DeDup is a Microsoft-provided SharePoint duplicate analysis tool. It is used to find duplicate files in SharePoint Online. There might be several situations where users need to identify the redundant files to clean up their SharePoint environment. For instance, SharePoint is heavily used in organizations to streamline the workflow.
Due to this, users need to access the SharePoint sites and manage the lists and document libraries. To do so, there might be situations, where multiple users upload the same data to the document library. It is just one situation, there can be a lot more than that.
So, if you are also struggling with duplicate files due to which your SharePoint Online storage quota exceeded. Then this write-up is for you. Here you will walk through the DeDup tool step by step. So, let’s get started.
Introduction of Microsoft’s Deduplicator
DeDup is a Microsoft-developed tool. It is an efficient solution to find identical files from SharePoint Online. This tool uses the advanced Microsoft Graph file hashes to identify the duplicacy in SharePoint sites. Also, providing a centralized dashboard to track the reports of the deduplication process. This Microsoft tool also prioritizes data security and compliance during execution.
Reasons to Use SharePoint Duplicate Analysis Tool
- Duplicate files in SharePoint Online clutters the SharePoint environment due to which the search performance of SharePoint is affected. As a result, the output of the search results becomes inaccurate and slow.
- SharePoint’s optimized usage is crucial for organizations. But duplicate files consume essential storage space of SharePoint which leads to storage issues.
- While collaborating with the team members, the duplicate files create confusion in choosing the right file for work.
- The site performance such as loading speed, user-experience is also ruined because of the duplicate files in SharePoint. It also stimulate users to backup SharePoint Online to local storage.
How to Find Duplicate Files in SharePoint Online Using Deduplicator?
The DeDup, a SharePoint duplicate analysis tool is available on the Azure marketplace. So, you can get it from there, after downloading follow the below steps of the DeDup tool.
Step 1. Initially login with the Microsoft credentials.
Step 2. After successful login, a screen will be prompted asking for the permissions. Click on Accept and move further.
Step 3. Now open the User menu and hit Credentials. Add new credentials and provide the required information.
Note: For reading the sites, this tool requires.Read.All and Files.Read.All permissions.
Step 4. Move to the User menu > Add Sites.
Step 5. Now load the sites and hit the Rescan button.
Step 6. After that, choose the site that you want to scan. At the end of the scan, an email will be sent to all accounts marked as admin.
Step 7. Meanwhile, the user will be presented with a screen showing the progress information
Step 8. As the process is completed, you can view the duplicate files through the dashboard.
Step 9. Click on the More Details button to get further information about the amount of unique/duplicate files along with unique/duplicated sizes broken down using two pie charts.
Step 10. Go to the Audit section to download the report in the Excel file format.
Splendid Features of the SharePoint Duplicate Analysis Tool
- It is able to identify the duplicate files irrespective of the file types. It can find duplicate photos, files, and documents of any type.
- It is a multi-tenant application that can work with any size of organization whether small, medium, or large.
- Users can customize this Deduplicator tool to meet the organizations’ requirements.
- DeDup seamlessly integrates with Microsoft authentication to provide safe and secure access to your SharePoint sites.
- It’s not a tech expert kind of tool. It is easy to use and designed for the end users.
Conclusion
In this write-up, we have discussed how to find duplicate files in SharePoint Online. A Microsoft-offered, DeDup SharePoint duplicate analysis tool is explained in detail. Now, you can use this tool and unclutter your SharePoint Online environment easily.