PhotoSweeper Review: The Facts and How-to Guide

If you take and manage many photos, you probably know how annoying duplicate photos can be. What is the easiest way to remove them? You might be wondering. The most efficient solution is to use a duplicate photo finder app.

Here's my review of PhotoSweeper, a popular duplicate photo finder, which can help you decide whether it's the right tool for you. The article also provides instructions on how to use PhotoSweeper.

 Cisdem Duplicate Finder

A PhotoSweeper Alternative that Supports All File Type

• Available for Mac and Windows
• Identify duplicate photos, videos, documents, audio files, and all other files
• Detect similar images, allowing you to adjust the similarity threshold for comparing images
• Support Mac, Windows PC, external storage devices, and more
• Find duplicate files in folders, Mac's Photos, Apple's Music, and iTunes
• Offer 3 mode to view duplicates, including a side-by-side one
• Automatically select all but one file for deletion in each set of duplicates, enabling you to remove all duplicates at once
• Allow you to adjust selections manually, or choose from 8 rules (e.g., Select Newest, Select by Priority, and Select Smallest)
• Easy to use for everyone
• Customizable, letting you take control

Free Download Windows 10 or later Free Download macOS 10.11 or later GET IT ON Google Play Download on the App Store

PhotoSweeper review

PhotoSweeper is a Mac-only app that finds and removes duplicate and similar images. It helps you delete duplicate videos as well.

Installation

You can download PhotoSweeper from its official website and the Mac App Store. The latest version is 5.4.1, which was released on February 24, 2026. The installation package is 58.4 MB in size.

PhotoSweeper does a good job of doing what it's designed for, but it's not very user-friendly, especially when compared to some alternatives. The good news is users will see a welcome screen with helpful tips on how to use the app.

Interface

PhotoSweeper has a dark interface, and no light theme is available. Honestly, I prefer a light theme.

What interface you will see depends on which mode you choose. On the Welcome screen, you will be guided to choose from 3 modes: Single List Mode, Side to Side Mode, and Restore Last Session.

• Single List mode
  It allows users to find duplicates in a certain location. You can drag and drop a folder to the interface, then use the app compare photos from this single folder.
• Side to Side mode
  With this mode, you can compare folders for duplicates. You can drag and drop a folder or image into each side of this window, and the app will compare photos and find duplicates between the two folders or images.
• Restore Last Session
  By choosing this mode, the program will restore photos and comparison results from the previous session. It will either be Single List Mode or Side to Side Mode.

Filter photos

After you add a folder to PhotoSweeper, all photos from it will be displayed on the interface, and you can start comparing these photos to find duplicates. However, what if you don't want to compare all photos?

In such a case, you can use the Find Photos feature, which acts like the filter feature in many other duplicate file finders but is more sophisticated. There are a wide variety of filter criteria, such as name, date, format, size, and many more.

Compare photos

PhotoSweeper provides three modes to help users find duplicate and similar photos, allowing users to customize each mode based on their specific needs.

• Duplicate Files
  This mode is dedicated to finding duplicate photos and videos. You can decide whether to consider file names when identifying duplicates. I recommend ignoring file names.
• Similar Photos
  This mode can find both identical and similar photos. You can customize settings to get more desirable results. For example, by adjusting the Matching Level, you can control how similar the detected photos will be.
• Series of Shots
  We often take pictures using continuous shooting mode with the intention to choose the best shot later. The Series of Shots is effective for finding and grouping those burst mode photos. In each set, you can easily keep the best shot(s).

Delete duplicates

• Mark duplicates
  Once you have clicked on the “Start” button to process the comparing, PhotoSweeper will prompt you to mark the photos for removal. You can auto mark according to preset preferences, or manually mark one by one later.
  For Auto Mark, you need to check the rules for auto mark by clicking on “Show Preferences”, then tweak according to your personal needs.
• Preview duplicates
  There are 3 modes to preview the found duplicates:
  1. One by One: preview duplicate files one by one
  2. Face-to-Face: preview and compare 2 photos at the same time, then mark the one you want to delete3. All-in-One: preview all the duplicate files in the same window, this is convenient when you have to preview a lot of duplicates.
• Delete duplicates to Trash
  PhotoSweeper delete duplicates to trash bin and those removed duplicated won’t be permanently deleted. This feature allows users to restore the deleted duplicates if they accidentally deleted some photos.

Free trial and purchase

PhotoSweeper offers free 30-day trial version before any commercial decisions, and only 10 photos can be removed for free. If you need the full service, you will have to pay $14.99 to get a license.

Pros & Cons

Perfectly suitable for

This program is perfectly suitable for users who have some advanced skills to work with a desktop program, and need to find duplicates from a great many of photos, since this program is exclusively to find and delete duplicates photos on Mac.

How to use PhotoSweeper on Mac

Step 1. Download and install PhotoSweeper on Mac.

Step 2. Launch the program and choose a mode.

Step 3. Drag and drop a folder to the program, or add folder directly, or open “Media Browser” to add.

Step 4. Optionally, click “Find Photos” and tweak the settings to filter photos quickly.

Step 5. Click “Compare”, choose to find duplicates, or similar files or choose from series of shots.

Step 6. Click “Start” to comparing, then Auto Mark the photos you want to delete, or Don’t mark to manually add later.

Step 7. Finally click “Trash Marked” to remove those duplicates you have marked within the program.

PhotoSweeper vs. Duplicate Annihilator vs. Cisdem Duplicate Finder

Besides PhotoSweeper, there are other excellent programs to find and delete duplicate photos on a Mac, such as Duplicate Annihilator for Photos and Cisdem Duplicate Finder for Mac, they all are top-rated and support the latest macOS version.

Duplicate Annihilator

Duplicate Annihilator created by Brattoo Propaganda, offers a series of duplicate finders, including Duplicate Annihilator for Photos, Duplicate Annihilator for iPhoto, Duplicate Annihilator for iOS and Duplicate Annihilator for Aperture, which designed for different photo storage device or application.

As for Duplicate Annihilator, it is a Mac program helping users to find and analyze duplicate photos in Photos library.

Cisdem Duplicate Finder

Cisdem Duplicate Finder is available for both Mac and Windows PC. Its Mac version can find and remove duplicate photos, videos, documents, audios, archives, etc from internal or external storage device. With 3 steps, scan-report-delete, users can easily remove duplicates permanently or to trash bin. Also, users can find similar photos with this program.

PhotoSweeper vs. Duplicate Annihilator vs. Cisdem Duplicate Finder

Conclusion

PhotoSweeper is absolutely a great tool for advanced users who have to deal with a lot of photos, but deal with duplicate photos only. If you want a tool to do the job in a simple and easy way, or need to find duplicate videos, audios or other documents, you can try others that on our recommendation list.