Short answer
On iPhone, open Photos → Collections → Utilities → Duplicates and tap Merge. On Samsung, open Gallery, tap the menu (☰) and use Clean out → Delete duplicate pictures. On other Android phones, use the Duplicate files card on the Clean screen of Files by Google. These tools only find identical copies; similar shots from the same moment are yours to sort through.
iPhone: the Duplicates collection
The Photos app finds identical photos and videos by itself and groups them in their own collection. Merging a group keeps one copy and moves the rest to Recently Deleted.
- Open Photos and tap Collections.
- Scroll to Utilities and tap Duplicates.
- Check a set of copies, tap Merge next to it, then confirm. To merge everything at once, tap Select, then Select All and Merge.
- To free the space now, empty Recently Deleted. Otherwise the extra copies stay there for 30 days.
Duplicates only appears when there are copies to show. Your iPhone looks for them in the background, so after an iOS update or moving a large library it can take a while to show up. On iOS 18, Utilities is at the bottom of the main Photos screen; on iOS 16 and 17 it’s on the Albums tab. With iCloud Photos on, merging applies on all your devices.
Samsung: duplicates in Gallery
The Gallery app on Samsung Galaxy phones can find identical pictures too:
- Open Gallery and tap the menu (☰).
- Tap Clean out, then Delete duplicate pictures.
- Tap Delete duplicates. Gallery keeps the originals and removes the copies.
- If your Gallery trash is on, the copies go there first. Empty it to free the space: see how to empty the trash on Android.
If you have no duplicates, the option doesn’t appear. Menu names vary a little between One UI versions.
Other Android phones: Files by Google
On most other phones, Files by Google does the job. It compares the files themselves, so it finds the same picture even in different folders, for example in your camera folder and a messenger’s folder.
- Open Files by Google, tap the menu and then Clean.
- On the Duplicate files card, tap Select files.
- Select the copies you want to remove. Google recommends keeping the file marked Original.
- Tap Move to Trash at the bottom and confirm.
Google Photos has no duplicate finder of its own. If your photos live only in the Google Photos cloud, review similar shots by hand.
Similar shots: what no built-in tool catches
The built-in tools look for exact copies: the same photo saved twice, forwarded back from a chat or imported again. Ten nearly identical shots of the same pose, a burst, or five takes of a sunset are different files, and only you can pick the best one.
- Bursts on iPhone: Media Types has a Bursts collection. Open a burst, tap Select, mark the best frames and let the rest go.
- How to choose: keep the sharpest shot where everyone’s eyes are open and delete the rest without second-guessing. You rarely need more than one version of a moment.
- Where to look: similar shots always sit next to each other in time, so going through your gallery month by month works best. More on that in how to clean up your camera roll.
Sort similar shots by swiping in Shoo
Shoo doesn’t find duplicates for you: you decide card by card. But because cards follow the date, a series of similar shots comes one after another. Swipe the best one right to keep it and the rest left into the delete queue. Zoom in to compare sharpness.
To avoid going through your whole library, set the period under Filters to A specific month, or use Start from to begin at a month. You can also pick a single album as the Source. Sources and filters in Shoo.
Before anything is deleted, Shoo shows the queue as a grid, and you can restore any photo from it. On iPhone, deleted items go to Recently Deleted. On Android, deletion is permanent.
iPhone version coming soon.
Questions
Why don’t I see Duplicates on my iPhone?
It only appears once Photos has found copies, and it needs iOS 16 or later. The search runs in the background, so after an update or a library transfer give your iPhone some time, for example overnight on the charger.
What happens to the copies when I tap Merge?
One copy stays in your library and the others move to Recently Deleted, where you can recover them for 30 days. The space is freed once you empty that album.
Does Shoo find duplicates?
No. Shoo doesn’t detect duplicates or blurry photos. You go through photos one by one, and filters help you start at the right month or album. Exact copies are quicker to clear with the built-in tools; similar shots are where swiping helps.
Where do duplicate photos come from?
Most often from photos you sent in a chat and got saved back, from importing the same photos again from a camera or computer, and from syncing several cloud services at once. To keep messengers from cluttering your gallery, see how to stop Viber, Telegram and WhatsApp saving photos.