8 Best Apps to Remove Duplicate Photos on iPhone
Had enough of duplicate photos on your iPhone? Maybe you already tried cleaning them up in the Duplicates folder inside the Photos app, but it didn’t catch all the similar images. Look no further: I’ve compiled a list of the best apps that can remove duplicate photos. You’ve got 8 great options here, so just pick one, and you’re good to go.
What Causes Duplicate Photos on iPhone
Duplicate photos can clutter your iPhone’s storage, causing confusion and reducing space. These duplicates appear when the same image is downloaded or imported more than once. And this is the main reason duplicate photos end up on an iPhone.
While Apple does offer some built-in tools to handle this, such as the Duplicates album in the Photos app, its functionality is quite limited, as we mentioned in the introduction. It only detects identical images, so similar photos or slightly edited versions won’t appear there. For example, an edited photo and its original version, images taken in Burst mode, or photos with minor changes in pose are treated by iOS as similar, not as duplicates. As a result, they won’t show up in the Duplicates album. Plus, it doesn’t update instantly, it can take a while for duplicates to appear.
That’s why having a dedicated app to delete duplicate photos on your iPhone is a must.
Top Apps for Deleting Duplicate Photos on iPhone
After thorough research and personal trials, I’ve created a list of apps that excel in identifying and removing duplicate photos. These apps are user-friendly and offer a variety of features tailored to streamline photo management on your iPhone, some even are completely free. Let’s take a look!
1. Clever Cleaner
Overview: Clever Cleaner: Free Duplicate Cleaner App can help you remove duplicates, clear screenshots, compress Live Photos, and delete the largest files. It detects both exact and similar photos, converts Live Photos into still images without losing quality, and pinpoints oversized files. The app also allows you to compress videos to free up additional storage and includes a swipe-based mode for quickly removing unwanted images. Developed by CleverFiles, it delivers a fully free and quick way to clean up iPhone storage. Here’s a pretty good video comparing Clever Cleaner with other apps for cleaning photo storage on iPhone.
Key Features:
- Smart Duplicate Finder: Spots exact copies and near-duplicates using AI, way more than the Photos app (since it can’t spot non-duplicate similar images).
- Live Photo Shrinker: Turns Live Photos into stills without losing quality.
- Screenshot Cleanup: Instantly finds and deletes useless screenshots.
- Swipe Mode: Lets you quickly swipe through unwanted photos, grouped by the month they were added, for faster manual cleanup.
- Large File Detector: Sorts photos and videos by size so you can ditch the biggest storage hogs first.
- Video Compression: Reduces video size with a choice of compression levels, helping you balance file size and quality.
- One-Tap Cleanup: Groups duplicates, similar shots, and large files for easy mass deletion.
- Trash & Restore: Everything goes to the trash first, so you can bring files back if needed.
- 100% free, no paywalls, no locked features.
- Quick and accurate.
- Uses AI to detect near-duplicates, not just exact copies.
- Displays how much space is wasted and how much you can free up.
- Customizable settings.
- No ads.
- No auto-delete scheduling.
- Sorting options are not available in all sections of the app.
Price: The app is completely free and will stay free for all early adopters, according to its official Clever Cleaner: Duplicate Cleaner webpage.
Final Verdict: I decided to put Clever Cleaner in the first spot because I was impressed with how much the app actually delivers for absolutely free. It detected both exact duplicates and similar photos, with the option to choose what to keep individually or use the Smart Cleanup button to let the app handle everything automatically. With one swipe, I could delete all selected photos at once. Plus, for every action, the app shows exactly how much storage will be freed, which made the process even more satisfying. Not only that, I didn’t see any ads, in-app purchases, or locked features, nothing like that at all. Truly impressive for an app with AI-powered detection.
Even though it’s a new app on the market, I didn’t notice any glitches or crashes, which is rare for fresh software. Add to that its simple, clear cleanup process, and it’s easily the best free option for managing your iPhone’s storage. If you want a fast, ad-free, useful duplicate remover app, this is the one to get.
