# Duplicate finder application: port Czkawka to NextCloud **URL:** \ **Category:** ℹ️ Support\ **Tags:** app-development, nc31, truenas\ **Created:** [March 13, 2025, 10:39pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/duplicate-finder-application-port-czkawka-to-nextcloud/219979 "2025-03-13T22:39:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aqua1ung](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/aqua1ung/32/67732_2.png) [@Aqua1ung](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/Aqua1ung)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2025, 10:39pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/duplicate-finder-application-port-czkawka-to-nextcloud/219979/1 "2025-03-13T22:39:02Z")
Does NextCloud have an app that does duplicate file finding _reliably_? I haven’t seen glowing reviews of [duplicatefinder](https://github.com/eldertek/duplicatefinder), nor does it look like it works with newer NextCloud versions. I have been using [Czkawka](https://github.com/qarmin/czkawka) for this purpose, and it’s a fantastic(!) application … except that once I use it to dedupe my NextCloud user data folder, I get a lot of broken links in Nextcloud. Attempting to clean that up by doing an `occ` re-scan and `maintenance:repair` and all that messed up NextCloud completely, to the point where it looks like I have to do a clean re-install. (And yes, I looked into using ZFS for this job, but somehow it didn’t inspire me too much confidence.) Would it be possible to get someone who knows what he’s doing to port Czkawka to NextCloud as an app? Context: NextCloud 31.0.0 on TrueNAS 24.10.2. ---
**Author:** ![Sanook](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/sanook/32/13847_2.png) [@Sanook](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/Sanook)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 5:32pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/duplicate-finder-application-port-czkawka-to-nextcloud/219979/2 "2025-03-14T17:32:53Z")
It is a bad idea to delete files directly on the server because the Nextcloud database is no longer correct. It is better to synchronize all files on the desktop computer first and delete the files there. If you want someone to integrate this program, you can create a ticket on GitHub and hope that a developer will find it useful and take it up. Because here in the forum there is too little chance that a developer will read along and create a ticket themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Aqua1ung](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/aqua1ung/32/67732_2.png) [@Aqua1ung](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/Aqua1ung)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 6:55pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/duplicate-finder-application-port-czkawka-to-nextcloud/219979/3 "2025-03-14T18:55:18Z")
Thanks for replying. Methinks that an `occ` rescan or a maintenance repair should fix that, shouldn’t it? Anyway, so far it looks like it doesn’t, which is a pity. ---
**Author:** ![Sanook](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/sanook/32/13847_2.png) [@Sanook](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/Sanook)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 7:42pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/duplicate-finder-application-port-czkawka-to-nextcloud/219979/4 "2025-03-14T19:42:13Z")
It will work if you add the files as “local external storage” to your Nextcloud instance. ---
**Author:** ![Aqua1ung](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/aqua1ung/32/67732_2.png) [@Aqua1ung](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/Aqua1ung)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 9:29pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/duplicate-finder-application-port-czkawka-to-nextcloud/219979/5 "2025-03-14T21:29:36Z")
Now this is interesting, though I am not sure I understand: are you, by any chance, saying that `occ files:scan` and `maintenace:repair` work _properly_ (at this point in time) _only_ on “local external storage”? If so, why would anyone bother with anything _other_ than “local external storage”? We should all work with “local external storage,” and be done with it, right!? ---
**Author:** ![Sanook](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/sanook/32/13847_2.png) [@Sanook](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/Sanook)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/duplicate-finder-application-port-czkawka-to-nextcloud/219979/6 "2025-03-14T21:59:33Z")
![Snipaste_2025-03-14_22-43-49](https://help.nextcloud.com/uploads/default/original/3X/8/8/886d7c1de2de1199694360166aea065bee4429e4.jpeg) It’s just a folder on the server which ist embeded as external storage to Nextcloud. You can do what you want with the files in it on the server without any occ command to repair the Nextcloud database. You can also connect with Samba to the folder and everthing in it is immediately online. That’s how i am using it in the local net on the local Nextcloud instance, just for syncing files with the mobile device. Very handy. ---
**Author:** ![Aqua1ung](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/aqua1ung/32/67732_2.png) [@Aqua1ung](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/Aqua1ung)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/duplicate-finder-application-port-czkawka-to-nextcloud/219979/7 "2025-03-14T22:15:32Z")
> [@Sanook](#): > > You can do what you want with the files in it on the server without any occ command to repair the Nextcloud database. I am guessing, however, that the files in the “external storage” folder will not benefit from whatever … niceties Nextcloud offers for files in its database, right? Meaning they won’t show up in Nextcloud’s Photos or … whatever, right? So those files will _not_ be inventoried by Nextcloud’s database, right? ---
**Author:** ![Sanook](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/sanook/32/13847_2.png) [@Sanook](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/Sanook)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 10:38pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/duplicate-finder-application-port-czkawka-to-nextcloud/219979/8 "2025-03-14T22:38:06Z")
The files are listed in the Nextcloud database as external storage, but appear as normal with the users. But it could be that one or the other app misinterprets this, like the [Music App](https://apps.nextcloud.com/apps/music) but the [Audio Player](https://apps.nextcloud.com/apps/audioplayer) works as usual. I did not test with Photos if the app is working, i am just using the external storage folder for syncing with the mobile device. And this works for every file type. ---
**Author:** ![Aqua1ung](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/aqua1ung/32/67732_2.png) [@Aqua1ung](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/Aqua1ung)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 10:51pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/duplicate-finder-application-port-czkawka-to-nextcloud/219979/9 "2025-03-14T22:51:07Z")
Thanks. At this point I am puzzled as to what the benefit would be to choose “internal” storage as opposed to simply working _only_ with “external” storage in Nextcloud _across the board_, meaning no more “internal” storage. ---
**Author:** ![Sanook](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/sanook/32/13847_2.png) [@Sanook](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/Sanook)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 8:52am UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/duplicate-finder-application-port-czkawka-to-nextcloud/219979/10 "2025-03-15T08:52:51Z")
Some apps do not work with “external local storage” but you can assign the files to users without the app “group folder” and you can connect to Samba or FTP and you can delete the files on the server without disturbing the Nextcloud database. The backup situation is also different because the files are not in the Nextcloud data directory and therefore do not require a user quota in the Nextcloud instance. ---
**Author:** ![Sanook](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/sanook/32/13847_2.png) [@Sanook](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/Sanook)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/duplicate-finder-application-port-czkawka-to-nextcloud/219979/11 "2025-03-15T17:44:34Z")
> [@Aqua1ung](#): > > Would it be possible to get someone who knows what he’s doing to port Czkawka to NextCloud as an app? It would initially be sufficient if this program deleted the files using `occ files:delete` instead of directly interfering with the file system. ---
**Author:** ![Aqua1ung](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/aqua1ung/32/67732_2.png) [@Aqua1ung](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/Aqua1ung)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 6:52pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/duplicate-finder-application-port-czkawka-to-nextcloud/219979/12 "2025-03-15T18:52:54Z")
> [@Sanook](#): > > It would initially be sufficient if this program deleted the files using `occ files:delete` instead of directly interfering with the file system. That would, indeed, be an idea, though in my case `occ` might not be available from outside of the Nextcloud container. See also [this](https://github.com/nextcloud/server/issues/51492). ---
**Author:** ![system](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/system/32/29333_2.png) [@system](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 6:53pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/duplicate-finder-application-port-czkawka-to-nextcloud/219979/13 "2025-06-13T18:53:48Z")
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