The Deduplicate Files tool identifies duplicate files across your entire case and groups them together. Review each group, choose which copy to keep, and remove the rest. Access this tool from the Case Menu in the top navigation bar.
How to access deduplication
Deduplication is a Case Menu tool, not a settings panel. Open the Case Menu from the top navigation bar and select Deduplicate Files. Hintyr scans all files in the case and identifies groups of duplicates.
How file deduplication works
Hintyr compares files based on content to identify exact duplicates, even when file names differ. Files with identical content are grouped together. Each group shows:
- File name - The name of each duplicate file.
- File size - The size of the file for verification.
- Upload date - When the file was uploaded to help identify the original.
- Keep badge - The file recommended to keep (typically the earliest upload).
Choosing which duplicate files to keep
By default, Hintyr selects the earliest uploaded copy in each group as the file to keep. You can change this selection by clicking on a different file within the group. Files not marked as "Keep" will be removed when you confirm.
Removing duplicate files
After reviewing the groups, click the remove button to delete unselected duplicates. The dialog shows how many files will be removed. This action is permanent. Kept files retain all their metadata, tags, custodian assignments, redactions, and Bates numbers.
When to run deduplication
Deduplication is most useful in these scenarios:
- After importing a large batch of files where the same document may have been collected from multiple sources.
- When multiple team members upload files independently and some overlap.
- Before production to ensure each document appears only once.
- When consolidating files from multiple custodians who shared the same documents.