How to Delete Duplicates on Google Photos

There is no automatic way to delete duplicate photos from Google Photos.

Although Google Photos' built-in duplicate prevention keeps exact duplicates from uploading twice, photos you've edited will sync because they are no longer identical. We'll show you how to manually delete synced duplicates, as well as how to disable Google Drive photo syncing.

Method 1
Method 1 of 3:

Disabling Google Drive Photo Sync

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    1
    Open Google Photos on your computer, phone, or tablet. If photos stored on your Google Drive are set to sync to Google Photos, you'll see duplicates of photos that were already in your library. Disabling this feature prevents the Google Drive photos from appearing in Google Photos.
    • You can access Google Photos on your computer by signing in to https://photos.google.com.
    • If you're using a phone or tablet, tap the multicolored flower icon labeled "Google Photos" (iPhone/iPad) or "Photos" (Android) on the home screen or app drawer.
  2. Image titled Delete Duplicates on Google Photos Step 2
    2
    Click or tap the ≡ menu. It's at the top-left corner. A menu will expand.
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  3. Image titled Delete Duplicates on Google Photos Step 3
    3
    Select Settings.
  4. Image titled Delete Duplicates on Google Photos Step 4
    4
    Scroll down and slide the "Google Drive" switch to the Off
    Android 7 Switch Off
    position.     It's under the "Google" header. If your Google Drive contained duplicate versions of photos that were already in Google Photos, those versions will be removed.
    • This will not delete the photos from your Google Drive.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 3:

Deleting Duplicates on a Computer

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    1
    Go to http://photos.google.com in a web browser. If you're not signed in, sign in now.
    • Google Photos will not sync identical photos, even from multiple devices. But if you've edited a synced photo (such as cropping, adding a location, or changing the date), the edited version will sync because it's no longer identical.[1] You can prevent this in the future by saving edited photos to a folder that you don't sync to Google Photos.
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    2
    Click the Photos tab. It's on the left side of the page. Doing so opens a list of all of your photos.
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    3
    Scroll down until you find a duplicate photo that you want to delete.
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    4
    Check the photo's box. Hover your mouse over the photo's thumbnail, then click the checkmark in its upper-left corner.
    • Be careful not to select both photos in a pair of duplicates.
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    5
    Click the "Trash"
    Android 7 Delete
    icon.     It's at the top right corner of the page. A confirmation message will appear.
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    6
    Click MOVE TO TRASH on the confirmation message. This moves the photos to the trash. Photos in the trash will remain there for 60 days in case you realize you've made a mistake.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 3:

Deleting Duplicates on the Mobile App

  1. Image titled Delete Duplicates on Google Photos Step 11
    1
    Open the Google Photos app. It's the green, yellow, red, and blue flower icon, which you'll usually find on the home screen or in the app drawer.
    • Google Photos will not sync identical photos, even from multiple devices. But if you've edited a synced photo (such as cropping, adding a location, or changing the date), the edited version will sync because it's no longer identical.[2] You can prevent this in the future by saving edited photos to a folder that you don't sync to Google Photos.
  2. Image titled Delete Duplicates on Google Photos Step 12
    2
    Tap Photos. It's at the bottom-left corner.
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    3
    Tap ⁝ or ⋯. It's at the top-right corner of the screen. A menu will appear.
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    4
    Tap Select or Select photos. It's at the top of the menu.
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    5
    Tap each photo you want to delete. As you tap photos, the circles at their top-left corners will turn into checkmarks.
    • Be careful not to delete both photos in a pair of duplicates.
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    6
    Tap the Trash
    Android 7 Delete
    icon.     It's near the top-right corner of the screen. A confirmation will appear.[3]
  7. Image titled Delete Duplicates on Google Photos Step 17
    7
    Tap REMOVE on the confirmation message. This moves the photos to the trash. Photos in the trash will remain there for 60 days in case you realize you've made a mistake.
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    Can I delete photos from my iPhone if they are on Google Photos?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    That’s up to you; if you don’t want the photos stored in two places, then it’s fine to remove the photos from your iPhone. If you want the photos stored in more than one place, consider keeping the photos on your iPhone or back them up to a computer or external hard drive or the cloud. It’s a good idea to have more than one backup of precious data, as backups can fail or services can be stopped or changed over time.
  • Question
    Can Google Photos remove duplicates?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    Google Photos itself doesn’t have a feature for removal of photo duplicates. You’ll have to find and remove duplicates manually, as explained in the article above. There is software available online that claims it can sweep your Google Photos app for duplicates; research its worth and safety carefully before choosing this option though, as it's not something we've tested.
  • Question
    How do I delete all photos from Google Photos?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    Select the first photo to be deleted by clicking on the circle in the upper left hand corner. Scroll down to the last photo to be deleted, then press the Shift key down and click on the upper left hand corner circle of that last photo. This will select all of the photos from beginning to end. Then press Delete and all the selected photos will be removed. If you have a lot of photos, it is easier to do this in batches (also tedious but it’s not easily designed for big deletions), especially if your internet connection is slow. Note that the thumbnails must all have loaded before selecting everything; using the scrollbar can be too quick to allow this to happen, so either do smaller batches or scroll through the images by mouse, slowly.
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References

  1. ↑ https://support.google.com/photos/thread/100136?hl=en
  2. ↑ https://support.google.com/photos/thread/100136?hl=en
  3. ↑ https://support.google.com/photos/answer/6128858?co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS&hl=en&oco=0

About This Article

Nicole Levine, MFA
Written by:
Nicole Levine, MFA
wikiHow Technology Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA. Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions. This article has been viewed 332,077 times.
Warning: Difficult task !
Co-authors: 9
Updated: January 24, 2023
Views: 332,077
Categories: Google Applications
Article SummaryX

1. There's no automatic way to delete duplicates, but you can prevent them.
2. Disable Google Drive Photo Sync on your computer.
3. Disable automatic archiving of photos from your phone or tablet.
4. Manually remove duplicates.

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