I recently imported a lot of pictures. Some of them are duplicates with different file names. Is there a quick and easy way to find duplicates by different criteria (matching EXIF metadata, matching image data, matching filename)?
MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 12.5
Hi
There are no facilities in photos to automate finding and deleting duplicates, so either
* manually,
* or using an app designed to work with the photos library (Ie one that marks the photos or puts them in an album, and lets you review and then delete them, rather than doing the delete itself.
Do NOT use a general file duplicate finder not designed to work with the photos library. They will damage your photos library and likely cause loss of your photos. (This is why apple says not to use them)
There are two known to be safe and recommended by experts here:
I personally use PowerPhotos (I also use this for copying images and data between libraries) https://www.fatcatsoftware.com/powerphotos/
Another suitable app recommended by experts here is PhotoSweeper (I have no personal experience of this one)
Both are paid apps. PhotoSweeper is the lowest cost and can recognise duplicates based on content, but PowerPhotos provides a lot of functionality in addition to the duplicate detection.
Hi
There are no facilities in photos to automate finding and deleting duplicates, so either
* manually,
* or using an app designed to work with the photos library (Ie one that marks the photos or puts them in an album, and lets you review and then delete them, rather than doing the delete itself.
Do NOT use a general file duplicate finder not designed to work with the photos library. They will damage your photos library and likely cause loss of your photos. (This is why apple says not to use them)
There are two known to be safe and recommended by experts here:
I personally use PowerPhotos (I also use this for copying images and data between libraries) https://www.fatcatsoftware.com/powerphotos/
Another suitable app recommended by experts here is PhotoSweeper (I have no personal experience of this one)
Both are paid apps. PhotoSweeper is the lowest cost and can recognise duplicates based on content, but PowerPhotos provides a lot of functionality in addition to the duplicate detection.
Thanks Tony! I ended up purchasing PhotoSweeper as it is exactly what I needed, and I had great success with it so far. It is also good to know about PowerPhotos as some of its functionalities might be useful for me further down the line.
Hey rax94,
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities!
The Photos app will typically search for duplicates when importing. You may need to manually remove some duplicates.
If you are considering using a third party app for this, please read here first:
Cheers!
Is there a way to find duplicate pictures in Photos?
