The duplicate photos on your computer can be annoying. Unnecessary duplicates waste storage space and make it harder to organize photos. Manually getting rid of them is not easy. The best way to find and delete duplicate photos in Windows 10 is to use a good duplicate photo finder for Windows 10.
This article provides a list of the best apps to identify and remove duplicate pictures in Windows 10 and Windows 11.
A duplicate photo finder or duplicate photo remover is a piece of software to automate the process of identifying duplicate photos and facilitate the removal of unwanted duplicates. We tested a dozen of well-known duplicate photo finders for Windows and picked the best ones. They vary in features, performance, ease of use, cost, etc. Below are the reviews.
Compatibility: Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7; 64-bit required
Latest version: 2.9.5, released in February 2023
Our take: Excel at finding and removing duplicate photos and all other duplicate files
Cisdem Duplicate Finder can find duplicate images, videos, audios, documents, archives and all other types of duplicate files on your PC and external storage devices.
This duplicate photo finder finds duplicate photos (photos that are exactly identical, regardless of name) based on content. It can find all duplicate photos in one folder (such as the Pictures folder)/drive or in and across multiple locations.
This app displays the found duplicate photos for you to sort, search, preview and examine, and decides for you which files to delete. In each set of duplicate photos, it automatically selects all but one photo for deletion. In other words, it selects all duplicates for you to remove at once. Or, you can select by hand or choose a desired selection rule (such as Select Newest).
This app can also find similar photos, including photos that look the same but different in resolutions or formats and similar photos (such as burst mode photos, pictures taken from slightly different angles, and slightly edited versions of photos). You can adjust the similarity level until you see the desired results.
Compatibility: Windows 11, Windows 10, 8.1, 8 and 7; both 32- and 64-bit
Latest version: Not revealed
Our take: A dedicated Windows duplicate picture finder to scan folders for duplicate pictures
If you are a photography lover or photo editing enthusiast and want to get rid of the tons of duplicate images and similar images on your PC’s hard drive, Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro is worth checking out.
This app provides two comparison methods: Exact Match and Similar Match.
The Exact Match method can scan one or multiple folders for photos that are exactly the same. The scan results window will list all the duplicate photos that have been found. You can manually select duplicates to eliminate or let the Auto Mark feature do it for you.
The Similar Match method can find certain near-duplicate images based on your adjustments.
With the Similar Match method, the Matching Level slider determines how much similarity Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro finds between images, and you can use the Bitmap Size slider to adjust the balance between speed and accuracy. Adjusting the Time Interval slider can help you find photos taken in burst mode. In the test, this app didn’t find as many similar photos as Cisdem Duplicate Finder did. The latest update adds two options, and turning on both options will find the rotated versions and flipped versions of photos, which worked well in the test.
Compatibility: Windows 11, Windows 10, 8 (64-bit or 32-bit), 7, Vista and XP
Latest version: 7.13.0.33, release in January 2023
Our take: A dedicated duplicate image finder and remover with support for Lightroom Classic
Duplicate Photo Cleaner can be one of the best duplicate photo finders for Windows 10 for photographers, designers and users in general.
There are 6 scan modes. To scan a folder on your computer for identical photos, use the Standard mode. The Folder Comparison mode allows you to easily compare folders for duplicate photos. You can use the Lightroom Classic mode to search for duplicates in Lightroom Classic.
There is a scan setting called Similarity Threshold. If you set the threshold to less than 100%, this app will also scan for similar photos. A lower threshold will find more similar photos but also more false positives. You’ll need to find a balance. To fine-tune more scan settings, please go to Settings.
You can preview and view the groups of duplicate photos (and similar photos if any) side by side, and view photo metadata such as camera manufacturer and exposure time. There are several rules (such as Select duplicates), letting you effortlessly mass select unwanted copies for removal. Or, you can do it manually.
Compatibility: Windows 11, Windows 10, 8 and 7
Latest version: 5.18, release in December 2022
Our take: A sophisticated app to find and remove duplicate photo files and other types of duplicate files on Windows
Duplicate Cleaner offers a range of features and options and is highly configurable. If you are tech-savvy, you may find this app very powerful. If you are a bit technologically challenged or are new to duplicate file finder software, this app can be overwhelming.
Duplicate Cleaner has two editions: the Free one and the Pro one. Both editions provide a Regular mode. This mode compares files by content, so it can find duplicate photos with different names. There are multiple comparison algorithms for you to choose from, such as MD5 and SHA-1.
The Pro edition also provides an Image mode. This mode is dedicated to dealing with image files and supports BMP, JPEG, GIF, PNG, PCX, TGA, ICO, HEIC, WEBP, etc. The mode allows you to find photos that are exactly the same, very similar or similar. There are many options to tweak. For example, to find duplicate raw photos, you need to enable the Camera RAW image support option.
This duplicate photo cleaner will display the groups of duplicate images that have been found for you to view. Coming with dozens of options, the Selection Assistant feature can help you quickly select unwanted duplicates for deletion.
Compatibility: Windows 11, Windows 10, 8 and 7
Latest version: 4.3.1, release in July 2022
Our take: The best free duplicate photo finder for Windows 10, which is also open source
dupeGuru used to be commercial and went open source later. It’s one of the best free duplicate file finders available for Windows operating systems.
This app provides three modes: Standard, Music and Picture. The Standard mode can find duplicate photo files and other duplicate files.