2. Remo Duplicate Photos Remover
Overview: Remo Duplicate Photos Remover assists iPhone users in decluttering their photo albums by identifying and eliminating duplicate or very similar images (the app focuses mainly on close matches, so similar photos, such as images with different poses or minor visual differences, are usually not included in its detection results). This App Store app simplifies the process of regaining storage space and organizing photo collections with its straightforward design and functionality.
Key Features:
- Simple Interface: Designed for ease, accessible to all users.
- Selective Scanning: You can specify criteria for more targeted searches.
- Dual Deletion Modes: Offers both automatic and user-guided options for deleting duplicates.
- Advanced Image Recognition: Identifies exact duplicate photos based on matching image data.
- Broad File Support: Compatible with multiple image formats.
- Supports multiple device types, increasing its utility.
- Accurate identification of duplicate images.
- Variety of supported image formats for versatile photo management.
- Option to refine scan settings enhances user control.
- Basic interface.
- Potential for extended scanning durations in some cases.
- Primarily focuses on exact duplicates, so similar-looking photos are often not identified.
Price: The app is available for free.
Final Verdict: I was pleasantly surprised by Remo Duplicate Photos Remover. Its no-cost offering doesn’t skimp on functionality, making it a compelling choice for anyone looking to tackle duplicate photos without financial outlay. The interface is straightforward, eliminating any potential hassle in navigating through the app. What really sets Remo apart is its adeptness at identifying duplicates, even among similar photos, which helped me reclaim significant storage space. The scanning process may take a bit longer, but considering the storage space it frees up, I found it to be a minor inconvenience. For those looking for an efficient and cost-effective solution, Remo stands out as a top contender.
3. Cleaner: Free Up Storage Guru
Overview: Cleaner: Free Up Storage Guru is an iPhone app tailored for users seeking to optimize their device storage by managing duplicate and similar photos, screenshots, and large video files. Its primary function is to enhance the device’s performance by decluttering storage space, offering a straightforward and user-friendly interface to facilitate easy navigation and use.
Key Features:
- Duplicate and Similar Photo Detection: Identifies and groups identical or similar photos for easy management.
- Screenshot and Large Video File Management: Helps in organizing and deleting unnecessary screenshots and large videos that occupy significant storage space.
- Video Compression: Reduces video file size to free up storage space.
- Calendar Cleaner: Finds and removes unnecessary calendar entries to reduce clutter.
- Contact Cleaner: Helps identify and merge or delete duplicate contacts.
- Secret Space: Provides a private area to hide selected photos and videos from the main library.
- User-Friendly Interface: Designed for ease of use, allowing users to navigate and perform cleaning tasks without complications.
- The layout is straightforward and intuitive.
- Also targets large videos, screenshots, and other files taking up space.
- Well-organized categorization for both photos and videos.
- The scanning process is generally fast.
- Some users report that the app occasionally crashes.
- While free to download, many of the features require in-app purchases.
Price: The app is available for free with limitations. In-app purchases start at $4.99 per week for cleanup features, with a lifetime storage cleaner subscription available for $19.99.
Final Verdict: Using Cleaner: Free Up Storage Guru felt like a double-edged sword. Its ability to clear out not just duplicate photos but also unnecessary screenshots and large videos was impressive, helping me significantly free up storage. The interface was straightforward, which I appreciated. However, the app’s occasional missteps, like mistakenly flagging important contacts as expendable, left me cautious. The built-in backup feature was a lifesaver, though, providing peace of mind. It’s a useful app, but one where I learned to proceed with caution and double-check its suggestions.
4. CleanMy®Phone: Cleanup Storage
Overview: CleanMy®Phone: Cleanup Storage is an iOS app developed by MacPaw that assists iPhone users in managing their photo libraries by identifying duplicates, similar photos, and unnecessary clutter like screenshots or blurry images. It uses smart technology to suggest the best photos to keep, making it easier to declutter your camera roll and free up storage space on your device.
