File file1 = new File("./filename"); File file2 = new File("filename"); // Filename paths are not equal boolean b = file1.equals(file2); // false // Normalize the paths try { file1 = file1.getFile(); // c:almanac1.4filename file2 = file2.getFile(); // c:almanac1.4filename } catch (IOException e) { } // Filename paths are now equal b = file1.equals(file2); // true