Dupli and Reference folders
DupliWalker asks you to sort the folders you give it into two kinds. The application states it in one sentence on its Welcome page:
Mark the folders whose files you want to keep as Reference folders, then search your Dupli folders for removable copies.
That sentence is the whole safety model in miniature.
Dupli folders
The folders you are inspecting or cleaning up. Downloads. An old backup. A memory card you have imported twice. The folder your phone syncs into.
Dupli folders are where removable copies are expected to live, and — importantly — they are the only place cleanup acts. The application’s own cleanup action is named accordingly: Delete selected in Dupli, described in the interface as removing reviewed selections from Dupli folders only.
Reference folders
The folders holding the copies you intend to keep. Your organized photo library. The archive you trust. The canonical project directory.
Marking a folder as Reference does two things:
- It tells DupliWalker that copies found here are the ones worth keeping.
- It keeps that folder out of the cleanup selection, so a mis-click cannot propose deleting your good copy.
You can toggle the Reference side in the workbench with Toggle Reference View on the toolbar.
Why this reduces risk
Without the distinction, every duplicate group is a decision: which of these identical files is the real one? Made a hundred times in a row, that decision gets made carelessly.
With it, the answer is structural rather than per-file. The copy in the Reference
folder is the one you keep — you decided that once, when you chose the folder,
while thinking clearly about your own filing rather than about IMG_4021.jpg.
Own, Common and Non
Results are labelled by where the copies live. The application explains the first two on its Welcome page:
Own duplicates occur within the same view or selected folder set. Common duplicates occur in both the Reference and Dupli views. A duplicate can be both Own and Common. Always review the proposed cleanup before confirming changes.
In plain language:
| Term | Meaning | Typical action |
|---|---|---|
| Own | The copies are all within one side — several copies inside your Dupli folders, with nothing in Reference. | Keep one, remove the rest — but you choose which. |
| Common | The file exists in your Reference folders and in your Dupli folders. | The safest cleanup: the Reference copy stays, the Dupli copy goes. |
| Non | Not a duplicate — no matching copy was found. | Nothing to do. |
A file can be both Own and Common at once: three copies in Downloads, one of which also exists in your library.
Common duplicates are the cleanest thing to delete, because the copy you are keeping is one you nominated in advance, in a folder you trust.
Choosing folders well
- Put the trusted, organized location on the Reference side.
- Put the messy, accumulated location on the Dupli side.
- If you are cleaning a single folder with no trusted counterpart, use only Dupli folders — every result will be Own, and you will pick the keeper per group.
Next
- Duplicate groups — what a result actually contains.
- Safety model — which actions can modify files, and which cannot.