Key Features:
- Smart Selection: The app suggests the best photos to keep from sets of similar images.
- Clutter Removal: Identifies and helps remove screenshots, blurry photos, and other unneeded images.
- Easy Sorting: Offers a simple interface to review and delete unwanted photos quickly.
- Video Compression: Reduces video file size to help free up storage space.
- Turn Live Photos into Stills: Converts Live Photos into still images to save space.
- Similar Contacts: Finds duplicate or similar contacts and allows you to merge them into a single entry.
- Efficiently declutters photo libraries by removing duplicates and unnecessary photos.
- Simplifies the process of choosing the best photos from multiple similar shots.
- Offers a wide range of AI-based categories for cleaning and organizing the photo library.
- Gives users full control over photo deletion.
- The app’s “Best result” functionality may sometimes group unrelated photos together or miss distinguishing between distinct but similar photos.
- One of the more expensive apps on this list compared to similar alternatives.
Price: CleanMy®Phone: Cleanup Storage is free to download with in-app purchases. Subscription options include monthly access for $9.99, yearly access for $44.99, or lifetime access for $99.99.
Final Verdict: CleanMy®Phone: Cleanup Storage became a go-to for me with its intuitive handling of duplicates and clutter. The app’s knack for suggesting which photos to keep made decluttering less of a chore and more of a discovery process. I was particularly fond of its on-device processing, aligning with my privacy preferences. The subscription price and occasional misgrouping of photos were minor drawbacks, but didn’t overshadow the overall positive experience. CleanMy®Phone: Cleanup Storage struck a good balance between automation and personal choice, making it a solid choice for streamlining photo collections.
5. Cleanup: Phone Storage Cleaner
Overview: Cleanup: Phone Storage Cleaner is an iPhone app designed to help iPhone users declutter their device’s storage by identifying and removing duplicate photos, videos, and contacts. The app also features a mailbox cleaner and provides custom widgets and charging animations for a personalized experience. It has been highlighted for its user-friendly design and the ability to categorize photos for easier management, making the process of deleting photos more efficient.
Key Features:
- Duplicate Detection: Finds and allows for the removal of duplicate photos and videos.
- Video Compression: Compresses videos with the option to choose the compression level.
- Contacts Cleaner: Finds duplicate contacts as well as incomplete contact entries and helps clean them up.
- Mailbox Cleaning: Helps clean up the mailbox for a more organized email app.
- Custom Widgets and Charging Animations: Offers additional customization options for the iPhone.
- Simplifies the process of deleting unnecessary files and duplicates.
- Detects duplicates across photos, screenshots, and videos.
- User-friendly interface that’s easy to navigate.
- Provides additional fun features like custom widgets and charging animations.
- Some users reported issues with the app’s performance, noting that it sometimes does not delete selected photos or crashes.
- The subscription cost has been a point of contention for some users, who find it high compared to the features offered.
Price: Cleanup: Phone Storage Cleaner offers a free 7-day trial, after which you can opt for a weekly subscription at $11.99. A lifetime subscription is also available for $49.99.
Final Verdict: Cleanup: Phone Storage Cleaner was an interesting experience. Its sleek design and novel features like custom widgets added a fun twist to the usual cleanup routine. The app did a decent job at decluttering, though I stumbled upon some hiccups where it failed to delete selected photos or unexpectedly crashed. The subscription price raised an eyebrow, considering the occasional glitches. However, for those who value aesthetics and are willing to overlook some imperfections, Cleanup: Phone Storage Cleaner offers a visually appealing way to tackle photo organization.
6. Cleaner Guru: Clean Up Storage
Overview: Cleaner Guru: Clean Up Storage is a duplicate photo cleaner app that you can find on the App Store. At its core, it focuses on cleaning and organizing the photo and video library, with a strong emphasis on automated detection and grouping. In practice, Cleaner Guru partly reminds us of Clever Cleaner. The app combines duplicate and similar photo detection into a single section, automatically groups images, highlights the best version, and marks the rest for deletion. From there, you can either remove all extra copies at once or take a more selective approach and delete only a few items manually.
