JUST finding duplicate files/folders

Sites: Apple Discussion Forum, searched for "find duplicate files" and such.

Dated means some responses were 3 years old. Thought someone might know of something more current.

Un-satisfactory means, most apps I saw compare file sizes and other criteria to determine duplicates status. My situation needs the contrary, same file names with different content. I'm looking for older versions of the same files I've since updated with newer content so I can delete the "old" ones and keep the up to date ones. I'll look around the 3 sites you mentioned, thank you, just thought someone here might be able to streamline it for me. I'm lazy. And cheap.

Also, if I'm looking for files with the same names, but not necessarily the same content, should I be searching for "All files that are different, in either folder"?

Bear with me, sometimes I just can't get my brain around a concept...

Thanks for the link, helps, but, I'm still not sure why I'm looking for "All files that are different, in either folder".

As a test, I used 2 folders on my desktop. One has 75 different images in it, no duplicates. The other folder has one image I copied into it from the first folder, and I made sure the name was the same as the original file. I ran the automator workflow. Obviously it reports 74 files are different between the 2 folders. So how do I know which 1 file is duplicated in the other folder unless I physically search both folders for the one(s) that aren't listed as the same?

As a second test, I copied 3 files from the 1st folder (total 75 files) to the second, ran the workflow, and of course, 72 are different, but which 3 are the same between the 2 folders? I know I'm being simplistic with this example, but it seems comparing 2 folders with many different files in each would make matters even more complex when it comes to finding the duplicates. Please tell me where my thinking is going awry. And thanks for the help so far.

The workflow works pretty good IF you select the EXACT two (not 3 or 4) folders that you think may contain duplicates. It won't look into folders within folders to find duplicates. Let me explain:

I created a folder on my desktop called "One"

Inside folder "One" is a folder called "Two"

Inside folder "Two" is a folder called "Three"

Inside folder "Three" is a FILE called "example.jpg"

I created another folder on my desktop called "Alpha" which contains one file, a copy of "example.jpg"

I run the workflow on "Alpha" and "One"

It finds no duplicates.

The Compare Folders Action says "Sorry, I can only sync two folders. I'll compare the first and second folders of the batch you specified."

Since it recieves, in this case, four folders from the previous action (Get Folder Contents), it compares the first two it finds, and returns no results of duplicate files.

Yes, in fact, it does seem to work! Thank you! I've only tested it briefly, but so far, all looks well. Just because I'm terminally curious, how does the workflow know which files ARE the most recent? 😕

The workflow knows which are most recent files are because of the one action Sync Folders. This action has it programmed in it to accept the most recent files and discard any older version of any duplicate files.

Is that because it checks the "timestamp" of the file - like when I go to Get Info, I see (Date) Created, (Date) Modified. etc.?

And what exactly does it do with the older files? I don't see 'em in my Trash.

Again, I'm terninally curious, like a cat.

So, I'm not finding the "Compare Folders" dialogue (?).