Process search results

After running a search, you might want to select a subset of your results and mark them for deletion/deduplication/etc.

Delete/Move/Deduplicate

Your search results can be processed in several different ways. Old files that are not needed anymore can be moved or deleted, duplicate files can be deduplicated, and files with invalid file names can be renamed.

In order to do so, you need to use the checkboxes to select which files should be included in the operation.

You can either select each file individually, or use one of the available options for selecting multiple files simultaneously.

Checking multiple files at once

Rather than having to scroll through very large lists with your results manually, TreeSize can check and uncheck items automatically, based on a set of conditions.

These functions can be found in the “Operations” ribbon tab, in the group that contains the following three elements:

Check

A dropdown that starts with the entry “Check all”, which checkmarks all items of the current result list. Below it, all check Favorites are listed – the predefined ones as well as the ones you saved yourself. Selecting an entry applies that configuration to the current result list immediately.

The last entry, “Manage Favorites”, opens the favorites manager, where your own favorites can be edited, renamed and deleted.

Uncheck

The counterpart of the “Check” dropdown. It starts with “Uncheck all”, which removes all checkmarks, and lists the uncheck favorites below it. An uncheck operation never adds a checkmark; it only removes checkmarks from items that are currently checked.

Check Advanced

Opens a dialog in which all criteria of a selection can be combined freely: check or uncheck, files and/or folders, a folder path the items have to be in (or must not be in), a custom filter, and – in the duplicate file search – the newest/oldest copy of each duplicate group.

Any configuration created here can be applied directly or saved as a favorite, so it becomes available in the two dropdowns described above.

A detailed description of all options can be found here: Check Advanced.

Options in the context menu of the result list

The context menu of the result list offers the operations that refer to the row you clicked on, in the submenus “Check” and “Uncheck”:

• Selected element(s) checks or unchecks the currently selected rows.

• Check / Uncheck applies to all items of the list.

• Files and folders that match a custom filter… shows a filter dialog that offers the full range of filter options. You can select files by their name, path, size, or any other available filter type (see What types of filters are available?).

• Files of type “…” applies to all items that have the same file type as the item you clicked on. This can be useful if you want to select all .pdf files, for instance.

• Files and folders in applies to all items that are located in the same folder as the item you clicked on.

• All but selected (in current group) is available in the duplicate file search and checks all files of the duplicate group except the selected one.

The context menu also contains the “Check Advanced” entry.

Two further entries belong to the preview: “Compare two files” switches a second preview next to the first one on and off, and “Pin as comparison reference” holds the file that the right preview currently shows, so that the left one keeps following your selection. On a file that is already pinned the entry offers to release it again. Both are described under Compare two files.

Note

If more than one row is selected when you open the context menu, the operations are applied to the selected items only instead of the whole list.

Checking results in the Duplicates search

In the duplicate file search you usually do not want to check all copies of a file, but all copies except the one that should be kept. The “Check Advanced” dialog covers these cases with its “Duplicates” section, and the most common combinations are available as predefined favorites in the “Check” and “Uncheck” dropdowns.

All but newest

All files except the newest one of a duplicates group will be checked. This can be useful if you want to delete all of the duplicates, except for the newest one.

All but oldest

All files except the oldest one of a duplicates group will be checked. This can be useful if you want to delete all of the duplicates, except for the oldest one.

Only newest / Only oldest

Only the newest or only the oldest file of each duplicates group will be checked – the inverse of the two options above.

Note

Each of these configurations is available as a check and as an uncheck variant. The uncheck variants allow you to achieve the same result for groups in which all files are already checked: by using “Uncheck Only Newest”, for example, you remove the checkmark from the one file per group that is not supposed to be deleted.

Duplicates if a copy exists in folder

This function is configured in the “Advanced” section of the “Check Advanced” dialog, with the option “Apply only to items that have duplicates in”.

With this function, you can select all files which have a corresponding duplicate that is located in the selected folder. If a group of duplicates contains a file that is located in the selected folder, this option will check all of its copies which are located in the other folders.

This function can be useful if you have files that were copied from one location to another, and you want to ensure that the file exists in location A, before it is deleted from location B.

Example

A group of duplicates contains the following files:

D:\Files\Document.pdf D:\temp\Copy_of_Document.pdf C:\Archive\Document.pdf

If you enable the option “Apply only to items that have duplicates in” and select the folder C:\, the following files will be checked:

✔ D:\Files\Document.pdf

✔ D:\temp\Copy_of_Document.pdf

C:\Archive\Document.pdf

If this group did not contain a file from drive C:\, nothing would be checked.

Protecting a folder from being checked

If a certain location must never be part of an operation, combine the duplicate rule with the option “Only consider paths that are not in” in the “Check Advanced” dialog and select that folder. Items below it are then excluded from the operation completely.

• Check Advanced