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How to Find Duplicates in Google Photos

Google Photos is a popular cloud storage service for photos and videos. It provides free unlimited storage for high quality photos up to 16MP and videos up to 1080p resolution. This makes it easy to backup all your memories without worrying about storage space.

However, as your Google Photos library grows over time, you may end up with duplicate copies of the same photos. This wastes storage space and makes organizing and finding photos more difficult. Fortunately, Google Photos has some built-in tools to help you identify and remove duplicate photos.

Use the Search Bar to Find Duplicates

The easiest way to find duplicates in Google Photos is to use the search bar:

  1. Go to photos.google.com and sign into your account.
  2. Click on the search magnifying glass at the top.
  3. Type “duplicates” and press Enter.

This will display all the duplicate photos Google has detected in your library. You can then view them side-by-side to determine which ones to delete.

Pro Tip: You can also search for “duplicates this week” or “duplicates this month” to only show recent duplicates.

Scan for Duplicates in Albums

If you have a specific album with a lot of potential duplicates, you can scan just that album to identify copies:

  1. Open the album you want to check for duplicates.
  2. Click on the 3 vertical dots next to the album name.
  3. Select “Find duplicates”.

It will scan the album and display any duplicates it finds. You can then delete the extra copies.

Manually Look for Duplicates

If the above methods don’t catch all the duplicates, you’ll have to manually look through your library:

  • Sort photos by date taken to easily spot multiple copies taken around the same time.
  • Look for consecutive burst photos where you may have kept too many near-identical shots.
  • Check albums after a specific trip or event where you may have saved the same photos multiple times.

When you find duplicates, delete the extras:

  1. Select the duplicate photos
  2. Click the trash can icon to delete

Use Third-Party Duplicate Finder Tools

There are various third-party apps that can scan your Google Photos library and find even more duplicates:

These provide advanced algorithms to match edited or altered duplicate photos. However, they require you to download your photos to your desktop first before scanning.

Prevent Future Duplicates

To avoid accumulating duplicates again in the future:

  • Turn on backup & sync in the Google Photos mobile app. This will automatically upload any new photos taken, while skipping duplicates.
  • Consolidate photos stored across multiple folders or devices into a single Google Photos folder that syncs across everything.
  • Clean up your camera roll and delete unwanted photos regularly before they get uploaded again.
  • Use the free storage for high quality photos rather than full resolution originals which eat up your storage quota faster.

Conclusion

Duplicates can sneak into Google Photos easily over time across multiple devices and uploads. Thankfully, it also provides handy tools to identify these copies and remove them with a few clicks. Making use of these features along with some organizational habits will help you reclaim wasted storage and keep your photo library neat and organized.

So next time your Google Photos storage is unexpectedly full, be sure to check for any duplicate photos that may be inflating your usage!

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