Duplicate Photo Finder & Remover Software

Sooner or later, with so many different backup, file sharing, and storage methods, your computer will be loaded with duplicate files that take up a lot of storage space, until one day you see a maddening "disk almost full" warning message. This is when duplicate image finding software comes into play.

These duplicate photo cleaner tools help to find duplicate and similar files quickly. This means that instead of spending hours sorting duplicate photos, you can get rid of them and free up valuable storage space occupied by duplicate images.

But which tool to use? To combat this, we've compiled several lists of the best duplicate photo finder and cleaner that will help keep your Windows PC, Mac, and mobile devices organized.

Among the most popular and at the same time the most confusing options for duplicate photo finder and cleaner for Mac are Gemini 2, Duplicate File Finder, PhotoSweeper. Therefore, this article aims to compare the advantages and disadvantages of these three software, with performance, accuracy of scan results, price, etc.

If you're confused, read on for details; if you want a quick answer, here's our winner of the best Mac duplicate photo removal software.

Editor’s Recommendations

MacPaw Gemini 2 Deletes duplicate & similar-looking files, photos, audios, and videos in one-click Frees up a significant amount of storage space Accurate results Supports all popular image formats Supports Internal & External Storage Devices Easy to use interface with minimal glitches Saves your preferences Get up to 45% cash back

Best choice (Recommended) Free DownloadBuy Now

Gemini 2 vs. Duplicate File Finder vs. Photosweeper: Detailed Comparison Table of the Best Duplicate Finders for Mac in 2024

How about renowned duplicate photos cleaners？First let's take a look at their brief review scores and comparisons

Top 3 Duplicate Photo Finders & Removers[2024 Review]

#1. Gemini 2

Developed by MacPaw, Gemini 2 is our best duplicate photo finder and cleaner app - it does what it promises and does it well. It also has a reputation of being a good product over the past years.

Gemini 2 can scan your Mac and external drives and makes you aware of all the nooks and corners where the duplicate files are hiding. 

Gemini 2 is capable of finding different types of file types such as images, music, documents and more. Also, it has a Smart Cleanup feature that enables you to delete all duplicates and similars quickly.

You can find duplicate photos in Photo Library, Music Library, Spot iTunes. These files can be of different formats or bitrates, but can be easily detected. It can also help you move files to a new destination folder on your Mac.

Definitely inheriting the sleek design style of the MacPaw family, similar to CleanMyMac, Gemini 2 also has a very clean and simple interface. Together with appropriate instruction texts and warnings, the app is a breeze to navigate.

Gemini 2 is very easy to use. All you need to do is select from the Home, Pictures or Music folders to start scanning. Alternatively, you can add folders from any other location.

Next, you'll get a summary of what it found, and can use "Smart Cleanup" to automatically delete everything or "View Results" to dig deeper for yourself. 

The smart cleaning algorithm will change after manually reviewing the results. The algorithm notices patterns in how you choose which files to keep and remove, and then applies similar behavior to future scans.  

In the rare case that you accidentally delete duplicate or similar files, Gemini 2 sends them to the Trash first instead of permanently deleting them. You can simply restore your files as usual. On the other hand, if you get tired of the extra removal step, you can change the settings to remove duplicates permanently. Another option, if you're pressed for time, is to move everything into a dedicated duplicate folder. Then you can check it more closely later.

To review the MacPaw Gemini 2, we put it to the test. It was as effective at finding duplicate photos as we expected, and it quickly found almost all of our duplicates. It's safe to say that the Gemini 2 outperformed most of the other options we've tested, including the well-known CCleaner's duplicate file checker. 

The scan time of the Gemini 2 is neither short nor long, and it gets the job done relatively quickly. The first scan will automatically check your entire computer, after that, you will be able to select specific files and folders to scan.

The Gemini 2 did slow down my computer when in use. This can be a problem for you if you plan to use your computer while scanning, especially if you can't actually leave the program because it asks for permission when opening folders.

Protect important files and folders from accidental deletion with Gemini 2. To keep them safe, you can choose to keep such files on the tool and lock them so they won't be deleted after scanning.

Interestingly it also notifies you when it detects new copies of a file which is already present on your device.

Pricing plans:

• Free version available (only cleans up to 500 MB of data). Available here

• $19.95/Year (License for 1 Mac) 

• $29.95/Year (License for 2 Mac) 

• $44.95/Year (License for 5 Mac)

• For other plans you can avail the offers and get a great deal ranging from $29.95 for 2 Macs to $44.95 for 5 Macs.

• It also gives you a 30 day money back guarantee and 24X7 tech and sales support. 

• Also, don't forget to get up to 45% extra cash back at MacPaw!
  

