How To Find Duplicate Images On Mac

The All-time Manner to Delete Duplicate Photos in Mac Photos App

This commodity will show you lot how to detect and delete duplicate photos in Mac's Photos app easily, quickly and safely.

Photos (previously iPhoto) is a photo management app included with macOS (previously Mac Os X and and then Os X). When we import photos to Mac, we tend to import them to Photos instead of a normal binder. The photos in Photos app are stored in Photos Library (with the extension .photoslibrary) resided in the default Pictures folder. Duplicates may have accumulated in Photos over years. And you may want to remove duplicate photos.

Manually getting rid of them may take hours and even days. Luckily, there is a better method.

This article is updated on April 6, 2021.

How to remove indistinguishable photos on Mac effortlessly

This method uses Cisdem Duplicate Finder for Mac, an app to notice and delete duplicate images, videos, audios, documents, archives and more on Mac.

Besides designed for the Photos app, Cisdem Duplicate Finder can safely remove duplicates from Photos Library. It will scan your library, list the establish duplicate photos for you to view, automatically select duplicates and so motion selected items to Recently Deleted in Photos app. You only need to eliminate them in Recently Deleted with a click.

Apple warns users of sure duplicate file finders that tin damage Photos Library when deleting dupes. It's truthful that some apps work that way. And they straight delete information from the library. Merely with this Cisdem app, equally you lot can see, the process is safe and reliable, much like how a homo would search for and handle duplicate images from inside Photos app.

Here'south a video tutorial. The tutorial uses an before version of Cisdem Indistinguishable Finder for Mac.

In the instructions below, I utilize the latest version of the app.

How to delete indistinguishable photos on Mac

Stride 1. In the Photos app on your Mac, become to Preferences.

Step 2. Click Use as System Photo Library to brand your Photos Library the System Photo Library. If the push is grayed out and not clickable, so your library is already the System Photo Library.

Click Show in Finder, which will open Finder and locate your library.

Pace 3. Download the latest version of Cisdem Indistinguishable Finder for Mac from the official download link. Install the app.

It supports macOS 10.x or later, including macOS 11 Big Sur.

Step 4. Drag the Photos Library (located in Stride 2) into the app. Click Scan.

Step 5. Read the message that pops up. Click Yes.

Footstep half-dozen. When the browse is done, you can become to the Images tab in the results window.

There, yous can view, sort and preview the indistinguishable photos in Photos app on Mac. There are three preview modes. And you can zoom in/out the preview.

Step vii. Equally you can come across, duplicate photos are listed every bit groups. In each group of duplicates, you want to go along i photo and delete the residue. Luckily, Cisdem Indistinguishable Finder automatically selects duplicates for you lot to eliminate with one click.

If not satisfied with the auto-choice, highlight all the items under Images tab with Command-A and so click the list icon to use a desired selection dominion.

Too, it's possible to manually select or deselect.

Pace eight. At present unwanted photograph duplicates are selected. Click Delete.

Footstep 9. Click Delete to allow it to delete duplicate photos on your Mac.

Now the selected unwanted dupes are moved to Recent Deleted in Photos app. To permanently delete them right away, you lot can click Delete All in Recent Deleted.

Annotation 1: If your Mac is running macOS 10.xiv Mojave and earlier, Step nine will exist different. See the detailed instructions in the official user guide.

Note 2: If y'all have multiple libraries for Photos and want to scan ane of them for duplicate photos, it will require a couple of additional steps. See the detailed instructions in the official user guide.

Delete indistinguishable photos on Mac Photos app manually if you prefer

You can consider this method if in that location are only a few photos in your Photos Library.

Hither'due south a brief guide on how to delete duplicate photos in Mac Photos by hand. Photos iii.0 is used in this guide. For later versions, the steps can be a bit different.

Step ane. In Photos app, become to Library > Photos > Photos. Make sure that it shows all photos.

Stride 2. Concur down the Command fundamental ⌘ and manually select the unwanted duplicate photos. Once you finished selecting, correct-click on them.

Footstep iii. Click the Delete … Photos option that appears.

Tip

If you want to find duplicates among certain photos rather than all photos in your Photos app, here's a tip that may help.

From the carte du jour bar at the top of your Mac's screen, cull File > New Smart Album. Proper noun this Smart Anthology. Now you can create a condition based on your preference. To add a condition, click the plus icon on the left, which allows you to create a combination of conditions.

Now your Smart Album contains the photos from which you will identify duplicates. Select the undesirable ones and so printing the Command key and Northward simultaneously. The selected items will be moved to a newly created regular Photos album.

Select all the items in this new regular album, perform a right-click and click Delete … Photos. Delete them all in Recently Deleted.

Despite Apple's efforts, duplicate photos can still exist

Why does Photos duplicate photos when importing? This is a question asked by some Mac users. Photos app really takes a mensurate to prevent this from happening. When a duplicate photo is detected during the import, it will let you know of the duplicate and enquire if you'd like to import the indistinguishable or not. However, this doesn't assist with the duplicates that are already in the Photos Library.

When it comes to Apple Photos duplicates on Catalina or later, there is something worth knowing. In Apple's description of the new features available with Catalina, many users are impressed with the quoted line.

Photos intelligently showcases the all-time shots in your library, removing duplicates and clutter.

Some mistake it for a feature to detect and remove duplicate photos. Every bit a thing of fact, Photos 5.0, which comes with Catalina, but uses this detection to hide duplicates (or visually very similar photos) from Days view. They are hidden rather than deleted.

To some extent, Mac's Photos can limit duplicate photos from existence imported or visible. Merely information technology can't completely prevent them or automatically detect them for like shooting fish in a barrel removal. I promise the method recommended in this article can help you lot easily go rid of them.