How to Delete Duplicate Photos on iPhone

This article provides instructions for deleting duplicate photos from your iPhone using both a manual method and a third-party software application.

Can Apple Photos Delete Duplicates?

One of the best parts of owning an iPhone is the camera. The cameras are excellent and so easy to use many of us take tons of photos. Unfortunately, that often results in tons of duplicate images.

Sadly, iPhone cannot automatically delete duplicate photos, either, which means they can quickly add up. So, you'll be stuck deleting your duplicates manually, or you'll have to use a third-party app to get the job done.

How Do I Get Rid of Duplicate Photos?

Since Apple doesn't provide a way to remove duplicate photos from your phone automatically, you'll have to rely on another app developer to do it. One such app is Gemini Photos: Gallery Cleaner. You can download this or other apps from the Apple App Store.

1. Download and install the Gemini Photos: Gallery Cleaner app on your iPhone.
   

   Download for iOS

2. Once installed, open the app. The first time you use the app, you'll be prompted to agree to the Privacy Policy. Review the policy and tap Accept.
   

3. On the page to Allow Access to All Photo tap Got It. You may also receive an iPhone notification that "Gemini" wants access to your photo. Tap Allow Access to All Photos.
   

4. Then you are prompted to decide if you want to allow "Gemini" to send you notifications. Select Don't Allow if you wish. Your choice doesn't affect the scanning of your photos.
   

5. Finally, "Gemini" notifies you that it will collect app analytics. You have no choice but to accept this. Tap Continue, and a notification from iPhone appears. Here you can choose Ask App Not to Track if you don't want to share app analytics with the developer.
   

6. The app walks you through a quick tutorial, and then finally, you come to the page asking if you want to subscribe to the app. It's relatively expensive at $19.99 per year, but you can also choose the Not sure yet? Try it for free option.
   

7. Once that's done, you may need to click the X in the upper left corner to get to the app's main screen. Gemini Photos has scanned your existing photos and placed them into some categories on the main app screen during all of this.
   

8. Once on the main screen of the app, you have several options—tap Duplicates.
   

9. The app will display your duplicate photos. You can tap on each one to review them. Once you're sure you want to delete everything, tap Delete XX Duplicates at the bottom of the screen to delete all the duplicate photos.
   

How Do I Delete Duplicate Photos on My iPhone for Free?

If you don't want to use a third-party app to delete duplicate photos from your phone, you can always choose to delete your duplicates manually. It's a much slower process, but it's not complicated. Here's how:

1. Open your Photos app.
   

2. Tap Select and then tap the photos you want to delete.
   

3. Once you've made the selections, tap the trash can icon.
   

Why Can't I Delete Duplicate Photos on My iPhone?

If you're having trouble deleting the duplicate photos on your iPhone, the culprit could be iTunes. If you have previously synced your photos with iTunes, they'll keep coming back each time you sync with iTunes.

Instead, you'll have to delete the photos in the iTunes account. Or better yet, enable iCloud Photos on your iPhone. Doing this will automatically remove all the images that have been synced with iTunes from your phone. Then, you can turn iCloud photos off again and start fresh, knowing that your photos are stored somewhere.