How to Easily Find and Delete Similar Photos on Mac and Windows Computers

Whether you are a professional photographer or just someone who shoots a lot with a phone, if you have the habit of storing your photos on your Mac or Windows PC, then chances are high that there are similar photos on your computer. Sometimes, you may want to find similar photos on Mac or PC and delete some of them. For example, some visually alike photos taken in burst mode are not good enough and can be eliminated.

 

What are similar photos?

Generally, similar photos are photos that have a relatively high degree of visual similarity. They are similar but different.

There are various kinds of similar images.

• Visually identical photos different in resolutions or file sizes
• Visually identical photos in different formats, for example, one in HEIC and the other in JPG
• Photos taken in burst mode, which look alike
• Visually similar pictures of the same subject captured from slightly different angles, distances or exposures
• Certain edited (e.g. rotated, cropped or watermarked) versions of the same photo
• Other visually alike images

Find and delete similar photos on Mac

Cisdem Duplicate Finder is the best similar image detector for Mac due to its high performance and ease of use.

Supporting all image formats (e.g. JPEG, TIFF, PNG, BMP, GIF, WebP and SVG) and raw image formats (e.g. Canon CR2 and Nikon NEF), this similar picture detection app quickly identifies similar photos and group them together for you to deal with.

This app also finds duplicate photos (which are exactly the same regardless of name) and all other duplicate files.

Steps: How to find similar photos on Mac

1. Download and install the similar photo finder for Mac. Open it.

Free Download

2. To find similar photos in a folder, click the plus icon and add the folder. To find similar images across multiple folders, add them all.

3. Click the settings icon and choose the Similar Images tab. Make sure the Enable similar images function checkbox is selected.

4. Click Scan.

5. When the scan is done, the Similar Image tab in the results window will display the groups of similar photos that have been found.

6. In each group, select the unwanted photo(s) for deletion. Or, you can use the selection rules to help you mass select.

7. To remove unwanted similar photos from Mac, click Delete.

Note that the duplicate files found during the scan will also be removed and go to Trash.

In step 3, under the Similar Images tab, there are three options: Result priority, Speed priority and Custom. The options allows you to decide how strict Cisdem Duplicate Finder will be when it scans for similar photos. Being strict means that only pictures that are very similar will be detected. Being looser means more results, with more difference being allowed in the found photos.

How to find similar photos in Apple Photos on Mac?

It’s very easy. Just add the Photos library to scan in step 2. The other steps are the same.

Find and delete similar photos on Windows PC

The easiest way to search for similar images on your Windows computer is to use similar image detection software like Cisdem Duplicate Finder.

The software can find visually similar images, visually identical images in different sizes or quality levels, and duplicate files. When it comes to identifying similar photos, you can set the similarity level based on which the software will decide if two photos are similar.

As a great similar photo remover, it provides multiple rules to help users mass select undesirable similar photos for removal.

Steps: How to find similar images on Windows PC

1. Download and install Cisdem Duplicate Finder. Open it.

Free Download

2. To find similar images in folder, drag the folder into the software.

3. Go to Settings, enable the function of detecting similar pictures.

4. Click Scan.

5. When the scan is complete, the results window will display all the found similar photos.

6. In every group of similar photos, select the photos that you don’t want to keep.

7. Click Delete to delete the selected photos.

Now, in the groups of similar-looking photos on your PC, only the best shots are kept and the unwanted ones are removed. As a result, your photo collection is more enjoyable to view.

Tip: How to find similar pictures on computer manually

It’s also possible to manually find similar images on your computer, but the process can be time-consuming and tedious.

1. On your Mac or PC, open Finder or File Explorer.

2. Open the folder in which you want to find similar pictures.

3. 3. Use Finder’s or File Explorer’s search function to list all the image files in the folder.

4. Sort the image files by name, size or when they were taken.

5. Identify similar photos by comparing the visual content.

6. Move the unwanted similar photos to Trash or the Recycle Bin.

Conclusion

In most cases, you don’t need multiple really similar photos or various versions of the same photo. Similar photos and duplicated photos can take up space on computer often without you even noticing it.

By using a similar image detector to find similar photos on Mac or Windows PC, you can quickly remove these unnecessary photos from a folder or photo library. The removal also helps free up space on your hard drive, making room for new photos.