--- title: "Managing Local Deduplication" slug: "managing-local-deduplication-3-1-1-1-1" tags: ["Edge Filer", "Gateway", "Filer", "7.13"] updated: 2026-04-28T11:49:46Z published: 2026-04-28T11:49:46Z canonical: "kb.ctera.com/managing-local-deduplication-3-1-1-1-1" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.ctera.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Managing Local Deduplication CTERA edge filers support file-level deduplication that reduces physical cache storage and improves performance when accessing a stub file that already exists as another file on the edge filer. Files with the same content are linked to the same on-disk data, instead of taking twice the disk space. A deduped file, upon being modified, is populated with the underlying data. Files are deduped: - During a copy and paste operation in Windows File Explorer or Mac Finder. - After a file is modified locally, during the upload to the portal, the file will be deduplicated with a local copy of the data, if one exists. - If a local copy exists before a download starts, deduplication is immediate and the file is not downloaded, saving the network traffic. - If the file size is over 100MB. **Note** CTERA recommends that deduplication is disabled when running a [migration](/v1/docs/migrating-shares-3-1-1-1-1). If you do enable deduplication and then run a migration, the file system is automatically reindexed. You must **not** restart the edge filer while the reindexing is being performed. If the edge filer is restarted while reindexing is being performed, any file that was not reindexed when the edge filer was restarted, is never evicted from the edge filer. **To enable local deduplication:** **Warning** A restart is required when enabling deduplication. An error might be displayed as the Web browser session loses access to the Edge Filer. 1. In the **Configuration** view, select **Storage > Local Deduplication** in the navigation pane. The **Local Deduplication** page is displayed. ![Image](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-1LR7CA3V.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A28%3A47Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A28%3A47Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=8FFN8T3IwoKDQIIFoGlSxoQLwUk8Y1rKFGBZMEtxnLY%3D) 2. Click **Enable Local Deduplication**. ![Image](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-IMNOG0L5.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A28%3A47Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A28%3A47Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=8FFN8T3IwoKDQIIFoGlSxoQLwUk8Y1rKFGBZMEtxnLY%3D) The page shows storage usage prior to applying deduplication and the storage saved after applying deduplication as a percentage of the storage and as an amount of storage actually saved. Existing files are not deduped, unless you reindex the edge filer, described in [Applying Local Deduplication to Existing Files](/v1/docs/managing-local-deduplication-3-1-1-1-1#applying-local-deduplication-to-existing-files). After reindexing the edge filer, or after adding new files that can be deduped, the page shows the amount of storage saved by deduplication. ![Image](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-OYK7FI26.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A28%3A47Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A28%3A47Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=8FFN8T3IwoKDQIIFoGlSxoQLwUk8Y1rKFGBZMEtxnLY%3D) **Note** The info icon, ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-PG0HNE2M.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A28%3A47Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A28%3A47Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=8FFN8T3IwoKDQIIFoGlSxoQLwUk8Y1rKFGBZMEtxnLY%3D), was clicked to display the actual storage used. ## Applying Local Deduplication to Existing Files Deduplication is only applied to files added after deduplication is enabled unless reindexing is performed. **To reindex the edge filer:** 1. In the **Configuration** view, select **Storage > Local Deduplication** in the navigation pane. The **Local Deduplication** page is displayed. 2. Click **Run Full Reindexing**. The progress of the reindexing and local deduplication is displayed. ## Disabling Local Deduplication **To disable local deduplication:** **Warning** A restart is required when disabling deduplication. An error might be displayed as the Web browser session loses access to the Edge Filer. 1. In the **Configuration** view, select **Storage > Local Deduplication** in the navigation pane. The **Local Deduplication** page is displayed. ![Image](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-B5WN5ZRM.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A28%3A47Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A28%3A47Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=8FFN8T3IwoKDQIIFoGlSxoQLwUk8Y1rKFGBZMEtxnLY%3D) 2. Click **Disable Local Deduplication**. ![Image](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-N89T1HR6.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A28%3A47Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A28%3A47Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=8FFN8T3IwoKDQIIFoGlSxoQLwUk8Y1rKFGBZMEtxnLY%3D) ## Deduplication Logs The files that have been deduplicated are listed in the **Local Dedup** log, under **Logs > Log Viewer**. Click **View Log** to display the **Local Dedup** log. For details, see [Local Dedup Log](/v1/docs/viewing-different-logs-1-1-1-1-1#local-dedup-log).