Repeated downloads and exports can produce a confusing archive. Deduplication should preserve meaningful differences rather than deleting every file that looks similar at a glance.
Compare identity and properties
Check the video identifier, dimensions, file type, and version label. Two images can look nearly identical while containing different text or compression levels. A smaller published variant is not necessarily a redundant copy of the editable source.
Group before deleting
Move suspected duplicates into a review group and identify the best retained copy for each purpose. Keep the original export when available, along with any historically important published version. Do not overwrite source records during cleanup.
Update the register
After confirming the retained files, revise links in project notes or spreadsheets. Open a few linked projects to check that no required asset was removed. A tidy archive should reduce ambiguity while preserving the information needed to reconstruct how each published thumbnail was produced.