignoring what is in them.
Image mode	Similar pictures - resized, rotated, flipped or edited copies - or photos with matching tags.
Audio mode	The same music in different formats or qualities, or tracks with matching tags.
Video mode	Videos with matching frames, soundtracks or metadata.
Text mode	Documents, e-books and text files containing the same or similar text, whatever their format.
Binary mode	Near-identical files, truncated copies, and files that match apart from a header or trailer.
Document Mode	Coming soon.

Whatever the mode, you can add more duplicate options (same name, same size and so on) and search filters.

Which mode should I use?

• If you just want to free up space taken by identical files, use Same content.
• For a photo collection, use Image mode - it will also find copies that have been resized or re-saved, which Same content would miss.
• For a music collection, use Audio mode. If your collection is well tagged, matching on Artist and Title metadata is quick; matching the audio itself finds copies whatever their tags.
• If you are not sure, try Same content first.

Each scan keeps its mode. To look at the same files a different way, create a new scan with Settings from: Based on your existing scan - its folders and shared settings are copied across.