TripSweep
How to delete duplicate and similar photos on your iPhone
Duplicates quietly eat iPhone storage. Some are exact copies, but most are near-identical shots of the same moment. Here is how to find both and clean them up safely.
Duplicates and similar photos are not the same thing
An exact duplicate is the same file saved twice, for example after an import or a download. A similar photo is a different shot of the same scene: a burst, a few takes of a group photo, a selfie repeated until you were happy. Exact duplicates are easy to detect; similar photos are more common and take far more space.
The built-in way
Recent versions of iOS include a Duplicates album in the Photos app (under Utilities). It merges exact copies and is a good first pass. It does not group similar photos, so the bursts and near-identical shots stay in your library.
Removing similar photos
For similar shots you have to compare and choose. Open the group, look at sharpness, expressions and framing, keep the best photo and delete the others. Doing it by hand across thousands of photos is slow, which is why most people never finish.
Do it faster with TripSweep
TripSweep finds identical copies and similar photos anywhere in your library and shows each group side by side without cropping. It suggests the best shot using sharpness, Apple's aesthetic score and faces, and the Cleanup tab's “Keep 1 per group” button sorts a whole category in one tap. Your favorites are never suggested for deletion.
Stay safe while you delete
- Delete through the Photos app: deleted photos go to “Recently Deleted” for 30 days, so a mistake is reversible.
- Keep favorites: mark the photos you love before cleaning.
- Check iCloud Photos: if it is on, deleting on the iPhone deletes everywhere.
- Empty “Recently Deleted” at the end to get the space back.
Prefer a big screen?
With PhotoCull on a Mac or Windows PC you can compare up to six similar photos side by side and mark hundreds in a few clicks.