>>Setapp (Up To 15% Cash Back with Setapp)

If you are planning on utilizing a lot of Mac apps, you may want to look into MacPaw's Setapp subscription.

Priced at $9.99 per month (or $107.88 annually), Setapp instantly gives you licensed access to over 100 popular Mac apps for use on a single machine. CleanMyMac X is included in this subscription as well as their popular duplicate finder Gemini along with other popular software like Disk Drill, Bartender, Netspot, Mosaic, and many more.

Best of all, Setapp offers a free 7-day trial which is useful for those looking to test out the full capabilities of the subscription and CleanMyMac X before purchasing.

Pros:

Stylish space theme design software with easy navigation

Easy-to-use interface with minimal glitches.

Easily scan your internal and external drives along with the network volumes.

File categorization (Exact Duplicates & Similar Files) makes review easy.

Delete other files - music, documents.

Accurate results

Remove duplicates of different file extensions.

Quick and easy with smart cleaning options.

Organize files on your Mac.

Choose to exclude specific files or folders that you do not want included in the scan.

Customizable app preferences and appropriate warnings are helpful.

Multilingual support

Different payment options.

There is a free option with most features available.

Dark mode.

You can manually select files to keep or delete.

Option to restore accidentally deleted files, before you clean the Trash.

Duplicates Monitor instantly notifies you about the new identical copies.

Receive regular software updates and can be easily trusted.

Cons:

Free version removes up to 500 MB of duplicates

The free version does not allow you to delete files automatically.

Prices are higher.

Similar or identical folders cannot be merged.

No additional cleaning tools

Not fast when scanning large MB files

Resource hungry during scanning which can significantly slow down some lower end Macs

Editor's review

We think Gemini 2 is the best duplicate file finder and remover for Mac developed by MacPaw, it will clean duplicate files and similar files in different formats.

It's certainly an amazing product, and we love its ease of use the most.

And its smart algorithms are so precise that by letting Gemini 2 identify and delete pictures, videos, files, etc. that don't even need to be there, we can gain gigabytes of disk space and keep the Mac running smoothly. You'll get better results if you combine it with MacPaw's CleanMyMac X app.

The pricing tag can be daunting, but you can save some money by taking up to 45% cash back, which greatly improves its value for money.

While its performance isn't the best, we think a Smart Select feature can offset this less-seen disadvantage. If you also don't like repeated selections, then this feature is for you. You can add your own smart selection rules. It will help you remove certain types of duplicates from scan results and speed up processing.

In conclusion, Gemini 2 stands out from the market with its good company reputation, very smooth and easy to use, pleasing to the user interface, faster and more accurate.

#2. Nektony Duplicate File Finder

Number two is Duplicate File Finder by Nektony, the developer of essential Mac optimization tools like MacCleaner Pro and Disk Space Analyzer.

Use it to find duplicates in Photos Library, Music Library, iTunes, Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox and external devices.

It works on both Apple Silicon and Intel-based Macs and delivers top-notch performance, scan after scan.

It has the fastest duplicate file scanning speed compared to other Mac duplicate file finders we tested on the MacBook Pro 2024.

It contains a fast scan algorithm that is capable of scanning multiple folders at the same time. You can separately view and delete duplicate photos, videos, music, documents, or all types of duplicates from your Mac. 

Unlike multiple rivals, Duplicate Finder Free lets you define the smallest duplicate file size, it shows details about duplicates, previews identical files by type, sees similar folders, delivers a list of all deleted duplicates, etc.

At the end of the scan, the software shows you all duplicate reports, visualized as a bar graph and conveniently divided into many categories.

Apart from that, the duplicate file finder detects similar photos to make it easy to choose your favorite photos to keep on your computer.

Duplicate File Finder also helps you to detect similar folders, which have both equal and unique files and merge them to free up storage space on your disk. 

Duplicate File Finder provides three options. First, the free version from the App Store with limited features, the Pro (paid) version with additional features, and the application’s website version which comes with a free 2-day trial. The Pro mode with advanced features like removing duplicates in bulk, comparing similar folders, or merging folders, costs $19.99.

Pros:

Even with a heavy hard drive, the scanning speed is very good.

Allows you to merge and organize folders.

Provides support for all types of duplicate files

Sort duplicates by size name, name, date, total size, type, etc.

Accurate test results

Helps locate duplicate files even in hidden folders.

Scan similar photos to help you choose the best quality photos

It also supports external drivers and mounted networking.

Option to recover accidentally deleted files.

Manual and automatic methods to clear duplicates from Mac

Automatic selection rules can also be customized between "always select" or "never select".

Find and Remove Similar Photos ( also in Free version )

View Removal History

One-time purchase.

