How to Delete Duplicate Photos in Google Photos

Google Photos has tools that help with near-identical photos and with storage, but Google’s help pages don’t describe a general “find duplicates” button. Here’s what Google documents, and what deleting does to your phone and your backup.

Review similar photos (iPhone, when out of storage)

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   Step 1: Watch for the prompt

   In Google Photos on iPhone, when you’re out of storage, you’re prompted to “Clean up your similar photos to free up space.” Tap Review similar photos.

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   Step 2: Review the groups

   Google says the app automatically selects photos to delete and keeps the best shot. Change the selections to keep any you like.

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   Step 3: Delete

   Tap Delete [number] similar photos, then Move to trash.

Clean up with Manage storage

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   Step 1: Open Manage storage

   In Google Photos, tap your profile picture or initial, then Photos settings (on iPhone: Google Photos settings), Backup and Manage storage. On a computer, it’s at photos.google.com under Storage.

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   Step 2: Pick a category

   Under the storage summary, choose a recommended category, such as large photos and videos.

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   Step 3: Delete

   Tap Select, choose the items, then tap Move to trash.

Keep one photo from a stack

Google Photos can group similar photos into stacks (More › Stack similar photos), and picks a “Top pick” for each. Google says turning stacks on only organizes your view and doesn’t change your storage, but inside a stack you can tap the photo’s thumbnail menu, then Keep this, delete rest and Move to trash. Stacks only include backed-up photos.

CleanX

Find duplicates on your phone with CleanX

CleanX works on the photos stored on your phone; it doesn’t see photos that are only in Google Photos. It scans your iPhone or Android phone for duplicates and similar shots, groups them, leaves one photo per group unselected (in similar groups it’s marked Best) and shows how much space each group takes. On iPhone, deleted photos go to Recently Deleted for 30 days; on Android, they’re deleted permanently, without a trash, and on Android 11 and later Android asks you to confirm first.

• Duplicate and similar photos grouped
• One photo per group left unselected
• Scanning is free; deleting needs CleanX Pro

See everything CleanX does →

More duplicate guides

• iPhone: how to delete duplicate photos on iPhone.
• Android: how to delete duplicate photos on Android.