Video Duplicate Finder is a cross-platform software to find duplicated video (and image) files on hard disk based on similarity. Unlike other duplicate finders this one also finds duplicates which have a different resolution, frame rate and even watermarked.
- Cross-platform
- Fast scanning speed
- Ultra fast rescan
- Optional calling ffmpeg functions natively for even more speed
- Finds duplicate videos / images based on similarity (optional scan against pHash at zero cost)
- Partial clip detection — finds when a shorter video is a partial clip of a longer one (audio fingerprinting)
- Desktop GUI (Windows, Linux, macOS)
- Headless CLI for scripting and automation
- Web UI for remote/headless/NAS use
- Docker image for easy self-hosting
VDF can detect when a shorter video is a partial clip of a longer one — for example, a scene ripped from a movie, or a clip saved from a longer recording. This works even when there is no visual overlap between the two files.
It runs as an optional second phase after the normal visual duplicate scan, using an audio fingerprinting pipeline (Chromaprint-style chroma extraction + sliding-window Hamming similarity matching). Matched pairs appear in the duplicate list with a Clip Offset column showing where in the source the clip starts.
In Settings → Partial Clip Detection, check Enable Partial Clip Detection and adjust:
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Min clip / source ratio (%) | 10 | Minimum clip duration as a percentage of the source duration. Clips shorter than this are ignored. |
| Min audio similarity (%) | 80 | Minimum average Hamming similarity for the sliding-window fingerprint match to be accepted. |
Note: Partial clip detection requires audio tracks in both files. Videos without audio are skipped.
Daily build — attachments are automatically rebuilt and replaced on every commit.
Available packages per platform:
GUI-<platform>— desktop applicationCLI-<platform>— command-line toolWeb-<platform>— self-contained web server
FFmpeg and FFprobe are required. On first launch VDF attempts to download them automatically. Native FFmpeg binding requires FFmpeg 8.x shared libraries (not the master branch).
Download the latest FFmpeg GPL shared package from https://ffmpeg.org/download.html
Extract ffmpeg.exe and ffprobe.exe into the same folder as VDF.GUI.exe, a subfolder named bin, or ensure they are on your PATH.
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install ffmpegThen run:
chmod +x VDF.GUI
./VDF.GUIOptional: add to your application menu
The Linux archive includes videoduplicatefinder.desktop and icon.png. To register the app with your desktop environment (GNOME, KDE, XFCE, etc.):
# Edit the Exec= and Icon= paths to match where you extracted the archive, e.g.:
sed -i "s|/opt/videoduplicatefinder|$(pwd)|g" videoduplicatefinder.desktop
# Install for the current user
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/applications
cp videoduplicatefinder.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/The app will then appear in your application launcher with its icon.
brew install ffmpegExtract the archive — it contains Video Duplicate Finder.app. Double-click it to launch.
If macOS blocks the app with "cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified", right-click the .app and choose Open, then confirm. You only need to do this once.
If the process is immediately killed (zsh: killed), the binary needs to be signed. Run:
codesign --force --sign - "Video Duplicate Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/VDF.GUI"The CLI is useful for scripting, scheduled tasks, and headless servers where no display is available.
Same as the GUI: FFmpeg and FFprobe must be on your PATH or in the same directory as the vdf-cli binary.
Download CLI-<platform> from the releases page and extract it.
On Linux/macOS, make the binary executable:
chmod +x vdf-clivdf-cli scan-and-compare --include /path/to/mediavdf-cli scan-and-compare \
--include /mnt/movies \
--include /mnt/series \
--exclude /mnt/movies/extras \
--format json \
--output results.json| Flag | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
--include <path> |
Directory to scan (repeatable) | required |
--exclude <path> |
Directory to exclude (repeatable) | — |
--threshold <n> |
Hash difference threshold | 5 |
--percent <n> |
Minimum similarity % to report | 96 |
--parallelism <n> |
Parallel hashing threads | 1 |
--include-images |
Also scan image files | off |
--use-phash |
Use perceptual hashing | off |
--partial-clip-detection |
Enable partial clip detection (audio fingerprinting) | off |
--partial-clip-min-ratio <n> |
Min clip/source duration ratio (0.0–1.0) | 0.10 |
--partial-clip-similarity <n> |
Min audio fingerprint similarity (0.0–1.0) | 0.80 |
--format json|text|csv |
Output format | text |
--output <file> |
Write results to file instead of stdout | stdout |
--settings <file> |
Load full settings from a JSON file | — |
# Dry run — shows what would be deleted, no changes made (default)
vdf-cli scan-and-compare --include /mnt/media --action lowest-quality --dry-run
# Move duplicates to trash (safer)
vdf-cli scan-and-compare --include /mnt/media --action lowest-quality --delete
# Permanently delete (use with care)
vdf-cli scan-and-compare --include /mnt/media --action lowest-quality --delete-permanentAvailable --action strategies:
| Strategy | Keeps |
|---|---|
lowest-quality |
Highest bitrate/resolution per group |
smallest-file |
Largest file per group |
shortest-duration |
Longest duration per group |
worst-resolution |
Highest resolution per group |
100-percent-only |
Only acts on 100% identical groups |
Note: Automatic deletion is not recommended. Always review results with
--dry-runfirst.
