Snapping or clicking pictures is a prevalent entertainment practice in our current generation. However, during this process, it is natural that you could capture multiple shots of one scene. Consequently, this could lead to the accumulation of duplicate photos on Mac, resulting in slowing down the system performance. Thus, to address this issue, we have prepared this article on “How to delete duplicate photos on Mac?”

Furthermore, duplicate images are simply clones of the original pictures. Giving these duplicates a space in your system can result in congestion, hampers system performance, and clutter storage. In the following section, we will be discussing various solutions to rectify these issues. With that being knowledge gain, let’s explore the topic in more depth. 

Solution #1: How to Remove Duplicate Pictures on macOS Using Photos App

Photos App is the built-in application on Macbook Air to find and delete duplicate images. By using the application, you can seamlessly manage the existing pictures in your Photo library. Let’s see the steps on how to use it:

• Open the Photos App on Mac using Spotlight (Cmd + Space), and type “Photos.”

• Go to File → New Smart Album.

• In the Smart Album dialog, set criteria like last 12 months, Camera Model, etc. Add more criteria with the “+” icon.

• Review and identify duplicates.

• Select photos to delete.

• Right-click and choose “Delete [numeric value] Photos.”

• Permanently remove identical images from “Recently Deleted.” Select all and click “Delete [numeric value] Items.”

Exceptions: 

If you are using Mac Ventura and Sonoma, it would be quite easier for you to detect and delete duplicate photos. In the latest release of the Photos App, the Duplicates feature is added. By using this characteristic, the user can automatically get rid of duplicate pictures. Here are the associated steps:

• Go to the Duplicates tab in the sidebar.

• Choose the photos and videos you want to merge from the identical items list.

• Click the Merge button with the specified numeric value to combine [numeric value] items.

Also Read: How to Delete Duplicate Files on Mac?

Solution #2: How to Delete Duplicate Photos in Mac Photos with New Smart Folder

Use the following section of the New Smart Folder option to eliminate duplicate photos using Finder: 

• Open a new Smart Folder: Click “File” → “New Smart Folder.”

• Add search criteria: Click the “+” icon in the top right corner.

• Choose image criteria: In the first dropdown, select “Kind,” then choose “Image.”

• Optional criteria: Add more criteria like “Date Created” or “Date Modified” using the “+” button.

• Organize by name: Click the “+” icon again, select “Name” from the first dropdown, and choose “is.” in the second dropdown (leave the text field empty).

• Identify and manage duplicates: Manually find similar images, right-click, and select “Move to Trash” or press ‘Cmd + Delete.’

Remember the above-mentioned search techniques use the filenames and metadata to compare the duplicate images. As a result, you need to have a backup of the folder before deleting the targeted files.

Solution #3: How to Find and Remove Images in macOS using Terminal?

Copy the following code and paste it into the Terminal to automatically detect and delete duplicate photos from the media libraries. Keep in mind that this process is highly reversible so make sure to have a separate collection of files. 

photos_folder=”/path/to/your/photos”

cd “$photos_folder” || exit

find . -type f -exec md5sum {} + | sort | uniq -w32 –all-repeated=separate | while read -r line; do

    checksum=${line:0:32}

    files=(${line:35} )

    num_files=${#files[@]}

    for ((i = 1; i < num_files; i++)); do

        file=”${files[i]}”

        echo “Deleting duplicate: $file”

        rm “$file”

    done

done

echo “Duplicate deletion successful.”

Replace the ‘/path/to/your/photos’ with their actual path. Next, save the above script in the .sh file extension. For instance. ‘Delete_duplicates.sh’. Then, run the following command. 

chmod +x delete_duplicates.sh

Shortcomings in the Manual Solution to Remove Duplicate Photos on Mac

Here are some of the major drawbacks of the widely used manual techniques:

• Manual Mac duplicate photo removal is time-consuming and challenging.

• Careless management can lead to unintentional data loss.

• Less effective for large photo libraries.

• Manual methods may miss subtle image variations.

• Technical skills are needed for proper code operation.

• Manual processes lack automation, consuming extra time and energy.

Solution #4: How to Delete Duplicate Photos on macOS? – A Sure Shot Way

No doubt the above strategies are free and easily accessible, but they are only good for small photo collections not for large ones. Therefore, we suggest you the best SysTools Duplicates File Finder for Mac, to efficiently detect duplicate images without any error. Further, this tool works well in all versions of Mac to remove the accumulated redundant pictures in one go. Here are some of the key features of the tool:

• Advanced Scanning Engine

• Recursive Scanning for Comprehensive Analysis

• Supports a Wide Range of File Extensions (e.g., CR2, NEF, ORF, RAF, SR2, MRW, DCR, PG/JPEG, TIFF/TIF, ICO, PS, PNG, BMP, GIF, PSD, CRW, WMF, DNG, ERF, RAW, SWF, SVG, PAT, X3F, etc.)

• Effortless Move or Delete of Duplicate Photos

• Visual Detection of Similar Images

• Preview Functionality for Photo Verification

• Compatible with Various External Storage Devices (e.g., Pendrive, MicroSD, etc.)

Final Takeaway

In this piece of content, we have covered the answer to “how to delete duplicate photos on Mac”. Also, we discussed the solutions in-details i.e. the manual and professional approaches. Though the manual way is free but has many limitations. As a result, it is best to go with the absolute duplicate file finder and remover application.