> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.intuneassistant.cloud/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.intuneassistant.cloud/intune-assistant/devices/duplicate-devices.md).

# Duplicate Devices

## What it does

Duplicate Devices scans your Intune-managed device fleet and flags devices that are actually the same physical hardware enrolled more than once. This commonly happens after a device is re-imaged, re-enrolled, or renamed — Intune ends up with two (or more) managed device records that both belong to one laptop or phone.

Detection is based on hardware identity, not the device name — a device can be renamed at any point without breaking detection. Devices are grouped together when they share the same:

* **Serial number**
* **Wi-Fi MAC address**

Placeholder or blank values (for example a virtual machine's default serial number, or an all-zero MAC address) are ignored so they don't get lumped together as false duplicates.

## How to use it

1. Navigate to **Devices > Duplicate Devices** in the sidebar.
2. Click **Scan for Duplicates** to run the scan across your device fleet.
3. Devices that were matched to another device are tagged **Duplicate** in the list. Use the **Show duplicates only** toggle to hide everything else.
4. Click **View Duplicates** on a tagged device to open its duplicate group — a side-by-side view of every device that matched.
5. From the group view, click the trash icon next to a device to remove it.

{% hint style="danger" %}
Removing a device deletes its record from both **Intune** and **Entra ID**. This cannot be undone — make sure you're removing the stale duplicate, not the device that's actually still in use.
{% endhint %}

## What you'll see

The scan shows three summary numbers: total devices scanned, how many are duplicates, and how many duplicate groups were found.

Each duplicate device is tagged with a **Duplicate** badge and a **Matched On** indicator showing whether it was grouped by serial number, Wi-Fi MAC address, or both. Opening a group shows every device in it with its compliance state, last sync time, serial number, and Wi-Fi MAC address, so you can tell which one to keep before removing the others.

## Requirements

Scanning and viewing duplicate devices is available to any active IntuneAssistant customer — no additional license is required.

**Removing** a duplicate device requires the **Configuration Management** module, since it's a write-side action that deletes data from your tenant. If your account doesn't have this module, the remove button is disabled and you can still see the full duplicate group.

## Common questions and tips

**Why isn't a device I know is duplicated showing up?** Detection relies on the device reporting a serial number or Wi-Fi MAC address to Intune. Devices without either — or with only a placeholder value — can't be matched and won't be flagged, even if they're the same hardware.

**Why is a device grouped with others that don't look related?** Matching is based purely on serial number and Wi-Fi MAC address, not device name. If two seemingly unrelated device names share a group, it usually means the same physical machine was re-enrolled under a different name.

**What exactly happens when I remove a device?** The device's managed device record is deleted from Intune, and its corresponding device object is deleted from Entra ID. If you only want to stop seeing a device without deleting anything, don't use this feature — retire or wipe it from the regular Intune device actions instead.

**Do I need to rescan after removing a duplicate?** No — the list and any open duplicate group update automatically after a removal.

## Related Pages

* [Device Compare](/intune-assistant/devices/device-compare.md)


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