How do I find and delete duplicate pictures on my Mac
In the era of social networking, photos represent a significant part of our lives and often occupy a large amount of space on our devices’ storage. Despite the fact that each picture correlates to a certain memory, we have to regularly clear out images to free up storage space. Some of the files that can be freely removed are identical images, which you likely have on your disk.
This guide short video guide will show you how to delete duplicate photos from your Mac in a matter of a few minutes.
Also, in this post, we will share how to delete duplicate and similar images from your computer and the Photos library on a Mac.
Contents:
- How to find and delete duplicate photos on a Mac
- How to search for similar images
- How to delete duplicate pictures from Photos
Find and delete duplicate pictures on your Mac
Duplicate photos are images that have an equal file type, size, and content. They may have titles that are different or the same. These files can be stored in one folder or scattered throughout your Mac’s disk space. Consequently, finding and removing duplicate photo files this way can be time-consuming and frustrating. A much simpler and efficient option is to use the Duplicate File Finder application. This duplicate photo finder app automatically scans your Mac and detects identical pictures in just a few minutes.
To delete duplicate photos from your Mac via Duplicate File Finder, complete the following steps:
- Launch the Duplicate File Finder app.
- Click on Find Duplicates to scan the Home Folder. If you want to scan another folder or disk, click on the Plus button or drag and drop it to the app’s window.
- In the next moment, you will see the results of the scan.
- Click the dropdown menu on the Duplicate Files button to open the list of duplicate groups by type. Choose Pictures to review all identical photos.
5. Skim the pictures and select each unwanted duplicate image step by step, or click on Auto Select to allow the app to quickly choose useless files.
In the app’s settings, you can customize the rules for the Auto Select option.
6. Then click on the Review to Remove button to proceed.
7. Review the duplicate pictures you want to delete and click on the Remove button.
8. Empty the trash bin to remove the duplicate photos from your Mac completely.
Find Similar images on your Mac
Similar pictures have the same type, nearly identical content, and more or less the same size but differ slightly in appearance. It’s most common to find similar pictures when we take a series of photos. These photos with nearly identical content are easily noticeable when looking at your photo album. We often leave all the photos from the series, with hopes of returning to them later to delete unnecessary pics. However, these extra images consume limited storage space on your disk.
Using Duplicate File Finder, you can find similar photos and remove them from your Mac. For this, take the following steps:
- Launch the Duplicate File Finder app.
- Add the folder where you want to detect similar photos.
- Click on the Find Duplicates to start a similar image search.
4. Then, within the scan results window, switch to the Similar Photos section.
5. You will see a list of groups with similar files on the left side of the window. On the right side, you will see a preview of two images for convenient comparison. Below each preview section are the file details.
6. Review the similar photos in each group, compare pics, and select which one you want to keep. The rest of the images in the group will be automatically marked for deletion.
7. Click on the Review to Remove button.
8. Skim the photos you are going to delete and click on the Remove button to confirm the action.
9. Empty the Trash to get rid of the unneeded similar pictures.
Read also: “How to manually find duplicate files on Mac,” “A guide to the best duplicate finders for Mac.”
Conclusion
Duplicate File Finder is an intuitive application for Mac users. It allows you to quickly find duplicate and similar photos, easily compare pictures, and delete unneeded files from your computer. The application is free to download from the App Store.
