Hands-On Apple 198: Deduplicate Pics in the Photos App!

Summary

Podcast Summary: Hands-On Apple 198 - Deduplicate Pics in the Photos App!

Podcast: All TWiT.tv Shows (Audio)
Episode: Hands-On Apple 198: Deduplicate Pics in the Photos App!
Host: Micah Sargent
Air Date: September 4, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of "Hands-On Apple" is dedicated to a deep dive on deduplicating your photos in the built-in Photos app on macOS. Host Micah Sargent demonstrates how to use Apple's native utility for clearing out duplicate images, compares it with third-party alternatives, and details how the tool works in practice. This concise, hands-on tutorial is designed to help users keep their photo libraries tidy without extra costs or outside software.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Built-In Photos Deduplication Tool ([01:34]–[05:12])

• Purpose:
  Micah focuses on using the Photos app's integrated deduplication feature, explaining that while many third-party apps exist, macOS now offers a solution right out of the box.

  • "We're not talking about third party tools today. We're talking about something that your Mac has built right in." — Micah Sargent [01:41]

• Navigating the Tool:
  Step-by-step, Micah explains how users can access the deduplication tool within the Photos app:

  • Open Photos on macOS.
  • In the left sidebar, look for Collections.
  • Under Collections, select Utilities.
  • Within Utilities, find and select Duplicates.

• Scanning and Categorization:
  The Photos app scans your library for duplicate images—this process takes some time, and more duplicates may appear as the app continues to analyze your collection.

  • "The duplication tool does take some time to scan your Mac and get a picture of what you've got in your library." — Micah Sargent [01:52]

• Other Utilities:
  In addition to duplicates, the Utilities section offers:

  • Receipt detection (for quickly finding or deleting receipt images).
  • Categorization of handwriting, illustrations, imports, documents, and more.
  • Recently viewed, recently edited, and recently shared sections for easy access to recent activity.

How Deduplication Works ([05:12]–[08:30])

• Understanding Duplicates:
  The Photos app identifies both exact and near duplicates. It considers not just identical images, but also those with slight differences (such as file format, size, or metadata).

  • "Duplicates are classified both as exact copies that may have different metadata...as well as photos that appear to be the same but may have unique resolutions, file formats or other slight differences." — Micah Sargent [05:39]

• Merging Process:
  When reviewing duplicates, Photos displays their attributes (such as size, location, and device).

  • Example: Comparing two versions of a photo that differ only in file size but are otherwise identical.
  • Clicking the "Merge 2 items" button combines the highest-quality image and all relevant metadata, moving duplicates to Recently Deleted.
  • "Merging will keep one version of the duplicates that combines the highest quality and relevant data and move the rest to recently deleted." — Micah Sargent [06:32]

• What the Tool Can and Can't Do:

  • Best suited for exact or near-exact duplicates.
  • Not as powerful as third-party tools for "fuzzy" matching, such as detecting multiple similar images taken in quick succession (e.g., burst shots).

Alternatives and Recommendations ([08:30]–[09:01])

• Third-Party Options:
  For more comprehensive deduplication, Micah suggests third-party apps like Gemini by MacPaw (the makers of CleanMyMac).

  • Gemini is better at "fuzzy deduplication" — identifying similar but not identical images, such as a series of rapid-fire shots.
  • "If you're looking for an incredibly robust deduplication tool, then the built-in duplicates option is not going to be that for you. You will need to use a third-party tool to do that." — Micah Sargent [07:38]

• Conclusion & Recommendation:
  If you want a quick, no-cost solution for obvious duplicates, Apple Photos’ built-in tool under Utilities is sufficient and user-friendly.

  • "For a basic, no extra cost deduplication tool, you've got it right there in the photos app for macOS underneath your utilities." — Micah Sargent [08:52]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Micah Sargent on waiting for results:
  "So with that in mind, you may see over time more and more photos appear in this area as more duplicate photos are detected." [01:54]

• Micah Sargent on the Merge feature:
  "Choosing merge two items leaves just one behind and now we can see what we have left." [07:08]

• Micah Sargent on third-party tools:
  "I have in the past suggested Gemini from the wonderful folks who make CleanMyMac and other tools...it can look at photos that are very similar but different enough that a standard deduplication tool can't tell that they're the same." [07:44]

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Summary Timeline (Key Segments)

• [01:34] Introduction to Mac Photos deduplication tool
• [01:52]–[04:16] Explains scanning, Collections, and other utilities within Photos
• [05:12]–[08:30] Demonstrates duplicates review, merge function, and clarifies the difference between built-in and third-party dedupe capabilities
• [08:30]–[09:01] Final thoughts, third-party recommendation, and closing remarks

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Final Takeaway

This episode provides a straightforward, practical walkthrough of the deduplication feature in the Photos app on macOS, highlighting its simplicity and limitations, while also guiding users who may need more advanced solutions toward third-party apps. Micah’s approach is approachable, encouraging listeners to make the most of built-in tools but not shying away from recommending more robust paid options when appropriate.

Transcript

[Micah Sargent]

Coming up on Hands on Apple. Let's take a look at how to deduplicate your photos on macOS.

