User Case

 

I possess numerous photos in my OneDrive but recently discovered several photos in the folder have multiple duplicates. Since I received a notification about running out of space, I now want to remove these OneDrive duplicate files which contribute to the space consumption issue.

Why Does OneDrive Keep Duplicating Files?

OneDrive Duplicate Files
OneDrive Duplicate Files

OneDrive typically does not duplicate files on its own; however, there could be several reasons why you might be experiencing duplicated files. Here are some common causes and potential solutions:

  • Syncing Issues: Check if there are any syncing issues with OneDrive. Sometimes, syncing problems can result in files being duplicated. Ensure that your files are fully synced before making any changes.
  • Conflicting Files: If you have multiple devices connected to the same OneDrive account, conflicting changes may occur. For example, if you edit a file on two different devices simultaneously, it might create OneDrive duplicate files to preserve both versions.
  • File Explorer Integration: If you're using the OneDrive integration with File Explorer on Windows, be cautious with how you move, copy, or save files. Sometimes, issues in the integration can lead to duplication.

In the following parts, we will show you how to remove duplicate files on OneDrive and how to fix the OneDrive duplicating files issue.

How to Remove OneDrive Duplicate Files

Before the steps for removing the duplicate files in OneDrive, we recommend you to backup your important files first in case they are accidentally deleted.

Step 1: Open OneDrive Online and sign in with your account.

Step 2: Navigate to “My Files” and click on “Sort” in the upper-right corner. Then choose “File Size” in the dropdown menu.

Step 3: Compare the file size, type, and name. Then choose one of the same files and delete it. After that, you remove duplicate files successfully.

Remove Duplicate Files from OneDrive
Remove Duplicate Files from OneDrive

How to Fix OneDrive Duplicate Files Issue [3 Ways]

Since users may have different causes for the OneDrive creating duplicate files issue, we offer 3 ways in this part that you can use to handle your problem.

Way 1: Remove OneDrive Cached Credentials

Step 1: Enter “Credentials Manager” in the search bar in the lower-left corner of your desktop and open it.

Step 2: Select “Windows Credentials” and find “OneDrive Cached Credentials” in the “Generic Credentials” list.

Enter the Windows Credentials Interface
Enter the Windows Credentials Interface

Step 3: Click the downward arrow beside “OneDrive Cached Credentials” and click “Remove”. Then the OneDrive cache files are removed from your computer which may also be the OneDrive duplicate files.

Remove OneDrive Cached Credential
Remove OneDrive Cached Credential

Way 2: Unlink and Reconnect OneDrive with Computer

Step 1: Click the OneDrive icon in the lower taskbar on the desktop and choose the settings icon on the OneDrive page.

Step 2: Navigate to “Account” and tap on the “Unlink this PC” button under your profile. Then choose “Unlink account” to disable OneDrive syncing.

Click Unlink This PC
Click Unlink This PC

Step 3: Wait for a while and click the OneDrive icon again. Then sign in to your OneDrive account to reconnect OneDrive with the computer. By doing so, some syncing problems that bring the OneDrive duplicate files may be solved.

Way 3: Reconfigure the Sync Conflicts on OneDrive

Step 1: Open OneDrive desktop settings and choose the “Office” setting.

Step 2: Tick the option “Let me choose to merge changes or keep both copies”. Then when you and another person submit files at the same time which leads to sync conflicts, OneDrive will ask you to merge the files or keep both copies.

Adjust Sync Conflicts
Adjust Sync Conflicts

Bonus Tip: Backup Files from OneDrive to Another Cloud via MultCloud

As we have mentioned before, it will be better to backup your important OneDrive files before deleting OneDrive duplicate files. You can choose to backup OneDrive to your computer or the cloud. If your computer runs out of storage, backing up to the cloud will be a better choice. In this regard, MultCloud Cloud Backup is recommended to you. MultCloud is a free cloud file transfer service and Cloud Backup is one of its popular functions, specially designed for automatic backup.

Cloud Backup can directly transfer your files to another cloud and save the different versions of files if you backed up many times. Therefore, when you want to restore the OneDrive files, you can choose your preferred version.

Step 1: Head to the MultCloud website and sign up for an account.

Step 2: Add OneDrive and another cloud to MultCloud: click “Add Cloud” > choose the cloud icon > log in to the cloud account > allow MultCloud to access your cloud account.

Add OneDrive to MultCloud
Add OneDrive to MultCloud

Step 3: Select “Cloud Backup” in the left sidebar and choose the 2 clouds in the FROM/TO box. Finally, tap “Backup Now” to start transferring OneDrive files to another cloud.

Backup OneDrive to Google Drive
Backup OneDrive to Google Drive

Notes:

  • You can regularly backup your OneDrive files with the “Schedule” feature. After setting a fixed backup frequency, it will run automatically.
  • MultCloud provides 5 GB of free traffic every month. If you plan to backup more than 5 GB of files in a month, you can get a higher plan to enjoy more traffic and faster transfer speed.
Cloud Backup Schedule
Cloud Backup Schedule

If you want to restore OneDrive files, you can open “Task List” and find the backup task. Then click the 3-line cloud and choose “Restore” in the dropdown menu. When you enter the restore settings, you can select which file version you want to restore, where you want to save the files, and how to handle the repeated files.

Restore OneDrive Files
Restore OneDrive Files

Conclusion

Removing OneDrive duplicate files is an essential part of freeing up OneDrive space. You can easily delete them in the manual way introduced in this post. After finishing the removing task, you can fix the OneDrive making duplicates trouble by the 3 tested methods for different situations.

In addition, you can backup your OneDrive files regularly to avoid the data loss. MultCloud is no doubt a good helper in this perspective. However, MultCloud is also skilled in other aspects, like migrating emails to a cloud as PDFs or syncing OneDrive files with Dropbox, Google Drive, or another cloud.

Why are my photos duplicated in OneDrive?
 
Photos in OneDrive may duplicate due to synchronization issues, multiple devices uploading the same files, or file conflicts. Check for syncing errors, ensure devices are not duplicating uploads, and resolve any conflicts through the OneDrive interface to prevent duplicates. If you want to remove the duplicate photos, you can first turn on “Files on Demand” and delete them manually.
How do I remove duplicates from OneDrive?
 
On the OneDrive web, sort the files with the file size, compare the file size, type, and name, and manually delete one of the duplicate files.
How do I stop OneDrive from copying?
 
To stop OneDrive from copying files, pause or disable syncing. On Windows, right-click the OneDrive icon in the system tray, select the settings icon, go to the "Account" tab, and click “Unlink this PC”. On Mac, use the OneDrive app preferences to pause syncing.
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