--- title: "DuplicateDuster Changelog — 1.4.0" description: "What changed in each DuplicateDuster release: an independent re-check before any copy is deleted, a report after every cleanup, and product-locked licence keys." url: "https://royalsoftworks.com/products/duplicate-duster/changelog/" source: "https://royalsoftworks.com" format: "markdown" note: "Markdown rendering of the HTML page at `url`. Same content, same canonical URL." --- Changelog # Every release, and what it refuses to do. A cleanup tool is judged by what it will not delete. Each release says plainly what was added, what changed, and which mistakes the app now stops. Free to download, no account · Pro €20 once, VAT included · Windows [Download free](https://royalsoftworks.com/download/#duplicate-duster) Latest release DuplicateDuster 1.4.0 5 October 2026 The first public build. Before any copy is touched, the app now walks your folders again, re-reads every candidate and confirms the match for itself — the scan result on screen is never what the delete acts on. Every cleanup leaves a report you can open afterwards, naming what was kept, what duplicated it and what was done. [Download 1.4.0](https://royalsoftworks.com/download/#duplicate-duster) [Read the release post](https://royalsoftworks.com/blog/duplicateduster-1-4-checks-before-it-deletes/) ## 1.4.0 Current 5 October 2026 Checks before it deletes, and a report after 3 New 1 Security 2 Changed The first public build. Before any copy is touched, the app now walks your folders again, re-reads every candidate and confirms the match for itself — the scan result on screen is never what the delete acts on. Every cleanup leaves a report you can open afterwards, naming what was kept, what duplicated it and what was done. New ### An independent second pass before anything is removed When you press delete, the app re-walks the folders you selected, re-hashes every file of a matching size with SHA-256, and works out the duplicates again from those hashes alone. Only a match it has confirmed itself is acted on. A copy whose contents changed since the scan, a batch that would leave no copy at all, or a file that can no longer be read is refused and named — never deleted on the strength of an old result. New ### A run report for every cleanup Each run writes a readable text file and a JSON file naming, for every file, the one being kept, the copy, what was done to it and both SHA-256 hashes — or the reason nothing was done. The last 200 are kept under Help → Run reports, and the run that just finished is summarised on the results panel with a link to its report. New ### A portable Windows build Beside the installer there is now a single .exe that runs without installing. It cannot replace itself in place, so when an update is out it sends you to the download page instead. Security ### A licence key works in DuplicateDuster only Every Royal SoftWorks app activates against the same licence server, so a valid key for any of them used to be accepted here too. Activation now names the product it is for, and a key — or an offline licence file — bought for another product is refused with a message saying so. Changed ### The app resets itself after a cleanup Folder selections, results, the search box and the caches are cleared, because every one of them describes a disk that has just changed. Settings, filters, theme, language, your licence and the run reports are left alone. Changed ### Updates come from the download host The update feed moved to dl.royalsoftworks.com, the same place the installers are downloaded from. The app checks once after launch and never downloads anything without asking. ## 1.3.0 3 September 2026 A licence you can find 2 New 1 Fixed Buying and activating a licence became something you can find: a button in the header labelled with your tier, and a way in from the free-tier banner at the moment the limit is met. The licence dialog was translated, and the three translated languages caught up with English. New ### A licence button in the header A free build shows an Activate licence button and an activated one a PRO badge. Activation used to be three clicks deep in the Help menu. New ### Enter a key from the free-tier banner When a cleanup runs past the 50-file free limit, the banner that explains the limit now offers to enter a licence key right there. Fixed ### Serbian, Latin-Serbian and Russian are complete All three were behind English on the scan filters, the duplicate-folder view and the reclaim modes, which rendered in English inside an otherwise translated app. The confirmation that wrongly promised permanent deletion in every mode is corrected too. ## 1.2.0 3 September 2026 Safety and hardening 2 Security 3 Fixed Nothing about how the app is used changed; what changed is what it refuses to do. Four ways a cleanup could lose data were found and closed, and the window that shows your files now runs with the browser's own defences on. Security ### The window runs with web security on The interface is served over a private app:// address with a content-security policy, no node access and a sandboxed bridge, and developer tools no longer ship in release builds. Nine unused internal commands were removed along with the code behind them. Security ### The delete path checks every path itself Before anything is removed it refuses protected system locations, folders, symbolic links and a copy that is the original under another name — and reports each refusal instead of skipping it silently. Fixed ### Shredding a hard-linked copy could destroy the original Secure delete overwrites a file before removing it. If the copy shared its storage with the file being kept — which the app's own hard-link mode creates — the overwrite went straight through to the original. The app now refuses to shred any file that another name points at. Fixed ### Two names for one folder no longer look like duplicates Scanning a folder against a junction or link to itself offered every file as a copy of itself. Each selected folder is now resolved to its real path first, and the delete path refuses a copy that is the same file as the original by any spelling. Fixed ### Select all selects only what you can see With a search filter typed in, select-all used to arm every duplicate in the whole result. It now selects exactly the rows on screen. A whole drive picked as a scan folder no longer silently switches off folder matching. Staying current ## How a release reaches you. ### One check after launch The installed app looks for a new version once after it starts and never downloads anything without asking. Check for updates, in the app's menu, asks at any time. ### Installer or portable The installer updates itself in place. The portable .exe cannot rewrite itself, so it tells you about an update and sends you to the download page. ### You can verify what you install Windows builds carry an Authenticode signature issued to Royal SoftWorks — check the publisher in the file's properties before you run it. ## Get the current build. Windows installer or portable .exe. Unlimited scanning for free; cleanups of more than 50 files a run are €20 once. [Download DuplicateDuster](https://royalsoftworks.com/download/#duplicate-duster) [See what it does](https://royalsoftworks.com/products/duplicate-duster/)