How to Find and Remove iCloud Photo Duplicates All at Once
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Key Takeaways
If there aren't many photos in your iCloud account, you can manually compare photos and delete the duplicates you find.
If your iCloud account has tons of photos, it's a good idea to find and remove duplicates using a native or third-party method, as discussed below.
Duplicates in iCloud Photos can take up storage and lead to disorganization. Don't worry. Apple itself provides methods to find and group them for you to manage.
But the native method doesn't provide an option for bulk deletion. How can I delete all duplicates at once? You may ask. Luckily, there's a third-party method to help you mass remove duplicates in an easy and reliable way.
In this article, I will talk about both native and third-party methods in detail.
Cisdem Duplicate Finder
The Best iCloud Duplicate Photo Finder
- Identify duplicate photos, videos, audio, documents, and other types of files
- Identify similar photos too
- Support Mac, Windows PC, iPhone, cloud drives, and more
- Find duplicates in folders, Apple's Photos app, iTunes, and Music
- Display duplicate files for you to preview side by side
- Automatically select all but one for deletion in each set of duplicates
- Let you select or deselect files manually
- Also offer 8 selection rules (e.g., Select Newest) to help you mass select
- Help you automatically find and reliably mass delete duplicate photos in iCloud Photos
2 way to find and delete iCloud Photos duplicates on Mac
In this section, I will show you step-by-step instructions for the third-party method (using Cisdem Duplicate Finder) and the native method (using the Duplicates album in Mac's Photos app) respectively. Below is a brief comparison of the two methods.
| Cisdem Duplicate Finder | Duplicates album | |
|---|---|---|
| Supported OS | macOS 10.11 or later | macOS 13 or later |
| Remove duplicate photos in iCloud | Yes | Yes |
| Remove similar photos in iCloud | Yes | Yes (Certain of them) |
| Set the similarity threshold | Yes | No |
| Scan speed | Several seconds, minutes, or a bit longer, depending on the number of photos | Several hours, days, or even longer, depending on the number of photos |
| Bulk deletion | Yes | No |
| Preview before deletion | Yes | Yes |
Use Cisdem Duplicate Finder
This method uses duplicate file finder Cisdem Duplicate Finder, which helps you easily find and remove the following in your iCloud:
- Duplicate photos (exactly identical, regardless of file names)
- Similar photos (photos that appear to the same but have different formats or sizes, and those that look similar)
1. In the Photos app on your Mac, go to Settings.
2. Under the iCloud tab, select the iCloud Photos checkbox. (In earlier macOS versions, iCloud Photos was called iCloud Photo Library.)
3. Photos will start syncing between iCloud Photos and the Photos app. Wait for the sync to finish, and you will have the same photos in both places.
4. Download Cisdem Duplicate Finder. Install the software and open it.
Free Download5. Drag your Photos library into this iCloud photo duplicate finder and remover. Click Scan.
Note
When you use this tool to search for iCloud duplicate photos for the first time, it will ask for permission to access your photos library. You can grant it permission by going to System Settings > Privacy > Photos. Then restart the app.
6. Once the scan is complete, the Images tab in the results window will display all the duplicate photos found in iCloud. You can preview and view them.
7. The software has automatically selected all exact duplicates for you to remove. Or, you can choose a selection rule or select by hand.
8. Click Delete to delete all selected iCloud Photos duplicates.
And when asked if you allow the deletion, click Delete to allow. Now the deleted duplicates will go to the Recently Deleted album in the Photos app.
At the same time, iCloud will automatically detect the deletion and sync the changes. If you go to iCloud Photos (icloud.com/photos), you will find that duplicate photos are removed from iCloud. And, they are now in iCloud Photos’ Recently Deleted.
If you have also enabled iCloud Photos on your iPhone, you will find that duplicate photos are also deleted on iPhone.
Note
By default, your Photos library is located in the Pictures folder. You can check the location by going to the Photos app’s Settings > General.
Tip to find similar pictures in iCloud
To set Cisdem Duplicate Finder to find both identical and similar photos, you need to make sure that you have selected the Enable similar images function checkbox in the software’s Settings 
before you click Scan in step 5.
The identification of similar pictures is affected by the similarity threshold, which is adjustable. To find highly similar photos, you can set the threshold high. Setting the threshold lower will return more results. You may need to experiment with the threshold to get the most satisfying results.
Use the Duplicates album
Starting with macOS 13, the built-in Photos app can now automatically detect duplicate photos and videos. It’ll scan your Photos library and put those found duplicates in the Duplicates album. You can find this album in the Photos sidebar. To delete iCloud duplicate photos on Mac using the Duplicates Album, complete the following steps:
1. Make sure you’ve synced your iCloud photos with Mac Photos app. (The operation is the same as steps 1 to 3 in method 1 above).
2. Go to the Photos app on your Mac. Click on Duplicates on the left.
If you don’t see the Duplicates album, here’re some easy fixes.
3. You can click on Merge [number] Items option at the top of each group of duplicates to merge the iCloud duplicate photos group by group yourself.
How to delete iCloud duplicate photos from iCloud app for Windows
Windows users can delete duplicate photos on iCloud with the help of iCloud for Windows app and Cisdem Duplicate Finder. (iCloud for Windows is an official app that allows you to access your iCloud data like photos and files and keep the data up to date across your PC and other devices.)
