I have used Photos in conjunction with my iPhone for years with no problem. Without my changing or updating anything, my entire library of images on my iPhone are now getting copied in Photos everytime I connect my iPhone to my computer. Does Photos have to ability to get rid of the duplicates or will I have to spend cash on some third party software to clean up this problem?
This problem normally comes when the files are changed in some way as they are transferred to the Mac. Often the result of using different methods of transferring the files (EG texting / direct connection / photostream / iCloud). Pick one method of transfer from phone to Mac, and stick with it. Don't mix them.
Different versions of IOS can also impact this EG when photos are converted from HEIC to JPG. Iphone setting photos>transfer to mac or pc - set to automatic might convert the files. Try setting this to "keep originals". The phone will then send the files in the original HEIC format instead of JPG. (This is the most likely cause, and the easiest one to check for). However you'll still have duplicates on your mac in jpg format which you could choose to delete from the imports folder (if you are sure you still have the originals on your phone)
Another cause can be when iCloud photos is enabled on the phone with “Optimise phone storage” set. If iCloud re-downloads an image that has been optimised, that can result in it being seen as a new image. Even worse, any photo uploaded from your mac to iCloud, then downloaded to the phone with iCloud can be seen as a new image when synced via USB. Best solution; DON’T mix iCloud sync with USB sync.
Photostream is also being phased out, and hasn't been improved for some time resulting in an inability to work with some file types.
Images will only be recognised as the same image if the file being compared on your mac is exactly the same as the one on your phone. Same file name and type, same size, same metadata etc.
By far the easiest way to manage photos is by using iCloud sync, but that does have a monthly cost.
This problem normally comes when the files are changed in some way as they are transferred to the Mac. Often the result of using different methods of transferring the files (EG texting / direct connection / photostream / iCloud). Pick one method of transfer from phone to Mac, and stick with it. Don't mix them.
Different versions of IOS can also impact this EG when photos are converted from HEIC to JPG. Iphone setting photos>transfer to mac or pc - set to automatic might convert the files. Try setting this to "keep originals". The phone will then send the files in the original HEIC format instead of JPG. (This is the most likely cause, and the easiest one to check for). However you'll still have duplicates on your mac in jpg format which you could choose to delete from the imports folder (if you are sure you still have the originals on your phone)
Another cause can be when iCloud photos is enabled on the phone with “Optimise phone storage” set. If iCloud re-downloads an image that has been optimised, that can result in it being seen as a new image. Even worse, any photo uploaded from your mac to iCloud, then downloaded to the phone with iCloud can be seen as a new image when synced via USB. Best solution; DON’T mix iCloud sync with USB sync.
Photostream is also being phased out, and hasn't been improved for some time resulting in an inability to work with some file types.
Images will only be recognised as the same image if the file being compared on your mac is exactly the same as the one on your phone. Same file name and type, same size, same metadata etc.
By far the easiest way to manage photos is by using iCloud sync, but that does have a monthly cost.
nsbound wrote:
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Does Photos have to ability to get rid of the duplicates or will I have to spend cash on some third party software to clean up this problem?
Photos is spending a lot of time looking for duplicates, but this does not help us to get rid of them. Photos is using the duplicate detection to brush duplicates under the carpet, so we do not see them any longer in the curated "Days" view of the library. The "Days" are suppressing duplicates and similar photos. We could use this view as a starting point when looking for keepers.
There are quite a few applications claiming to find duplicates automatically. Some of them are very dangerous and could damage the Photos Library beyond repair. (Using third-party apps to remove duplicate photos might damage your Photos for macOS library - Apple Support) Use only duplicate detectors that do not automatically delete duplicates. Use only applications that will collect potential duplicates in an album for us to delete or use the program interface to Photos, so only the Photos.app will be used to delete the duplicates. I found PowerPhotos to be quite safe to use, also Photo Sweeper.
But even after running a duplicate detector I will always compare the potential duplicates and manually decide which of the duplicate pair to delete. Otherwise I might accidentally delete a photo that is part of a slideshow or has more comments, or is an intentionally created duplicate with different adjustments.
Do you have My Photo Stream enabled on both of your devices? If so whoever they both are on and connected to the LAN the Mac's Library will import the photos in the My Photo Stream. Then when you connect the two via cable and import you can create duplicates.
Photos suddenly duplicating files
