I’ve noticed I have a lot of duplicate photos in my Google Photos account, and it’s taking up too much storage space. Does anyone know the best way to identify and delete these duplicates quickly? Any tips or tools that could help with this would be appreciated.
Oh man, duplicate photos in Google Photos can be such a drag! Feels like it never ends, right? But don’t worry. Here’s how you can handle it:
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Manual Method: Start by going through the photos manually and deleting duplicates. Yeah, I know, fun times! Google Photos does have a feature to help identify similar photos, but it’s not always perfect.
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Use a Third-Party App: Get fancy with a third-party tool like ‘Duplicate Cleaner’ or ‘Gemini Photos.’ These apps scan your Google Photos library, find duplicates, and help you delete them. They’re usually more accurate since they use smart algorithms, but keep an eye out for the price tags.
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Google Photos Web Version: Head to photos.google.com. Sometimes it’s easier to identify duplicates on a bigger screen. Create albums to organize your photos, so it’s easier to spot duplicates later.
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Backup First: PLEASE, for the love of all digital memories, back up your photos before you start deleting things. There’s nothing worse than accidentally deleting a treasured photo.
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Prevent Future Duplicates: Be more organized when uploading! Name your folders properly, and don’t dump everything in there willy-nilly.
Trust me, this will make you feel like you’ve conquered organizing Mount Everest. Good luck slogging through those gigabytes of duplicates!
If you think getting rid of duplicates in Google Photos is a walk in the park, think again! Picture sorting through digital duplicates as a modern-day dungeon crawl—full of traps and challenges. Unlike @shizuka, I advise leaning minimal on third-party apps right off the bat—they often come with hidden costs and unintended side effects.
One approach not mentioned: leveraging Google Drive. Since Google Drive and Google Photos used to sync (though no longer), you can download your entire photo library to your computer via Drive, use a robust desktop duplicate finder to sort through, and then re-upload the cleaned set.
For a streamlined approach, ensure your Google Photos settings are tightening up the storage options. Head to settings and enable ‘High Quality’ storage if you haven’t already—it doesn’t necessarily remove duplicates, but it will save you some space while you figure things out.
Moreover, consider taking an inventory of your devices. Often, multiple device syncs can lead to duplicates. Disconnect unnecessary devices from your account to avoid future duplication.
Here’s a somewhat nifty old-school add-on—use Google Photos’ built-in search features. Type things like ‘Selfie,’ ‘Screenshot,’ or ‘Download’ to narrow down types of photos that tend to generate duplicates. It’s tedious but more controlled.
And let’s not kid ourselves: a dedicated weekly clean-up session is worth it. Set a calendar reminder to regularly prune photos. The best organization is proactive, not reactive.
Oh, here’s a hilariously overlooked method: consider resolution of pics. Higher-res tends to be the original or the one you’d want to keep; duplicates oftentimes are lower-res.
In short: be systematic, sparing with third-party tools, and disciplined in upkeep. Disagree if you want, but meticulousness kills chaos!