1. Download iCloud for Windows from Microsoft Store.
2. Sign in with your Apple ID and password.
3. It will let you choose whether to sync specific items stored in iCloud online to your Windows PC, click Not Now or Sync according to your needs.
4. Click Finish Setup.
5. Click the arrow button next to iCloud Photos.
6. In the Photos Settings window, turn on iCloud Photos. Click Done.
Wait for the sync to finish.
7. Download and install Cisdem Duplicate Finder on your Windows PC.
Free Download Windows 10 or later
8. Launch it. Drag Photos library into this tool.
By default, your Photos library is located in C:\Users\Administrator\Pictures\iCloud Photos\Photos.
You can go to iCloud for Windows > Photos Settings to check its location.
9. Click Scan. Wait for the scan to finish.
10. Go to the Image tab. Review the scan results of iCloud duplicate photos. You can switch to the Info preview mode on the upper-right of the window to view the file size, resolution, path, etc.
11. Click Delete to remove all duplicate photos on iCloud immediately. You can also choose a desired selection rule or manually select duplicates to remove.
Go to the Recently Deleted album of your iCloud Photos and the deleted duplicate photos will be there. Select all files and click the Delete button at the upper-right corner of the window. Confirm the deleting to remove iCloud duplicates permanently.
2 ways to delete iCloud duplicate photos on iPhone
This section covers the native method (using the Duplicate album in iPhone's Photos app) and the third-party method (using Cisdem Duplicate Finder).
Use the Duplicates album
“If I delete photos from my iPhone, will they also deleted from my iCloud?” That depends. If you have synced your iPhone Photos with iCloud Photo Library, the photos deleted in your iPhone Photos will also be removed in iCloud and other Apple devices that signed with the same Apple ID.
With the new built-in “duplicate detection” feature, users can easily find and merge duplicates on iPhone Photos. Sync your iPhone Photos with iCloud, then all the duplicate iCloud photos will be removed too.
Note
Before we begin, you must update your device to the iOS 16 version or later. To check your iOS version, just go to the “Settings” app. Scroll down to find “General”. Click “Software Update” to see it.
1. Go to Settings on your iPhone. Tap on [your name] > [iCloud]. Make sure that your photos have been synced with iCloud.
2. Open the Photos app. Scroll down and find the Utilities section.
3. You’ll find the Duplicates option. Tap on it. Then you can preview all the duplicate images found on your iPhone.
4. To merge or delete the duplicate photos, tap Merge on the right of the duplicates groups. Apple will auto-remain the high quality version of the images on your Album.
Go to your iCloud Photos and you will find that the duplicate photos are gone.
The disadvantage is that this method can only delete iCloud duplicate photos from iPhone Photos app. And it doesn’t offer selection rules to help you select duplicates to remove in bulk. Apple will keep the version that it thinks the best and delete others. Below’s a better method for iPhone users.
Use Cisdem Duplicate Finder
Compared to the built-in “duplicate detection” feature in the Photos app on iPhone, Cisdem Duplicate Finder provides you with a quicker, safer, and more efficient way to delete iCloud duplicate photos. Below are steps:
1. Download and install this tool from App Store.
2. Open it. Click Start Scan. Wait for it to finish scanning your photo library for duplicates.
3. Click Duplicate Photos to view the found iCloud duplicate photos.
Or, click Similar Photos to view photos that are alike.
4. It automatically select all but one photo for deletion in each set of duplicates.
Or, you can click Selection at the upper-right corner. Let it mass select duplicates based on other selection rules.
5. Click the Clean button to remove all duplicate photos in your iCloud with 1-click.
FAQs
Will iCloud upload duplicate photos?
The short answer is no. But there can still be duplicate photos in iCloud.
iCloud Photos can detect duplicate photos during upload. If you upload a photo that is already in your iCloud, a “Duplicate photo” message will appear, and the photo won’t be uploaded. If you upload two exactly identical photos, one will be uploaded, and the other will be ignored.
So why are there still duplicate pictures in your iCloud? One reason is that iCloud can’t detect similar photos at all during upload. Another reason is that the duplicates on your Mac, iPhone or iPad can be synced to iCloud if you use iCloud Photos on your device. There can be other reasons. Also, iCloud doesn’t provide the feature to recognize duplicates that already exist in your account.
How do I manually remove iCloud duplicate photos via icloud.com?
If you don't have many photos in your iCloud account, you can try getting rid of them by hand.
1. Go to https://www.icloud.com/photos/.
2. In the sidebar on the left, choose Library.
3. Zoom in photo thumbnails, compare them visually and locate the duplicates.
4. To remove a duplicate photo, select it by clicking its thumbnail and click the Delete icon.
To view a photo in full size, double-click its thumbnail.
With a passion for tech and writing, Sarah joined Cisdem, where she focuses on creating articles about using utility tools to enhance file management and simplify contact management.
Adrian Li is Cisdem’s Chief Engineer and serves as the editorial advisor for Duplicate Finder and ContactsMate. His work and insights have been featured in leading tech publications such as Fossbytes, TUAW, Redmond Pie, SafetyDetectives, and BestForAndroid.
Charlie Pils
Awesome. This post helped me a lot. I had about 8K photos in iCloud and there’re lots of duplicates. Now I’ve cleaned up them easily.