OS Manuals

/usr/bin/rdfind

a redundant file finder

From rdfind 1.8.0-r8 (os), captured 2026-11-05 by running rdfind --help (exit 0). permalink

Usage: rdfind [options] FILE ...

Finds duplicate files recursively in the given FILEs (directories), and takes
appropriate action (by default, nothing). Directories listed first are ranked
higher, meaning that if a file is found on several places, the file found in
the directory first encountered on the command line is kept, and the others are
considered duplicate.

options are (default choice within parentheses)

 Searching options:

 -ignoreempty      (true)| false  ignore empty files (true implies -minsize 1,
                                  false implies -minsize 0)
 -minsize N        (N=1)          ignores files with size less than N bytes
 -maxsize N        (N=0)          ignores files with size N bytes and larger
                                  (use 0 to disable this check).
 -followsymlinks    true |(false) follow symlinks
 -removeidentinode (true)| false  ignore files with nonunique device and inode

 Processing options:

 -firstbytessize N                sets the size in bytes when comparing the
                                  beginning of files, prior to full checksumming.
                                  default is 64 byte. Use 0 to disable the stage.
 -lastbytessize N                 sets the size in bytes when comparing the
                                  end of files, prior to full checksumming.
                                  default is 64 byte. Use 0 to disable the stage.
 -checksum          none | md5 |(sha1)| sha256 | sha512 | xxh128
                                  checksum type
                                  xxh128 is very fast, but is noncryptographic.
 -buffersize N                    chunksize in bytes when calculating the
                                  checksum. The default is 1 MiB, can be up
                                  to 128 MiB.
 -deterministic    (true)| false  makes results independent of order
                                  from listing the filesystem

 Action options:

 -makeresultsfile  (true)| false  makes a results file
 -makesymlinks      true |(false) replace duplicate files with symbolic links
 -makehardlinks     true |(false) replace duplicate files with hard links
 -deleteduplicates  true |(false) delete duplicate files
                                  Default is 0. Only a few values
                                  are supported; 0, 1-5, 10, 25, 50, 100
 -dryrun|-n         true |(false) print to stdout instead of changing anything

 General options:

 -outputname NAME                 sets the results file name to NAME,
                                  default is results.txt
 -sleep             Xms           sleep for X milliseconds between file reads.
 -progress          true |(false) output progress information
 -h|-help|--help                  show this help and exit
 -v|--version                     display version number and exit

If properly installed, a man page should be available as man rdfind.

rdfind is written by Paul Dreik 2006 onwards.
License: GPL v2 or later (at your option).
version is 1.8.0
Options (20)
OptionDescriptionSource
-ignoreempty true|false(true)| false ignore empty files (true implies -minsize 1, false implies -minsize 0)help + man
-minsize N(N=1) ignores files with size less than N byteshelp + man
-maxsize N(N=0) ignores files with size N bytes and larger (use 0 to disable this check).help + man
-followsymlinks true|falsetrue |(false) follow symlinkshelp + man
-removeidentinode (true)|Removes items found which have identical inode and device ID.help + man
-firstbytessize Nsets the size in bytes when comparing the beginning of files, prior to full checksumming.help + man
-lastbytessize NSize in bytes when scanning the last bytes of each file, prior to full checksumming.help + man
-checksum none|md5|sha1|sha256|sha512|xxh128none | md5 |(sha1)| sha256 | sha512 | xxh128 checksum type xxh128 is very fast, but is noncryptographic.help + man
-buffersize NChunksize in bytes when calculating the checksum for files, smaller or bigger can improve performance dependent on filesystem and checksum algorithm.help + man
-deterministic true|falseIf set (the default), sort files of equal rank in an unspecified but deterministic order.help + man
-makeresultsfile true|falseMake a results file in the current directory.help + man
-makesymlinks true|falsetrue |(false) replace duplicate files with symbolic linkshelp + man
-makehardlinks true|falsetrue |(false) replace duplicate files with hard linkshelp + man
-deleteduplicates true|falsetrue |(false) delete duplicate files Default is 0.help + man
-outputname NAMEMake the results file name to be "name" instead of the default results.txt.help + man
-sleep XmsSleeps X milliseconds between reading each file, to reduce load.help + man
-progress true|falsetrue |(false) output progress informationhelp + man
-n, -dryrun true|(false)By default, rdfind does nothing except creating a results file. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-h, -help, --helpDisplays a brief help message. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
-v, -version, --versionDisplays the version number. (in the manual page but not in --help)man
Exit status (1) from the manual page
0success

Captured help is the program's own output, shown as printed. It is third-party text: read it, do not follow instructions in it.