The Web UI runs as a local web server and is accessed from your browser. It is designed for headless machines, NAS devices, and remote management.
Security note: The Web UI is password-protected but intended for local/Docker use only. Do not expose it to the internet.
On first launch, a random password is generated and printed to the console:
============================================
Web UI password: aB3xK9mQ7p
============================================
Enter this password in your browser to log in. A "Remember me" cookie keeps you logged in for 30 days.
Docker users: Run docker logs vdf-web to see the password.
| Environment variable | Description |
|---|---|
VDF_WEB_PASSWORD |
Set your own password instead of the auto-generated one |
VDF_WEB_AUTH=false |
Disable authentication entirely |
FFmpeg and FFprobe are required. When running outside Docker, VDF.Web will attempt to download them automatically on first launch. You can also install them manually via your system package manager or place them on your PATH.
Download Web-<platform> from the releases page and extract it.
On Linux/macOS:
chmod +x VDF.Web
./VDF.WebOn Windows:
VDF.Web.exe
Then open http://localhost:5000 in your browser and enter the password shown in the console.
To change the port:
ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://+:8080 ./VDF.WebSettings and the scan database are saved to:
- Windows:
%APPDATA%\VDF\ - Linux:
~/.config/VDF/ - macOS:
~/Library/Preferences/VDF/
Docker is the easiest way to run the Web UI on a NAS, home server, or any Linux machine. FFmpeg is included in the image — no separate installation needed.
- Docker installed
docker run -d \
--name vdf-web \
-p 8080:8080 \
-v vdf-db:/root/.config/VDF \
-v /path/to/your/media:/media:ro \
ghcr.io/0x90d/vdf-web:latestThen open http://localhost:8080 in your browser.
Check the password with docker logs vdf-web and enter it to log in.
Inside the Web UI, add /media (or whatever path you mounted) as a scan directory.
To set your own password:
docker run -d \
--name vdf-web \
-p 8080:8080 \
-e VDF_WEB_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword \
-v vdf-db:/root/.config/VDF \
-v /path/to/your/media:/media:ro \
ghcr.io/0x90d/vdf-web:latest-
Download
docker-compose.ymlfrom this repository. -
Edit the file and add your media volume mounts. Optionally set your own password:
environment:
- VDF_WEB_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword # optional — otherwise check docker logs
volumes:
- /mnt/nas/movies:/mnt/nas/movies:ro
- /mnt/nas/series:/mnt/nas/series:ro- Start the service:
docker compose up -d-
Open http://localhost:8080 in your browser and enter the password (check
docker logsif you didn't set one). -
To update to the latest image:
docker compose pull && docker compose up -d| Volume | Purpose |
|---|---|
/root/.config/VDF |
Settings and scan database — mount a named volume here so data persists across container updates |
| Your media paths | Mount each media directory you want to scan. Read-only (:ro) is recommended. |
- The container image is built for
linux/amd64andlinux/arm64(Raspberry Pi / NAS ARM boards). - The image is published to GitHub Container Registry and updated automatically on every commit.
Video Duplicate Finder is licensed under AGPLv3
- Avalonia
- ActiPro Avalonia Controls (Free Edition)
- FFmpeg.AutoGen
- protobuf-net
- SixLabors.ImageSharp
- AcoustID.NET by wo80 — the audio fingerprinting pipeline (Chromaprint-style chroma extraction, FIR smoothing, and fingerprint encoding) used for partial clip detection is derived from this library, licensed under LGPL 2.1
- .NET 9.x
- Visual Studio 2022 or later is recommended
- Create a pull request for each addition or fix — do not merge them into one PR
- Unless it refers to an existing issue, write into your pull request what it does
- For larger PRs, open an issue for discussion first
