How to delete duplicate photos on my iPhone?

[toneve]

So… Recently, I was hanging out with some friends and we ended up scrolling through each other’s galleries. That’s when I noticed - and my friends pointed it out too - that I have a lot of duplicate photos. I tend to take several shots of the same thing, so there are tons of nearly identical pictures. Is there a quick and reliable way to find and delete duplicate photos on an iPhone?

[D_Harris_05]

Have you checked the Duplicates album in the Photos app? It automatically identifies exact duplicate photos and gives you the option to quickly merge them. To find it, just open the Photos app, scroll down to the Utilities section, and you’ll see the Duplicates album. From there, you can merge or delete the duplicates - either option removes the extras and leaves you with a single copy. Keep in mind that deleted photos are sent to Recently Deleted, so you’ll still need to clear them out manually if you want to fully reclaim the space. Out of curiosity, what version of iOS are you using?

 

It’s worth noting that this album only detects exact duplicates - photos saved multiple times or identical copies. If your “duplicates” are actually just very similar shots - like several takes of the same scene - the system won’t flag them. That’s because it’s comparing files at a technical level, likely using checksums or other metadata, rather than visually analyzing the content. I may not know the exact algorithm Apple uses, but it definitely doesn’t rely on image similarity in the way we might expect.

 

For cases like that, third-party cleaners are more effective. Personally, I went with Clever Cleaner - it’s a relatively new app, completely free, and packed with smart features designed to delete those near-identical iPhone photos that the built-in tools miss.

Edited April 25, 2025 by D_Harris_05

[toneve]

41 minutes ago, D_Harris_05 said:

Have you checked the Duplicates album in the Photos app? It automatically identifies exact duplicate photos and gives you the option to quickly merge them. To find it, just open the Photos app, scroll down to the Utilities section, and you’ll see the Duplicates album. From there, you can merge or delete the duplicates - either option removes the extras and leaves you with a single copy. Keep in mind that deleted photos are sent to Recently Deleted, so you’ll still need to clear them out manually if you want to fully reclaim the space. Out of curiosity, what version of iOS are you using?

 

It’s worth noting that this album only detects exact duplicates - photos saved multiple times or identical copies. If your “duplicates” are actually just very similar shots - like several takes of the same scene - the system won’t flag them. That’s because it’s comparing files at a technical level, likely using checksums or other metadata, rather than visually analyzing the content. I may not know the exact algorithm Apple uses, but it definitely doesn’t rely on image similarity in the way we might expect.

 

For cases like that, third-party cleaners are more effective. Personally, I went with Clever Cleaner - it’s a relatively new app, completely free, and packed with smart features designed to delete those near-identical iPhone photos that the built-in tools miss.

I’m on iOS 18.4.1 - I just updated my iPhone recently. Does that make any difference?

Also, I had no idea about the Duplicates album - thanks for pointing it out! I went through it and merged everything it found, but you’re right - it definitely didn’t catch all the duplicates in my gallery. I guess it is really only detects exact matches, not very similar shots. I even scrolled through my gallery afterward and still saw a lot of photos that look practically the same. That said, I’m still not comfortable using apps that handle my personal files automatically - I’d rather stay in control.
Is there any way to customize how the Duplicates album works, maybe to make it catch similar photos too??

[D_Harris_05]

Regarding iOS versions, the Duplicates album was introduced in iOS 16 - you’re already on that version, and even above, you’re good. But for anyone reading this who’s still on an older version of iOS, it might come as a surprise that this album isn’t available to them at all.

 

Now, it’s also worth asking: those photos that are left after merging are actual duplicates or just similar-looking photos? If the duplicates are fairly recent, there’s a chance the Photos app hasn’t indexed them yet. I had a similar experience on my iPad where the Duplicates album didn’t show anything for nearly two days. I’m not sure what caused the delay, but eventually, the duplicates did appear - so a little patience might be all that’s needed.

 

Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to influence how this feature works. There are no settings to tweak, no beta toggles to enable, and based on Apple’s current direction, I’m not optimistic that they’ll expand this feature to detect visually similar photos anytime soon. I came across a discussion on Reddit where someone claimed that Apple’s AI project - once showcased at conferences - is now bouncing between departments with no clear progress. Whether or not that’s true, it reflects the uncertainty around future development in this area. And, as with most things on Reddit, take it with a grain of salt.

[toneve]

10 minutes ago, D_Harris_05 said:

Regarding iOS versions, the Duplicates album was introduced in iOS 16 - you’re already on that version, and even above, you’re good. But for anyone reading this who’s still on an older version of iOS, it might come as a surprise that this album isn’t available to them at all.

