Outline: Are you tired of finding and deleting similar video files present on your MacOS machine? No worries – we’ve got you covered with a guide on “how to delete duplicate MP4 Files on Mac.”
MP4 files, be they informative, motivational, instructional, or cinematic, have become integral to our lives, especially those entertaining clips. Often, we create a folder to store our favorite MP4 files. However, in this process, we unintentionally download duplicate files, creating a cluttered and disorganized collection.
Next time you search for a specific movie file, you’ll find it challenging amidst the chaos. To tackle this issue, explore the following solutions. This information covers both manual (free) and professional (quick) methods comprehensively, providing you with options to streamline your video files. Besides the MP4 files, if you want to eliminate any other file format, follow this guide on “How to delete duplicate photos on PC?”
Things can happen if I Don’t Delete the Duplicate MP4 Files on Mac?
Here are some of the consequences if you choose not to remove the identical clips on macOS:
Storage Space: Duplicate MP4 files on Mac consume valuable disk space.
Organizational Challenges: Identical clips clutter files, causing disorganization.
Backup Size: Unnecessary increase in backup size due to duplicates.
Difficulty Identifying Originals: Copies complicate the identification of original MP4 files.
Potential Data Loss: Duplicates complicate data recovery after system failure.
Time Wasted Searching: Clones increase time spent searching for MP4 files.
Risk of Deleting Important Files: Manual management raises the risk of mistakenly deleting important MP4 files.
Duplicate Management Tools – Utilize software capabilities for effective identical file deletion.
Regular Maintenance: Periodically clean up for an organized file system.
How to Remove Duplicate MP4 Files on Mac OS Via Finder?
Explore a solution for removing duplicate video clips using the Finder application:
- Open Finder and find the MP4 files folder in Applications.
- In the video storage folder, switch to the “List” view and sort by name or size.
- Manually identify duplicate MP4 files with the same names or sizes.
- Select duplicates using the Command key, right-click, and choose “Move to Trash” to delete.
How to Find and Remove Duplicate Multimedia Files on macOS through Terminal?
This section covers the technical steps for identifying and removing identical MP4 files from the media library. Familiarity with basic Terminal app commands is required. Now, let’s jump into the procedure.
- Access Terminal: Go to Applications → Utilities → Terminal.
- Navigate to Video Folder: Use ‘cd‘ to reach the video directory (e.g., cd /path/to/video/folder).
- Identify Duplicates: Run the command
find . -type f -exec md5 {} \; | sort | uniq -w32 -d –all-repeated=separate
- Delete Duplicates: Manually delete duplicates using ‘rm‘ (e.g., rm /path/to/duplicate/video).
Notes:
Backup: Always back up files before deletion to prevent accidental loss.
Caution: Terminal commands can permanently remove files.
How to Get Rid of Duplicate MP4 files on Mac with Photos App?
This method isn’t very popular with users as Photos App is typically for images. However, it’s versatile for video too. Let’s explore:
Begin with Photos
- Open your Mac’s “Photos” app to get started.
Add MP4 files
- Drag and drop MP4 files or use “Import” if they’re not in the Photos library.
Craft a Smart Album
- Click “File” in the menu, then select “New Smart Album.”
- Define criteria like File Name or Date to identify duplicates.
Evaluate the Smart Album
- Review the Smart Album for matching MP4 files to identify any duplicates.
Remove Duplicate MP4 files
- Select duplicates within the Smart Album, press “Delete,” and confirm.
Clear Recently Deleted
- Deleted MP4 files land in “Recently Deleted.” For a permanent removal, go there, select MP4 files, and click “Delete All” or “Recover.”
Drawbacks in the Freely Accessible Solutions to Remove Duplicate MP4 Files
Given below are some of the common problems the users face while eliminating duplicate MP4 files.
- File identification and deletion strain computing power, causing delays.
- Free processes increase the risk of unintentional data loss.
- Manual deletion may miss storage optimization opportunities.
- Easily accessible methods are impractical with expanding datasets.
- Consistent file naming impacts accuracy but is relied upon.
- Complimentary deduplication needs frequent adjustments.
- Manual processes expose sensitive information, posing risks.
- Identifying legitimate versions among duplicates is challenging.
- Meeting regulations is challenging without automated solutions.
- Existing processes lack flexibility for deduplication criteria.
How to Remove Duplicate MP4 files on macOS? – An Ideal Way
In this process, though free, certain drawbacks arise. Yet, opting for the most straightforward and efficient SysTools duplicates finder and remover resolves this issue on Mac Big Sur, Ventura, Sonoma, and all versions. Additionally, this tool swiftly clears redundant files with just a few clicks. Notable attributes of this application include its simplicity and effectiveness:
- Smart file scanning with a recognition engine.
- Recursive scanning option.
- Move or delete duplicate video files.
- Scan 70+ file extensions (e.g., .mp3, .mp4, .png, .jpg).
- Detect visually identical images.
- Preserve user data during scanning.
- Try the free trial version.
Noteworthy steps to scan and erase duplicate .mp4 files on the macOS system:
- Download and install the Duplicate Video File Finder Tool.
- Click “Add Folder” to choose the target folder.
- Configure scan settings, including file types (MP4, AVI, etc.), in the dialog box. Click “Continue.”
- Delete duplicate video files by clicking “Delete.”
- After the elimination process, check for “Deleted” under the Action tag.
Final Takeaway
From the above content, you must have got any idea on how to delete MP4 files on macOS in one go. First, we explore manual and expert methods for removing similar video clips on macOS Ventura and older versions. Although manual ways are free, their reliability often falls short. Therefore, we suggest using a dedicated duplicate video removal app.
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