SweepiusQuick answer: open Photos, scroll to Utilities, and tap Duplicates. Tap Merge on each set (or Select › Select All › Merge). Photos keeps the best-quality copy and moves the rest to Recently Deleted. It needs iOS 16 or later and only shows up once duplicates are found.
What the Duplicates album finds
Apple’s Duplicates album groups two kinds of copies:
| Type | Example | Found? |
|---|---|---|
| Exact copies | The same photo saved twice from Messages | Yes |
| Same photo, different file | A full-size and a resized copy, or HEIC and JPEG | Yes |
| Retakes of one moment | Six shots of a group photo taken seconds apart | Usually not |
| Burst-style shots | Holding the shutter for a moving subject | Usually not |
How to merge duplicates
- Open Photos and swipe up to Utilities (on older iOS versions, it’s at the bottom of the Albums tab).
- Tap Duplicates. If it isn’t there, Photos hasn’t found any yet.
- Review each set and tap Merge, then confirm.
- To merge everything, tap Select, then Select All, then Merge.
Merging keeps the highest-quality version and combines details like captions and keywords onto it.
The part that frees the space
Merged copies go to Recently Deleted, where they keep using space for 30 days. Open Photos › Collections › Recently Deleted, unlock it, tap Select, then More › Delete All to get the space back now. More on that in why storage is still full after deleting.
Clearing retakes and near-duplicates
Retakes are where most wasted space hides, and Apple’s tool skips them. By hand, the quickest way is to open a busy day in your library, tap Select, and drag across the weaker shots in each run before tapping the trash.
Which should you use?
Run Apple’s Duplicates album first; it’s free and safe. Then deal with retakes, either by hand or with a tool that groups them for you. Finish by emptying Recently Deleted. If you’re still short on space after that, start with your biggest videos.