 

Now, it’s also worth asking: those photos that are left after merging are actual duplicates or just similar-looking photos? If the duplicates are fairly recent, there’s a chance the Photos app hasn’t indexed them yet. I had a similar experience on my iPad where the Duplicates album didn’t show anything for nearly two days. I’m not sure what caused the delay, but eventually, the duplicates did appear - so a little patience might be all that’s needed.

 

Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to influence how this feature works. There are no settings to tweak, no beta toggles to enable, and based on Apple’s current direction, I’m not optimistic that they’ll expand this feature to detect visually similar photos anytime soon. I came across a discussion on Reddit where someone claimed that Apple’s AI project - once showcased at conferences - is now bouncing between departments with no clear progress. Whether or not that’s true, it reflects the uncertainty around future development in this area. And, as with most things on Reddit, take it with a grain of salt.

No, these are definitely older photos - most of them are over six months old. I even started going through and cleaning up the duplicates manually, but after about 10 minutes, I realized there are way more than I expected. Seems like my “bad” habit of taking multiple shots really caught up with me.
I’m still considering one of those duplicate cleaner apps, but to be honest, I’m a bit concerned about giving them access to my photos. I really don’t want anything being uploaded to their servers or handled without my knowledge.

[UrbanExplorer7]

18 minutes ago, toneve said:

No, these are definitely older photos - most of them are over six months old. I even started going through and cleaning up the duplicates manually, but after about 10 minutes, I realized there are way more than I expected. Seems like my “bad” habit of taking multiple shots really caught up with me.
I’m still considering one of those duplicate cleaner apps, but to be honest, I’m a bit concerned about giving them access to my photos. I really don’t want anything being uploaded to their servers or handled without my knowledge.

Just to clear things up - pretty much all these cleaner apps, including Clever Cleaner (the one mentioned earlier), process your photos locally. Nothing gets uploaded anywhere.

Think about it - if they actually sent all your pics to a server to scan for duplicates, it’d take hours (and kill your data lol). But the good ones do it right on your phone and usually finish in a few minutes.

So yeah, no need to stress. Just grab any cleaner with solid reviews on the App Store and you’re good to go.

[toneve]

1 hour ago, UrbanExplorer7 said:

Just to clear things up - pretty much all these cleaner apps, including Clever Cleaner (the one mentioned earlier), process your photos locally. Nothing gets uploaded anywhere.

Think about it - if they actually sent all your pics to a server to scan for duplicates, it’d take hours (and kill your data lol). But the good ones do it right on your phone and usually finish in a few minutes.

So yeah, no need to stress. Just grab any cleaner with solid reviews on the App Store and you’re good to go.

Got it - thanks for explaining how these cleaners actually work. That makes it a bit clearer and easier to trust.
And if it’s not too much trouble, maybe you could recommend a few more apps besides Clever Cleaner? I like having options to compare, just in case - always feels better when there’s a bit of choice involved 🙂

[SevenTheAppleKitty]

17 minutes ago, toneve said:

maybe you could recommend a few more apps besides Clever Cleaner? I like having options to compare, just in case - always feels better when there’s a bit of choice involved 🙂

I'm not familiar with the apple app store, but you could also try CCleaner if it's there. (No, the first C does not mean Clever. )

[UrbanExplorer7]

To be honest, I recommend giving Clever Cleaner a shot first before you go testing a bunch of other apps - I’ve got a feeling you won’t even need to look further. When I first heard about it, I totally expected it to be another half-baked cleaner like most of the junk on the App Store, but turns out the devs actually put in some effort. The duplicate detection uses AI or whatever, and it works really well. I didn’t see any weird false matches like I did with other apps.

 

If you’re trying to not just clean up duplicates but also free up a bunch of space, this app has a couple of solid features: it can convert Live Photos into regular stills (saves a surprising amount of space), and it sorts big files in your gallery by size - something Apple still doesn’t let you do in the Photos app for some reason.

Anyway, it’s not one of those “free but not really” trial apps - it’s actually free. Worst case, you don’t like it and try something else. But yeah, definitely worth checking out first.

[MikeB76]

I like Remo Duplicate Remover  -  maybe a bit outdated for some, but it works for me. Finds duplicates well. No extra features, but if all you need is duplicate removal, it gets the job done. Maybe you’ll vibe with it too

[D_Harris_05]

Honestly, I’m surprised anyone would recommend Remo. The app seriously struggles when analyzing large photo libraries. I have a sizable gallery, and when I gave Remo a try, it couldn’t even finish scanning. It just sat there, overheating my iPhone 14 Pro - and that was the end of it. If you have more than a thousand photos, I really wouldn’t recommend using it.

 

On the other hand, I fully agree with the recommendation of Clever Cleaner. The developers have clearly put effort into improving the app, and the recent update reflects that. While the interface might feel a bit too vibrant for my taste - it leans a little heavy on the color - it’s a minor drawback considering the app’s overall functionality.

