Guide

Delete duplicate photos on iPhone

Last updated: . Menu names can differ slightly between iOS versions.

In short: Since iOS 16 the Photos app has a “Duplicates” album under Utilities, where Merge combines identical photos and videos into one. Similar photos are not found there, and burst shots are sorted under Media Types → Bursts.

Duplicates pile up fast: a picture saved twice from a chat, a screenshot taken twice, an import from a computer. Since iOS 16 the Photos app has its own tool for this.

1. The “Duplicates” album

In the Photos app, Utilities → Duplicates appears once iOS has found some. It finds identical photos and photos that look the same but differ in resolution, format or metadata.

  1. Open Duplicates.
  2. Check a group and tap Merge.
  3. iOS keeps one version with the highest quality and the relevant data and moves the others to Recently Deleted.

If the album is missing, the detection may still be running. With a large library this can take a while; iOS does this work in the background.

2. What the album does not find

Similar photos, such as several tries of the same subject, are not duplicates for iOS. They stay until you sort them yourself: open the library by days, tap Select, mark the weaker shots and delete them.

3. Burst shots

The Photos app collects them under Media Types → Bursts. Open a burst, tap Select, mark the shots you want and tap Done. iOS then offers to keep only those favourites and delete the rest.

4. Before you delete

Deleted photos stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days. With iCloud Photos, deleting applies to all your devices.

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