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# How can I keep my library duplicate-free using the Find Similar Slides and Merge features?

Merging duplicates gives you one master version to update, so a single edit reaches every presentation that uses it. The find similar slides and merge features work by scanning for similarity based on visuals and text to see if you have any duplicates. The scan covers the slides in your library.

Duplicates build up when people copy an old file or create a new one instead of reusing something that is already approved. After a while there are several near-identical versions of the same slide and no way for anyone to tell which one is current. Making the approved version easy to find, and merging the copies into it, is how you stop that from growing.

### Watch the tutorial video to see how

Click to **23:04 - 23:44**  to see how to scan for similar slides 

${frame}[Full Admin Walkthrough](https://video.slidehub.com/v.ihtml/player.html?source=embed&photo_id=119254669)

### Follow the step-by-step guide

**1) To scan for similar slides go to** [**manage view**](https://ppt.slidehub.io/#/manage/company-slides/company/)

![PowerPoint add-in](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/9d091a3f3b772000/image_ddb8mq.png)

**2) You can either scan the whole library for similar or select a few slides you want to scan for.**

* To scan for specific slides, select the slides you want and then click on the dropdown arrow and click on “Find similar for selected”

or 

* To scan for the whole library just click on the dropdown arrow and click on “Find similar for all slides”

![Scan for similar slides](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/9d091a3f3b772000/image_rskcqd.png)

**3) After the scanning is done, you’ll be able to see all the similar slides on the platform. The red ribbons indicates the number of similar slides for each slide that is shown in the overview. Click on “See similar” to get a better over of the slides.**

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/9d091a3f3b772000/image_15jnu2l.png)

**4) You can compare the slides more in detail by clicking on the “Compare” button.** 

![Compare slides before merging or deleting them](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/9d091a3f3b772000/image_a8vmic.png)

**5) Select the slides you want to delete, merge or accept their similarity. And click on the corresponding button.**

![Merge similar slides](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/9d091a3f3b772000/image_1wyn8kg.png)

* By deleting slides you’ll delete the duplicate slide but also from any presentations it might be part of
* By merging similar slides  into a single root slide, you can easily update all presentations that contain those slides with just one change. This eliminates the need to manually update each individual presentation, saving time and effort. If you decide on merge, after clicking the “Merge” button a new window will pop up, where you can select the primary slide as the base for the new merged slide, then just click “Merge”. and that’s it.

![Select your primary slide](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/9d091a3f3b772000/image_1qwiw1.png)

* By accepting similarity of slides: you mark them as intentional, meaning next time you can for similar slides they wont show up in the scan results, unless you specifically filter for them in Similar slide scan results overview. You can always revert the similarity if you would like to.

![Filter to see similarity accepted slides](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/9d091a3f3b772000/image-10-1_1k4ki6q.jpg)

| We recommend using the accept similarity for cover, breaker and CV slides as often times they look very similar

And that’s it.

### Keeping the library duplicate-free over time

* When you need to refresh slides you have already merged, see [How to update multiple slides and keep their tagging and categorization intact?](https://help.slidehub.com/en-us/article/how-to-update-multiple-slides-and-keep-their-tagging-and-categorization-intact-dfy3e7/).
* To see which version people are actually using, and what they search for without finding a result, see [How to follow the statistics of your team's SlideHub use](https://help.slidehub.com/en-us/article/how-to-follow-the-statistics-of-your-teams-slidehub-use-s1dvlk/).

|| If you need further guidance, don’t hesitate to contact our [Customer Success Team](mailto:success@slidehub.com)