iPhone & Android guide
How to find and delete duplicate photos on iPhone and Android
Duplicates build up quietly: the same picture saved from three group chats, an edit exported as a copy, ten frames of the same sunset. They are also the easiest space to win back, because deleting a copy costs you nothing. Here’s how to find them with the tools already on your phone — and what to do about the near-identical shots those tools ignore.
Know which kind of duplicate you’re dealing with
There are two families, and they need different tools:
- Exact duplicates — the same image stored twice, sometimes at a different size or with different metadata. Typical sources: photos saved again from messaging apps, re-imports from a computer, edits saved as copies.
- Similar photos — shots taken seconds apart: bursts, “just one more” series, the same group photo five times. They aren’t copies, so built-in tools leave them alone, yet this is often where most of the waste is.
iPhone: use the Duplicates album
Since iOS 16, the Photos app detects duplicates for you:
- Open Photos and tap Collections (on iOS 18, simply scroll down below your library).
- Under Utilities, tap Duplicates. Each set of copies is shown side by side.
- Tap Merge next to a set, or tap Select to pick several sets (or Select All) and merge them in one go. Confirm with Merge [number] Items.
Merging keeps one photo, combining the highest image quality and the relevant data from the set, and moves the other copies to Recently Deleted, where they stay for 30 days.
No Duplicates album? It only appears when Photos has found duplicates in your library. Detection runs automatically and, on a large library, can take some time — check back later.
iPhone: deal with bursts and similar shots
Bursts live under Media Types in Photos: open a burst, tap Select, pick the frames worth keeping and confirm that you only want to keep those.
For a series of separate but near-identical photos, there’s no built-in tool: open the first one, swipe through its neighbours, tap the heart on the best one, then come back to the grid, tap Select and delete the others. It works — it’s just slow on a big library.
Android: what Google Photos does (and doesn’t)
Google Photos has no duplicates album and doesn’t document any duplicate detection. What it does offer is photo stacks: nearly identical photos of the same subject, taken within a short time, are grouped under one thumbnail with a Top pick. The Stack similar photos setting only covers backed-up photos, and stacking on its own doesn’t free any space — open a stack and delete the shots you don’t need.
Keep in mind that deleting a backed-up photo in Google Photos removes it from your phone and from your Google Photos account.
Android: find copies with Files by Google or Samsung
Files by Google, preinstalled on many Android phones, looks for identical files across your phone’s storage:
- Open Files, tap the menu (☰), then Clean.
- On the Duplicate files card, tap Select files.
- In each set, keep the file marked Original, tick the copies and move them to the trash.
On a Samsung phone, open My Files, tap Analyse storage, then Duplicate files. Samsung warns that if you select every file in a set, the original is deleted too — always leave one copy unticked.
Stop new duplicates from appearing
- In messaging apps such as WhatsApp, turn off the option that automatically saves received photos and videos to your gallery, and save only what you want to keep.
- When you export an edited photo, delete the original if you don’t need both versions.
- Avoid importing the same folder from a computer twice: check your library first.
Empty the trash to actually free the space
Deleted photos keep using space until the trash is emptied. On iPhone, they sit in Recently Deleted for 30 days (Photos › Utilities › Recently Deleted › Select › Delete All). In Google Photos, they stay in the Trash (Bin on UK-English phones), under Collections, for 30 days — tap Empty Trash to delete them for good. Files by Google and Samsung’s Gallery also keep deleted items for 30 days in their own trash.
Clear similar photos in minutes with Swipix
Swipix’s Duplicates pile catches both families at once: exact copies and visually similar shots such as bursts and series taken a few seconds apart, on iPhone and Android alike. For each group, it suggests which photo to keep, and you confirm or pick another before anything is deleted.
The analysis runs entirely on your phone, so your photos are never uploaded. Deleted photos go to the system’s Recently Deleted album or trash, recoverable for 30 days. Swipix is free to download; the Duplicates pile is part of the optional Premium subscription.
- Photos never leave your phone
- Recoverable for 30 days
- iPhone & Android
Frequently asked questions
Does the iPhone Duplicates album find similar photos?
It’s built to find copies of the same photo or video. Shots that merely look alike — a burst, five takes of the same group photo — are generally left out, so you have to compare them yourself or use an app that groups similar photos.
Is it safe to merge duplicates on iPhone?
Yes. Merging keeps one photo with the highest image quality and the relevant data from the copies, and moves the copies to Recently Deleted, where you can recover them for 30 days.
Why don’t I see the Duplicates album?
It only appears when Photos has found duplicates in your library. Detection happens automatically and can take some time on a large library, so check again later. It also requires iOS 16 or later.
Does Google Photos delete duplicates automatically?
No. Photo stacks group nearly identical shots, but stacking doesn’t delete anything or free any space. To remove identical files from your phone, use the Duplicate files card in Files by Google, or Duplicate files in My Files on a Samsung phone.