Duplicate photos and video files can take up a lot of space on your Windows storage. We take regular backups from our smartphones and other storage devices which can result in duplicate photos. Downloading the same picture over and over again can also accumulate duplicate photos and media files.
The manual process to remove every duplicate image can be a tiresome job. If you are dealing with a few folders, you can try these manual steps on how to remove duplicate photos else use the Best Duplicate Photo Cleaner for Windows.
Check the Pictures Folder
Windows Explorer can help you explore photos and albums in the Pictures folder. You can scroll through all the images and delete any found duplicates.
Step 1. Press (Win + E) to access Windows Explorer.
Step 2. Click on the Pictures folder in the left panel.
Step 3. Double-click on the folder that you wish to explore.
Step 4. Click on the View menu and select Large Icons to view thumbnails of the images.
Step 5. Scroll through the images and click to select the duplicate image.
Step 6. Hit the Delete key to remove the image from your folder. Explore all other folders that you wish to check for duplicate images and delete the found duplicate images.
Upload Photos on Google Photos
Google Photos is one of the best apps to manage your photo albums on cloud storage. It has an intuitive feature to only upload unique images in a single album. The smart algorithm will skip uploading exact duplicates however can’t skip similar or edited images.
Step 1. Access your Google Chrome browser on your PC.
Step 2. Click on the 9 dots in the top right and select Google Photos from the menu.
Step 3. Click on the Albums option in the left panel and then click on the Create Album button on the top right. Give a name to your album and click on the Select Photos button.
Step 4. Click on ‘Select from Computer’ on the top right. Browse and select photos that you wish to upload to the cloud storage space and let it upload the photos.
Step 5. It will only upload unique images on the drive and the image count in the Google folder will be lesser than the images in Windows Explorer as exact duplicate images will be eliminated.
Step 6. Once done, select all images on the new cloud storage folder and download them to a new folder. Now these will be the unique images in the new folder. Once checked, you can delete the old folder from your PC storage to keep just the unique images.
Use the Best Duplicate Photo Finder Tool
If you deal with a lot of photo albums, it is not recommended to use just manual methods on how to delete duplicate photos. Using the best duplicate photo finder utility can quickly find and remove duplicate photos. There are several tools available however Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro is one of the best utilities that we have reviewed.
Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro
Windows Compatibility: Windows 11 and earlier versions
Other OS Compatibility: MacOS, Android, & iOS devices
Price: USD$ 39.95
Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro is built with an advanced algorithm to scan any internal or external storage device for duplicate photos. It is compatible with all Windows 11 and earlier versions and MacOS, iOS, or Android devices. You can scan a folder, drive, entire HDD, SSD, SD Card, or any other external storage device. You can also scan your Google Drive as it has cloud storage scanning capabilities.
Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro can scan multiple image file formats including RAW images. It has multiple customization modes to scan exact duplicates, similar photos, and edited or cropped images. This is the best method to find duplicate photos and free up your precious storage space. It shows group-wise results for you to preview and select duplicate images. The Auto-Mark feature can select all the found duplicates to be removed from your storage. PictureEcho is one of the best alternatives to Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro. Check out the PictureEcho review here.
Delete Using the Photos App
The Microsoft Photos App is the default photo viewer on a Windows PC. Whenever you double-click on any photo, it opens in the Photos app.
Step 1. Press Win + E to access Windows Explorer.
Step 2. Go to the Pictures folder and expand the album that you wish to check for duplicate photos.
Step 3. Double-click on the first photo and it will show the preview in the Photos app.
Step 4. Use the right arrow key to go next and the left to go previous.
Step 5. As you come across a duplicate photo, hit the delete key to send it to the Recycle Bin. Once you have scanned all the images, you can go to the Recycle Bin and clean everything from there.
Final Words
This article on how to find duplicate photos on Windows has the best tips and tricks on how to remove duplicate photos from Windows. We have listed manual methods for a few albums and automated methods if you deal with a lot of photo albums. Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro is one of the best duplicate photo finder and remover tools to quickly scan thousands of photos for duplicates.
