Osenpa
Safe Merge guide

Keep both different same-name files when merging folders

Use Safe Merge's Keep both choice and understand numbered names, equivalent files and policy ties.

By Osenpa · Updated · Reviewed
On this page

Short answer

Choose Keep both under When names match in Safe Merge. Different files at the same relative path are included under distinct names, such as report.txt and report (2).txt when that numbered name is available. Equivalent same-path files can share one output copy.

Before you start

  • Two distinct source folders on supported local NTFS storage in Safe Merge, outside network and cloud/sync locations. Neither source can be inside the other.
  • A separate result location that is not inside either source folder.
  • Different sample files with the same name if you want to check the behavior first.

Start here

  1. Choose the sources

    Select First folder and Second folder. For a sample check, each can contain a file named report.txt with different text inside.

  2. Keep both

    Set When names match to Keep both. Leave Recycle originals after merging unchecked for the first check.

  3. Create a separate result

    Enter a name under Merged folder, use Choose location to choose the folder that will contain it, and select Merge Folders.

  4. Inspect both variants

    Use Open merged folder and open both report files. Check their contents, then read Merge Summary to see how the source items were represented.

Check your result

  • Both different contents are present in the completed result.
  • Numbered output names do not replace an already reserved name.
  • The originals remain when recycling was not selected.

Which names are compared?

Matching is within corresponding folder paths. A file in Photos and a file in Documents are not a same-path conflict merely because both are named notes.txt.

Equivalent files at the same relative path can become one output copy. Two differently named identical files are not automatically removed by a whole-collection duplicate scan.

Choosing by date or size

The other choices are Keep the newer file, Keep the older file and Keep the smaller file. Date choices use modification time. If the selected comparison is tied, both different variants are kept.

A date or size choice does not determine which document contains the work you want. Keep both when you need to inspect both versions yourself. A different variant left out of the result stays at its source even if optional recycling was requested.

Why the number can differ

The app chooses an available numbered name and preserves the extension. If report (2).txt already exists in the planned result, another available number is used. Do not depend on one fixed suffix to identify a source; use Merge Summary.

The app used in this guide

Safe Merge

View app details

Related guides

Sources and further reading