How to Compare Two Folders on Windows

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This wikiHow teaches you how to compare the contents and total sizes of two folders using the Windows File Explorer.

Steps

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    This opens the File Explorer.
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    Its contents will appear.
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    To do this, click and hold the menu bar at the top of the window, then drag it to the right. The window now occupies the right half of the screen.
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    This opens another File Explorer window.
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    Click and hold the menu bar at the top of the window, then drag it over to the left side of the screen. You should see the contents of one folder on the left, and the other folder on the right.
    • Depending on the size of your monitor and screen resolution, you may have to reposition the windows a bit to get all information to display at once.
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    It's near the top of each window.
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    It's on the “Layout” panel. This displays more information about each file and subfolder, including the type of file (e.g. file folder, video, image).
    • If the folder(s) contain subfolders, you'll see the date each was last edited beside its name.
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    A pop-up menu will appear.
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    This displays the total size of the current folder.
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    Now you'll check the size of the second folder to make a comparison.
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    You should now see the size of each folder side-by-side.
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