Fully compatible with M1 Mac.

Cons:

You cannot delete duplicates without a license.

Some settings for finding duplicate files are complicated.

There is a learning curve.

No dark mode.

Before deleting the file, a list of authorizations will appear and you can choose to delete duplicate images on Mac .

Editor's review

Honestly, Gemeni 2 is a well-known app with very good reviews, while Nektony is still little known, but we think it's also worth considering.

Nektony has created a nice app Duplicate File Finder Pro (or free). This application helps to remove duplicates in minutes or hours, depending on the amount of data to be searched.

You can view and delete duplicate photos, videos, music, documents, or all types of duplicates individually from your Mac. Duplicate File Finder can also help you detect similar folders with identical and unique files and merge them to free up storage space on your disk.

But we don't like its page layout as it doesn't look that easy to use, although it has a "how to" guide for new users.

It also offers a free version, but I don't think the Pro version with bonus features will hold much back because of its pricing.

#3. PhotoSweeper

PhotoSweeper is a dedicated Mac program to find, compare and delete duplicate and similar photos from hard disk or external storage. 

Typical of OSX apps, it's feature-rich and will please any photographer.

Impressively, even if images have been resized and edited, it still detects them. This is great if you tend to crop photos a lot.

Another reason which makes PhotoSweeper popular with photographers is that it integrates well with iPhoto, Photos, Capture One, Lightroom and Aperture. You can even search and navigate to any folder on your hard drive too. It supports all standard image formats, including RAW, HEIC, PDF, DNG and WebP. 

We can look for photos in the imported folder, according to: Name, Capture Date, Rating, Color Label, Favorite, Flagged, Rejected, Referenced, On Cloud, Marked, Locked, Missing, Keywords, File Type, File Size, File Created Date, File Modified Date, Folder Name, Album Name, Project Name, Library Name, Image Width, Image Height, Image Orientation, Image DPI, Color Profile Name, Exposure Time, F Number, Focal Length, ISO Speed Rating, Flash Fired, Camera Maker, Camera Model, Camera Lens Model, Editing Software.

As you can see, PhotoSweeper contains the most complete setting to fast find photos, most of its competitors just allow users to find photos according to some common-used parameters, such as Name, File Size, Created Date, File Type.

After PhotoSweeper has found all the photos you need for you, you can click the "Sort By" menu to decide how those found photos are sorted by date added, date, title, file size, dimensions, ascending, descending.

One thing we like about PhotoSweeper compared to other duplicate photo removers is that you can fine-tune what PhotoSweeper actually thinks are duplicates. 

You can turn off timestamps or my image likeness. You can even change and customize the details about PhotoSweeper looking for a picture to determine if it's a duplicate. 

These details include color mode, preprocessing data, and color sensitivity level. There's also a universal slider that lets you change between partial or exact matches.

Besides finding and removing duplicate images, it is also useful for videos.

The dark interface of the app is not liked by many people and it’s not as intuitive as the other programs. If the black interface is not a problem for you, the PhotoSweeper does a good job at an affordable price.

PhotoSweeper – Pricing

PhotoSweeper offers free 30-day trial version before any commercial decisions, and only 10 photos can be removed for free. If you need the full service, you will have to pay $9.99 to get a license.

Pros:

Lots of advanced features.

Detects duplication of third-party software, including support for Capture One, Lightroom, and Aperture

Automatically select photos to delete

It supports multiple image formats including HEIC and RAW.

The match detection tool is far superior to many I've seen at this price point

Enables users to compare and detect duplicate files, similar photos, and series of photos.

Three different ways to view scan results: "All in One", "One by One" and "Face-to-Face".

Provide details about the photo

Allows users to recover deleted copies of certain photos if they are accidentally deleted.

Affordable

Cons:

Only photo and video inputs are supported

Requires a learning curve to take advantage of its features

Find video duplicates has poor performance and does not support video previews

Unable to permanently delete duplicates

In the trial, only 10 photos can be deleted

Editor's review

PhotoSweeper is a fast and powerful duplicate photo cleaner designed to help you find and delete duplicate and similar photos on your Mac.

With PhotoSweeper, where you can store and organize your photos, as it supports iPhoto, Aperture and Lightroom libraries.

Although this advantage is prominent, because of its usage curve, it is more suitable for professional photographers and retouchers rather than ordinary users. But if you want to give it a try, its low price will give you a lot of courage.

As for the page layout and interface experience, many people still don't like it, including us who have tested it.

Concsluion

Now you know the pros and cons of every duplicate photo finder. Which one do you like best and want to give it a try first?

By the way, Gemini 2 is designed for Mac users, and it has a high overall rating and is suitable for both novice and professional. Go and try it out.

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