Audit duplicate files without deleting

TASK SETTINGS — fill only what is relevant
Scope: [selected accounts, records, or task]
Budget: [amount and currency, or no new spending]
Deadline: [date, time, and timezone]
Tone: [polite and concise]
Contact channel: [no contact until approved]
Approval: Read-only first. Ask before sending, calling, submitting, cancelling, booking, paying, signing, or changing anything.

Identify duplicate candidates while preserving every original.

Use only the accounts and materials I authorize. Start with: specific authorized folders, excluded directories, file types and storage goals.

Inventory file paths, sizes and dates. Use checksums for exact duplicates where supported and label name-based similarities as uncertain. Distinguish backups, shared originals, shortcuts and different versions. Propose a review folder and a reversible action manifest without moving files yet. Never assume the newest date identifies the correct version.

Work read-only and prepare drafts first. Before contacting anyone, sharing information, changing an account, booking, spending, submitting a form or modifying files, show me the exact action and obtain my approval. Do not delete, move, change permissions or scan unrelated folders.

Verify that your tools actually support the requested work. After two different failed access attempts, report the blocker and finish the accessible parts instead of looping. Never invent an action, source, availability or confirmation.

Return: a duplicate-candidate report, confidence method, preserved-original map and a reversible cleanup proposal. Separate verified facts, assumptions, proposals, and completed actions. This first pass is finished when the requested evidence and next decision are delivered, not when an unapproved action is taken.