 

When it comes to detecting duplicates, Clever Cleaner holds its own against many paid apps - and in some cases, it actually performs better. Out of curiosity, I even did a side-by-side comparison (yes, I had some time on my hands), and the results were impressive.

 

If you’re looking for something with a different approach, you might also want to check out Swipewipe. It offers a more hands-on experience - you scroll through your gallery and decide what stays and what goes. Given your concerns about privacy or potential photo leaks, it could be a great fit.

[D_Harris_05]

20 minutes ago, SevenTheAppleKitty said:

I'm not familiar with the apple app store, but you could also try CCleaner if it's there. (No, the first C does not mean Clever. )

Personally, I remember seeing articles about CCleaner alternatives, but I had no idea this app had been around since late 2023 - somehow, it completely slipped under my radar. Curious, I decided to give it a try to see what it could do. Twenty minutes later, I was still staring at a “Searching…” message and a looping magnifying glass animation. I was genuinely curious about what kind of results it might show, but it looks like I won’t be finding out hah

[UrbanExplorer7]

12 minutes ago, D_Harris_05 said:

Honestly, I’m surprised anyone would recommend Remo. The app seriously struggles when analyzing large photo libraries. I have a sizable gallery, and when I gave Remo a try, it couldn’t even finish scanning. It just sat there, overheating my iPhone 14 Pro - and that was the end of it. If you have more than a thousand photos, I really wouldn’t recommend using it.

 

On the other hand, I fully agree with the recommendation of Clever Cleaner. The developers have clearly put effort into improving the app, and the recent update reflects that. While the interface might feel a bit too vibrant for my taste - it leans a little heavy on the color - it’s a minor drawback considering the app’s overall functionality.

 

When it comes to detecting duplicates, Clever Cleaner holds its own against many paid apps - and in some cases, it actually performs better. Out of curiosity, I even did a side-by-side comparison (yes, I had some time on my hands), and the results were impressive.

 

If you’re looking for something with a different approach, you might also want to check out Swipewipe. It offers a more hands-on experience - you scroll through your gallery and decide what stays and what goes. Given your concerns about privacy or potential photo leaks, it could be a great fit.

I don’t get the hype around Swipewipe. If you’ve got a huge photo library, you’ll be swiping your thumb off - like, who has time to swipe through 110 near-identical pics?

Just use Clever Cleaner. It’s free and does the job with one tap. Plus, there’s even a semi-auto mode where it groups similar pics and lets you pick which one to keep, so you still have some control if you’re picky about what stays.

Save yourself the time and brainpower - let it auto-delete the duplicates and call it a day 😅

[D_Harris_05]

That said, I’m not necessarily recommending you rely on it - I’m simply suggesting a different approach. You can always explore the app’s features, and if it doesn’t work for you, just delete it and move on. No harm done

[toneve]

Thanks for the advice, guys…I’ll give these apps a try - though probably not Remo, since I’ve got over 25,000 photos in my gallery and I’m not looking to turn my phone into a space heater like it used to be in @D_Harris_05.
I’ll come back and share how it goes once I’ve tested them and (hopefully) made some progress!

[SevenTheAppleKitty]

9 hours ago, D_Harris_05 said:

Twenty minutes later, I was still staring at a “Searching…” message and a looping magnifying glass animation. I was genuinely curious about what kind of results it might show, but it looks like I won’t be finding out hah

Heh, looks like it hasn't exactly improved much since the 2010s then.

Edited April 22, 2025 by SevenTheAppleKitty

[toneve]

So, even though I said I wouldn’t try Remo, the 13,000 reviews on the App Store got to me - I gave in and downloaded it. I ran it, and it started scanning… but after 40 minutes, it was still stuck at 29%. My patience ran out, and I uninstalled it.

Then I tested Clever Cleaner, and that was a completely different story. Unlike Remo, it scanned my gallery fairly quickly - took about 7 minutes - and showed me all the similar photos. I decided to try its Smart Clean feature, and it did the job fast, moving all the duplicates to the “Recently Deleted” folder. I checked them just in case, to make sure nothing important was gone, then emptied the folder.

 

After that, I used the Heaviest section to remove some large files - it conveniently sorted everything by size. Just deleting four videos gave me back 5GB of space (can’t believe I left that stuff sitting there, haha). I didn’t test the Live Photo conversion since I don’t really have any Live Photos.

 

In the end, I was fully satisfied with the app. I didn’t try Swipewipe because by then all my duplicates were already gone, and honestly, I just don’t have time to go through the entire gallery manually.

Finally, I checked everything myself - and yep, no more duplicates or near-identical photos. All clean!

Edited April 23, 2025 by toneve