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Same photo saved four times? Your iPhone already found them

How to delete duplicate photos on iPhone

Open Photos, tap Collections (on iOS 18, scroll down below the photo grid), then Utilities > Duplicates. Tap Merge next to a set, or tap Select, Select All, then Merge to do them all at once. Your iPhone keeps the best-quality copy and moves the others to Recently Deleted.

How to do it

  1. Open Photos. On iOS 26 tap Collections. On iOS 18, scroll down below the photo grid.

  2. Scroll to Utilities and tap Duplicates. If it isn't there, your iPhone hasn't found any yet.

  3. Tap Merge next to a set, then confirm. To do them all, tap Select, then Select All, then Merge.

  4. For the space right away, open Recently Deleted under Utilities, tap Select, then Delete All.

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My phone kept telling me storage was almost full, and I couldn't work out why. Duplicates had a few hundred photos in it: the same memes from three group chats, screenshots I'd saved twice, and one whole holiday imported two times.

Merge doesn't just bin the extras. It keeps the sharpest copy and carries over the bits that matter, so you don't end up with a blurry version and no caption.

Nothing is gone for good straight away. The extra copies wait in Recently Deleted for 30 days, which is also why the storage number doesn't move until you empty it.

Other ways to do it

  • Offload Unused Apps Built in

    Pick it if apps are the biggest bar in Settings > General > iPhone Storage, not Photos.

    Stick with this tip if photos is the biggest bar and your library is full of copies.

  • A photo cleaner app App

    Pick it if you want help sorting similar shots and bursts, not just exact copies.

    Stick with this tip if you'd rather not give a third-party app your whole photo library, or pay a subscription for it.

Questions people ask

There's no Duplicates in Utilities. Why?

It only shows up once your iPhone has found some. Finding them happens while the phone is locked and charging, and with a big library that can take a few nights. Leave it on the charger overnight and check again.

Will I lose the better copy?

No. Merge keeps the highest-quality version and folds the details from the other copies, like captions and keywords, into it. The rest go to Recently Deleted.

Can I undo a merge?

Yes, for 30 days. Open Utilities > Recently Deleted, select the copies and tap Recover.

I merged hundreds of photos and my storage didn't change.

The removed copies still sit in Recently Deleted for 30 days and still count. Open Recently Deleted, tap Select, then Delete All to get the space back now.

Is there something like this on Android?

Files by Google does it. Open it, tap Clean, and look for the Duplicate files card.

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