Duplicate files

[lloydb12345]

In Photoshop Elements 15 I have hundreds of duplicate files in the Breeze Data folder. I don't know which dupes to choose to delete the extras. Can Elements do this for me or do I have to guess, and what happens if I guess wrong?

[MichelBParis]

The Breeze data folder is a component of the catalog and you should never have to edit or change anything yourself in the catalog folder. It does not contain any duplicate. If I remember well, this subfolder cares for visual similarity.

[lloydb12345]

Duplicate file finder software says I have many duplicates. Same files with different names.

[MichelBParis]

Locate your catalog (menu Help >> System Information)

Have a look at the current  catalog folder and in the Breeze Data subfolder.

Do you see other files than files with the .xml suffix? Files with extension for photo formats like jpegs? There should be no such file formats within the catalog folder, except in the creations subfolder. The catalog should point to image files outside of the catalog folder itself.

Do you use several catalogs?

Which duplicate finder do you use?

Finding duplicates by file name does not mean that the files are same, especially that they have the same size.Supposing you get the info about which files can be duplicates, you'll have to find the right criteria to know which to delete. If you delete files outside of the organizer, you'll risk to get a lot of 'disconnected' files in the catalog. You might delete a file present in the catalog and leave the duplicate which was not...