iOS 16 Makes it Easier to Delete Duplicate Photos Clogging Up Your Library - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iOS 16 Makes it Easier to Delete Duplicate Photos Clogging Up Your Library

If you use your iPhone to take and save a lot of pictures, more likely than not you have a few duplicate photos unnecessarily clogging up your photo library. Thankfully, with iOS 16, Apple is making it significantly easier to delete any duplicates taking up useless space on your device.

ios 16 duplicates
Apple is calling the new feature "Duplicate detection" and it works as expected. Using on-device machine learning on iOS 16 and macOS Ventura, your device will now easily detect and aggregate all duplicate photos in your library under the Utilities section in Photos.

From there, you'll easily be able to delete them, freeing up space on your device and decluttering your photo library. Since the feature requires your device to scan and sort out your entire library, it may take some time before your device starts offering up duplicates to delete.

iOS 16 is currently only available to developers with a public beta planned for July. iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS Ventura, and watchOS 9 will all be made publicly available this fall.

Related Forum: iOS 16

Popular Stories

iCloud iPhone 17 Pro

iPhone Users Who Pay for iCloud Storage Get Two New Perks on iOS 27

Tuesday June 9, 2026 11:29 am PDT by
If you pay for extra iCloud storage on your iPhone, beyond the 5GB included for free, you might receive two more perks on iOS 27 at no additional cost. First, Apple said there will be daily usage limits for some of the new and enhanced Apple Intelligence features on iOS 27, including image generation. However, the company noted that "increased access" is available with "most" iCloud+ storage ...
WWDC26 MR Live Coverage Article

WWDC 2026 Apple Event Live Keynote Coverage: iOS 27, Revamped Siri, and More

Monday June 8, 2026 9:15 am PDT by
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) starts today with the traditional keynote kicking things off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. MacRumors is on hand for the event and we'll be sharing details and our thoughts throughout the day. We're expecting to see a number of software-related announcements today, headlined by a reset on Apple's push into AI that should see a significant overhaul...
macOS Golden Gate Mac

Apple Announces macOS 27 Golden Gate With New Siri and 'Tons' of Refinements

Monday June 8, 2026 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today announced that macOS 27 is named macOS Golden Gate. Much like Mac OS X Snow Leopard in 2009, Apple said it focused on improving macOS's performance and dozens of underlying technologies this year. Apple says macOS Golden Gate offers quicker AirDrop transfers, faster network file browsing, improved syncing in the Messages app, better Spotlight search suggestions, and other...

Top Rated Comments

randomthoughts Avatar
52 months ago
Oh yeah, this is exactly what I wanted…



Attachment Image
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
52 months ago
Apple is calling the new feature "Duplicate detection" and it works as expected. Using on-device machine learning on ‌iOS 16‌ and macOS Ventura, your device will now easily detect and aggregate all duplicate photos in your library under the Utilities section in Photos.

In other words, the 2,000 selfies teenagers have on their phones will be deduped down to about 7 photos.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️ Avatar
52 months ago
Sweet! Much needed. Now, It will be easier to delete all the duplicate photos :)



Attachment Image
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
antiprotest Avatar
52 months ago
I had wanted this but weren't sure if they could do it. Pretty good.

I hope it shows all copies instead of only what it thinks are the extras so I can see for myself.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macfacts Avatar
52 months ago
Sneaky way to scan your photos.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
52 months ago
So does it only detect 1 for 1 duplicates, or use AI to find duplicates that are the same photo but a slightly different crop or file size? Because the latter would be way more useful.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)