Specialized in working with pictures, the Picture mode can find identical photos and certain similar photos. For example, it can find the slightly edited (such as recolored, resized, cropped or compressed) versions of the same photo. With this mode, you can adjust the Filter Hardness to set the image similarity level.
dupeGuru’s Results tab will list the found duplicate photos and similar photos with file information such as name, size, path, format and EXIF timestamp. But there is no preview. The preview feature is essential for duplicate image finder software. This app falls short in this regard.
Compatibility: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, 2003, XP and 2000
Latest version: 1.2, released in April 2021
Our take: A free duplicate photo finder with reliable performance and a simple interface
Are you in search of a good app to find and delete duplicate photos on Windows 10 for free? Check out Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder.
Despite being freeware, it has all the makings of good basic duplicate picture finder software. In addition to supporting all major image formats, it even supports CR2, a Canon raw format.
This free app is good when it comes to finding photos that are exactly the same. It’s also designed to find photos that are similar. In the test, it found compressed or recolored photos and failed to find other similar photos.
You can easily sort and preview the duplicates that it found. The preview feature is handy. The drawback is that you need to select the undesired duplicates for removal one by one by hand. There is no way to automate the process. It can be tedious and time-consuming.
Note: Although the app’s official website says that it’s only compatible with versions from Windows 2000 to Windows 10, we have no problem using it on Windows 11.
Compatibility: Windows 11, Windows 10, 8.1, 8 and 7
Latest version: 1.7.0.0
Our take: A pretty easy-to-use app to look for and clear duplicate photos on a PC
Thanks to the simple and straightforward user interface, this app is easy to use even for beginners.
There are 2 modes: Look for Same Pictures (default) and Look for Similar Pictures. According to the test, the identification of same photos is good and very fast, and the identification of similar photos is not that reliable (especially if you set the Photo Similarity level to Somewhat Similar or Loosely Match).
After you add a folder, clicking the Start Search button will start the search for same photos. Before the search, you can configure settings by going to More Options if needed. For example, you can exclude certain folders/files from being searched by specifying the file path/size range.
This duplicate photo remover makes it very easy to view duplicate photos by displaying them side by side and by providing photo information. An Auto Mark feature is offered so that you don’t have to select photo copies to weed out one by one.
There are multiple removal options. You can move copies to the Recycle Bin or a folder of your choice. Either way, your photo collection will become duplicate-free.
Compatibility: Windows 11, Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista; both 32- and 64-bit
Latest version: 8.9.0.11.31
Our take: A feature-rich Windows duplicate photo finder that finds identical and similar photos
Note: This list used to include VisiPics, which works the best with the 32-bit version of Windows and can have problems running on Windows 10 and 11. Therefore, we replace it with another app, which can be a good duplicate photo finder for Windows 11, 10 and more.
Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder is a feature-rich and highly customizable app to help users find duplicate images and similar images. However, the interface can be confusing, especially to beginners.
It can scan folders and Lightroom for duplicate photos or similar photos, depending on your settings. There are four scan methods. We recommend the first two: Visual Compare and 100% Identical Files (Fast). If you only want to search for exactly identical photos, choose 100% Identical Files (Fast).
With Visual Compare, you will find exactly identical photos, very similar photos (may look the same to the naked eye) and other similar photos. You can adjust the Similarity level, which is 85% by default.
This app has a sophisticated feature to help users select duplicate photos for elimination. For example, in each group of duplicates, you can set the app to select the smaller or newer one(s) to delete, or specify an image format (such as .jpg).
There is a Standard edition (which is enough for most personal users), a Pro edition and a Corporate edition. There is also a Demo edition, which is free to use and feature-limited.
Price | Free trial | Supported file types | Performance | Ease of use | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cisdem Duplicate Finder |
$19.99/1-year subscription or $39.99/1-time purchase |
Available | Various | Excellent | Excellent |
Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro | $39.95 | Available | Image only | Good | Excellent |
Duplicate Photo Cleaner | $39.95 | Available | Image only | Good | Excellent |
Duplicate Cleaner | $39 | Available | Various | Excellent | Fair |
dupeGuru | Free | - | Various | Good | Good |
Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder | Free | - | Image only | Good | Fair |
Ashisoft Duplicate Photos Finder | $49.95 | Available | Image only | Good | Good |
Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder | $24.95 | Available | Image only | Good | Fair |
Why do photos duplicate in Windows 10?
It can happen when you import photos from your camera or smartphone to your computer. When you import photos using Microsoft Photos in Windows 10, normally only new photos will be imported. But sometimes Microsoft Photos fails to recognize which photos already exist on your computer and imports both new and old photos, resulting in duplicates.
You may create duplicates too. For example, you may import some photos to your computer twice without knowing it.
Can Windows 10 find duplicate photos?
Windows 10 doesn’t find the image duplicates on your computer nor does it remove them for you. Windows 11 doesn’t either. But Microsoft Photos does offer an option called Linked duplicates. This option helps avoid showing a photo twice when the photo has duplicates.
Is there a way to delete duplicate photos on Windows 10?
You can identify and delete them one by one by hand. But it’s quicker, safer and more reliable to use a good photo duplicate finder to clean them up. If you are not familiar with such software, you can get started with a test folder.
Are you fed up with the duplicates in your digital photo collection? Check out the reviews above and pick the best duplicate photo finder for Windows 10. Let it help you automatically find and remove the annoying duplicates. You have control over what to find and how to remove. Get rid of unnecessary photos and make room for new photos!
Rosa has worked in Mac software industry for more than eight years. She believes that the purpose of software is to make life better and work more productively. In addition to writing, Rosa is also an avid runner.
Antje Conradi
I have thousands of photos on my computer and there’re too many duplicates. Now I got back over 3 GB of space after using the first software you recommended. Thanks so much!!