Beyond photos, the app also helps manage videos by highlighting the largest files and offering options to delete or compress them. It can also clean up screenshots and similar Live Photos. If you prefer less automation, Cleaner Guru allows you to review the photo library using swipe gestures while tracking your cleanup progress. One of the app’s strongest points, in our view, is its sorting flexibility across sections. This makes it easier to focus on cleaning media from a specific time period instead of manually scrolling through the entire library to reach it.
Key Features:
- Duplicate and Similar Photo Detection: Finds duplicate photos and visually similar images and groups them for easier cleanup.
- Similar Live Photos Cleanup: Identifies similar Live Photos to help reduce unnecessary duplicates.
- Video Cleanup and Compression: Helps clean up large videos and compress them to save storage space.
- Swipe-Based Photo Cleanup by Month: Allows you to review and delete photos using swipe gestures, grouped by month.
- Email Cleanup: Helps clean up the mailbox by removing unnecessary emails.
- Secret Folder: Provides a private space for storing selected photos and videos.
- Accurate detection of duplicate and similar photos.
- Good sorting options that make it easier to focus on specific time periods or media types.
- Minimalistic and user-friendly interface.
- Most useful features require a subscription.
- The Extra Tools section contains more links to other apps by the developer than actual built-in tools.
Price: The app can be downloaded for free, but its functionality is limited. Full access is available via a subscription priced at $7.99 per week or $39.99 per year.
Final Verdict: Cleaner Guru is a solid option for iPhone users looking for an effective duplicate and storage cleaner. The accuracy of duplicate and similar photo detection is reliable, and the availability of sorting options for each media category is genuinely impressive, as it makes the cleanup process much more focused and convenient. When combined with the app’s additional sections and tools, Cleaner Guru can be considered one of the better options for cleaning both duplicate photos and overall iPhone storage. The only notable drawback is the limitation of the free version, which clearly pushes users toward a subscription. That said, the pricing feels reasonable for what the app offers, and in our view, it is a fair trade-off for the feature set provided.
7. Photo Cleaner·Remove Duplicate
Overview: Photo Cleaner · Remove Duplicate stands slightly apart from the other apps listed above, as it focuses exclusively on cleaning up the photo and video library. The app does not extend its functionality to other categories such as contacts, calendars, or additional system data. Instead, it keeps things simple by offering tools only for managing photos and videos. Inside the app, you will find options to identify duplicate and similar images, as well as a swipe-based cleanup mode for browsing and removing unwanted photos and videos. One notable difference is that during duplicate or similar photo detection, the app does not automatically select the “best” shot. Instead, users must manually decide which images to keep and which to delete, giving full control over the cleanup process.
Key Features:
- Duplicate and Similar Photo Detection: Finds duplicate photos as well as similar-looking images for manual review.
- Swipe-Based Library Cleanup: Allows you to clean the entire photo and video library using swipe gestures.
- Trash: All items deleted through the app are first moved to a trash folder, so they can be restored if needed.
- Focuses exclusively on cleaning the photo and video library without adding unrelated features.
- Allows manual control when reviewing duplicate and similar photos.
- Swipe-based cleanup makes it easy to go through large photo and video collections.
- Deleted items are stored in a trash folder, which reduces the risk of accidental data loss.
- Does not automatically suggest the best photo among similar images.
- Requires more manual input compared to AI-driven cleaners.
Price: The app can be used for free with a daily limit of 100 deletions (+ an additional 25 deletions per day by watching ads). For users who want unlimited access, Photo Cleaner · Remove Duplicate offers a monthly subscription priced at $5.99 or a yearly subscription for $19.99.
Final Verdict: Photo Cleaner · Remove Duplicate is a good fit for users who do not like heavy automation where one tap removes all duplicates or similar photos at once. Instead, the app suits those who prefer a grouped view of their media and want to review each photo manually before deciding what to delete and what to keep. It is also a solid option for users who like the idea of gradually going through their entire photo and video library using swipe gestures. Personally, this approach is not my favorite, as it requires more time and manual effort. That said, the app will definitely find its audience.
