Embodiments for a mostly unique file selection process for a deduplication backup system are described. The process assigns tags to files. A tag serves as a hint about the similarity of files in a deduplication file system. It is expected that files from the same client machine will be assigned the same tag. The tag is the smallest unit of migration and serves as a hint of the similarity of the files. The MUFS process measures the uniqueness using a u-index that is a function of the total unique size of a tag relative to the total size of the tag. A load balancer then selects the most unique tags for migration to free the maximum space. It uses the u-index to measure the uniqueness percentage of a tag, so that tags with the highest u-index are selected for migration to free up maximum space on the source node.