PhoneDiet

How to delete duplicate photos on iPhone

Open Photos, scroll to Utilities and tap Duplicates. Tap Merge on each set to keep the best-quality copy and move the others to Recently Deleted. PhoneDiet also catches near-exact copies, like re-saved or slightly edited images, and keeps the highest-resolution copy for you.

Using iOS's built-in tools

  1. Open Photos and scroll down to Utilities.
  2. Tap Duplicates. If you don't see it, Photos hasn't found any exact duplicates yet.
  3. Tap Merge on a set, or Select to merge several at once.
  4. Empty Recently Deleted when you're sure.

The faster way with PhoneDiet

  1. Open the Duplicates card. Copies are grouped, and the best copy is marked Best.
  2. Everything except the best copy is pre-selected. Tap a photo to change it.
  3. Tap Keep Best in All Groups to apply the same choice everywhere, then Delete.

Duplicates in PhoneDiet are free. Similar photos (bursts and near-identical shots) are part of Premium.

Common questions

Why do I have duplicate photos?

Saving the same image twice, receiving it in several chats, edits saved as copies, and imports from other devices are the usual causes.

Does merging lose any information?

Apple's Merge keeps the highest-quality version and combines metadata. PhoneDiet keeps the highest-resolution, oldest copy.

Updated October 2026 for iOS 26. Menu names can differ slightly between iOS versions.