8. Hyper Cleaner: Clean Up Photos
Overview: Hyper Cleaner is the last duplicate cleaner app we cover in this list. In terms of detecting duplicate and similar photos, it does not stand out significantly from the other apps mentioned above (it handles this task just as well and delivers comparable results). What makes Hyper Cleaner slightly different is a small but interesting detail – daily motivation. The app encourages regular use by letting you collect streaks, similar to how it works in apps like TikTok. This does not unlock extra features or provide direct benefits for cleanup itself, but it adds a light gamification element that sets the app apart from more straightforward cleaners.
Beyond duplicate detection, Hyper Cleaner includes several additional modules aimed at organizing other types of media and data from the Photos app and beyond.
Key Features:
- Duplicate and Similar Photo Cleanup: Scans the photo library to find duplicate and visually similar images and helps remove unnecessary copies.
- Large Video Management: Allows you to delete large videos or compress them to free up storage space.
- Swipe-Based Photo Library Cleanup: Lets you clean the photo library using swipe gestures, with photos grouped by months and AI-based categories.
- Screenshots and Blurry Photos Cleanup: Includes dedicated modules for removing screenshots and identifying blurry photos.
- Contacts Organization: Helps organize contacts by finding duplicates and cleaning up entries.
- Secret Space: Offers a private area for storing selected photos and videos.
- Extra Tools: Includes additional utilities such as a data leak checker, an ad blocker, battery charging tools, and widgets..
- Clean and uncluttered interface that is easy to navigate.
- Allows sorting results in each module by a specific time period.
- Makes it easy to track cleanup progress over time.
- The streaks system is a fun and unusual detail that encourages daily use.
- The pricing and full-version payment model is not very clear.
- Includes some unusual modules for a cleaner app, such as a data leak checker and ad blocker.
Price: The app can be used for free. The App Store listing mentions in-app purchases, with prices ranging from $3.99 (most likely a weekly plan) up to $39.99 for a yearly or lifetime option. However, during our testing, we did not encounter any clear limitations, paywalls, or prompts forcing us to choose a paid plan. This may be a temporary issue or a bug, so it’s something to keep in mind.
Final Verdict: Hyper Cleaner is a solid option if you are looking for a duplicate cleaner app with a slightly different approach. Its duplicate and similar photo detection works reliably, but we would especially recommend this app to users who do not like fully automated cleanup and prefer to manually go through their entire photo library. The grouping options by months or AI-based categories, such as food, animals, and more, make this process much more manageable. A clear advantage is the dashboard that tracks cleanup progress across categories, along with the streaks feature, which adds a playful and interactive element. If you enjoy apps with small gamified details and hands-on control, Hyper Cleaner is definitely worth a closer look.
My Verdict
I would say that the positions in this rating reflect my overall impression of each app. Clever Cleaner takes the top spot because it delivered great results, was comfortable to use, scanned quickly, and is absolutely free with no strings attached. For me, Clever Cleaner is currently the best iPhone app for duplicate and similar photo removal. I also took to heart the developer’s promise that anyone who downloads it now and keeps it on their phone will have free access forever, which makes it an even better deal.
The second-best is Remo Duplicate Photos Remover. It did not come close to Clever Cleaner in terms of finding similar photos, but it’s free and does a solid job at finding duplicates. However, its interface felt less polished, and its scanning speed suggested that its detection algorithms could use some improvement.
In third place, I put Cleaner: Free Up Storage Guru. It’s a great duplicate remover for any iPhone, but many of its features require in-app purchases. Additionally, some users in the App Store have reported crashes, though I didn’t experience any issues myself. I could have ranked it higher if more features were available for free and if there were fewer reports of stability problems.
That’s my top three, but all eight are worthy apps, just some more worthy than others.
FAQ