[Leo Laporte]

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[Micah Sargent]

Stay tuned.

[Leo Laporte]

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[Micah Sargent]

This is twit. Hello, welcome back to Hands on Apple. I am Micah Sargent and today we are taking a look at a simple utility tool that's built into your Mac. When you have a bunch of photos and some of them are are, well, copies of other photos, there are many third party tools that can help you deduplicate the photos that you have. But we're not talking about third party tools today. We're talking about something that your Mac has built right in. So let's head over to macOS and take a look. All right, here we are on Mac OS and we are in the photos library. Now it's important to understand that the duplication tool does take some time to scan your Mac and get a picture of what you've got in your library. So with that in mind, you may see over time more and more photos appear in this area as more duplicate photos are detected. So once you've opened the library on your the photo library on your Mac in the toolbar on the left, you want to look for the collections section. In the Collections section, there is a utilities option, and within that are a bunch of different, well, utilities. Because macOS's photo app will automatically kind of categorize the photos that you have based on what it detects. So it may detect receipts and categorize those in one area. So you can quickly get rid of those if you don't need them or if that is the place where you save them. Find them easily. It can detect handwriting, so it will look for photos that include handwriting. Maybe you've taken a photo of something that you want to remember later. That's a great place to go and find it. Illustrations. So if you find an illustration that you like, you take a photo of it. That's an easy way to find it. Recently viewed, recently edited, Recently Shared all of those are great for remembering something that you just did. So you can go, oh, right, I was just trying to. I just shared that with my other friend. Now I want to share it with this friend. Imports. Those are the photos that you have imported recently that of course have come from your phone or an external hard drive or some other thing. Documents, which is going to include both typed documents, but also any other kind of document that you import into the Photos app and you have duplicates.

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[Micah Sargent]

So with the duplicates option under utilities, if we click on that, we will see a series of duplicate photos. This is going all the way back to 2016. And what we want to do is look at what we have here. So on the left we have a photo that is 2.5 megabytes. On the right we have a photo that is 1.8 megabytes. And the Photos app has recognized these both as the same photo or near enough to the same photo that we only need to keep one. Here is what Photos has to say about duplicates. Duplicates are classified both as exact copies that may have different metadata data. So it could be that the photos are exactly the same, save for one has the information about where the photo was taken and one is stripped of information about where the photo was taken, as well as photos that appear to be the same but may have unique resolutions, file formats or other slight differences. So it could be that one is a PNG while one is a jpeg. It could be that one is slightly larger and one is smaller in this case for some reason these two photos are slightly different. If I click on the one on the left and hit the eye icon to get information about it, I can see that the photo was taken in Columbia, Missouri. And I can see that it was taken on an Apple iPhone 7 Plus if we click on the one on the left. Let's look at what's different here. Well, it appears that only the file size is different. Both of them have the location. Both of them show that it was taken on the iPhone 7 plus both of them show that they were taken with the telephoto camera. So the only difference is the file size. Interesting. If we click on the Merge to items button above the photos, a little prompt pops up. It says the selected items appear to be the same but may have unique resolutions, file formats or other slight differences. Merging will keep one version of the duplicates that combines the highest quality and relevant data and move the rest to recently deleted. So if you have more than one photo that's all the same, it will also move those away, but it combines all of the data across them. So choosing merge two items leaves just one behind and now we can see what we have left. Now you'll notice that these are very similar. That is because I took these photos all at the same time to try to capture what it was like to use the telephoto camera at the time. If you're looking for an incredibly robust deduplication tool, then the built in duplicates option is not going to be that for you. You will need to use a third party tool to do that. I have in the past suggested Gemini from the wonderful folks who make CleanMyMac and other tools. So that may be something that you choose to use instead. Can do what's sort of called fuzzy deduplication. It can look at photos that are very similar but different enough that a standard deduplication tool can't tell that they're the same. So photos taken around the same time. Perhaps it's burst photos or as I showed you those different photos of that lucky bamboo, it very easily would have been able to say this, this, this, this, this all the same photo. Do you just want to keep one of them? However, for a basic, no extra cost deduplication tool, you've got it right there in the photos app for macOS underneath your utilities. That is going to bring you and me and us to the end of this episode of Hands On Apple. Thank you so much for tuning in this week. I'll be back again next week with another episode, more tips, tricks and everything in between. Thank you and goodbye.

[Leo Laporte]

Get your tech news exactly how you want it with TWiT TV. Tech News Weekly with Micah Sargent delivers quick hit coverage and exclusive journalist interviews, giving you the inside scoop on breaking tech stories in under an hour. Now for deeper dives, I hope you'll join me, Leo Laporte and a great panel of tech industry experts. That's every Sunday with this Week in Tech. We'll break down everything from AI breakthroughs to privacy concerns to cybersecurity alerts in the tech world's longest running and most trusted tech news roundtable. So efficient or in depth, the choice is yours. Subscribe to both shows wherever you get your podcasts and head on over to our website, Twit TV for even more independent tech journalism.

[Micah Sargent]

Sam.