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Easy question - Comparing files/folders in linux (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 15 hours ago by to c/linux@lemmy.world
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So I have a problem. I have WAY too many hard drives and backups from decades of computing. I just hoard everything. The issue is now I don't know what I have duplicates of and what I don't. or when I want to format an old external drive for something else, I'm not sure if I actually have a backup of it.

I just want a way to basically compare folders and see what files are missing or what are duplicates. I'm fine with CLI but I may prefer a GUI for this so I'm not deleting files by accident as easily...

I have searched around for this question but all the solutions seem way too complex for me.

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[–] 4 points 15 hours ago (1 child)

I'm only familiar with CLI tools but at least for smaller directories diff works well. Say you have a backup directory and you want to see how it differs from a source directory:

diff -rq /source/directory /backup/directory

Another trick is to use find to look for a unique file to see where, if at all, it's backed up:

find /backup/directory -name unique-file-name.jpg

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