Can Google Photos delete duplicate photos?

What does Google Photos do with copies?

When the exact same file is backed up again, Google Photos usually recognises it and keeps one. That is why reinstalling the app doesn't double your library. But anything that changes the file creates a new item: a WhatsApp copy, a screenshot of a photo, an edit saved as a copy, or the same picture exported at a different size.

Its Manage storage tool helps with space, not duplicates. Google lists its categories as blurry photos, screenshots, and large videos. There is no duplicates group.

Edits made inside Google Photos are different again. Saving a copy creates a second item, while a normal edit replaces the view but keeps the original underneath, so it does not add a duplicate.

How can I remove duplicates that are already in Google Photos?

1. Search the library for the date or place where you suspect copies, and view results in a dense grid.
2. Long-press one copy, tap the others, and delete. Remember that this deletes the phone copy too.
3. Empty Collections > Trash to free the space; items wait there for 30 days otherwise.

It is slow for big libraries. Cleaning on the phone before backup is quicker, because tools there can compare files directly.

Searching helps narrow it down. Typing a place, a month or a word such as receipt brings up groups where copies tend to cluster, and the info panel shows file size, which is a quick way to tell the original from a smaller chat copy.

Selecting by dragging works on the web version at photos.google.com, which is easier than tapping each item on a phone when there are hundreds of copies.

What is the faster route on Android?

Use Files by Google's Duplicate files card for exact copies, then remove near-identical burst shots by hand or with an app. Deleting on the phone with backup on also removes the cloud copy, so both get lighter.

If you want help with the near-identical ones, GalleryJury will do that part on Android once it arrives on Google Play. It reads only the photos on your phone, never Google Photos' cloud, and it sends anything you approve for deletion to the phone's trash first. 50 photos are free to try; after that it is $5 for 5,000, paid once.

See the duplicate photos guide for step-by-step tools and similar photos for bursts.