iOS 16 will help you manage all of your duplicate photos

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Every iPhone user probably has multiple copies of the same photos in their library. Apple’s bringing a new tool in iOS 16, that helps you trim down the clutter.

Apple calls it “Duplicate detection” and it does exactly what you would expect it to. Your iPhone or iPad will use on-device machine learning to search your photo library. Then you’ll get a list of all the duplicate photos. Simple.

That list will show up in the Utilities section of the Photos app. From there, you can easily trim the additional storage. It’ll also pick up on duplicate videos, in case you were wondering.

READ MORE: iOS 16 features a new tool that removes backgrounds from photos

READ MORE: iOS 16 will finally let you lock photo albums with Face ID

To find the feature once iOS 16 arrives, open the Photos app. Then, tap on Albums and scroll all the way down to the bottom. You’ll see Duplicates under the Utilities section. Tapping on that shows you a list of all the duplicates, with the option to delete or merge them into a single copy.

Oh, and if you’ve spent time categorizing your images and added captions, keywords, and the like – don’t worry. Apple says those will all be kept when you merge duplicates. It’ll also keep the highest quality image or video.

If you’re anything like me, you probably have five copies of every meme you ever saved, because it’s easier to copy them again when you see them instead of searching through your photo library. When iOS 16 arrives this fall, you’ll get Duplicate detection, and a whole bunch of other useful new features.

READ MORE: iOS 16 has a new feature that skips annoying website CAPTCHAs

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Apple Pay Later lets you split your purchases into four payments
• iOS 16 improves photo sharing and photo editing on iPhone
• Continuity Camera turns your iPhone into a webcam
• Apple will reportedly unveil its VR/AR headset in January 2023

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.