Duplicates album vs
similar photos.

What the Duplicates album finds

Since iOS 16, Photos looks for pictures and videos that are the same image, even when one copy has a different resolution, format or set of details. It shows them in Photos › Utilities › Duplicates; on iOS 26 or later, Utilities is in the Collections tab.

1. Open Photos and find Utilities: on iOS 26 or later tap Collections first; on iOS 18 scroll down.
2. Tap Duplicates.
3. Tap Merge next to a set, then confirm. The best-quality copy is kept, with the details from all copies.
4. The other copies go to Recently Deleted.

What it leaves behind

Most of the space usually sits in photos that are similar but not identical: five takes of the same group shot, a burst, the screenshot you took twice. The Duplicates album treats those as different photos.

Step 1 of 5One scan, on your iPhone: exact copies and the similar shots the Duplicates album leaves behind.

Step 2 of 5Tap Duplicate Photos to see every group and the space it takes.

Step 3 of 5The best shot of each moment is kept. Tap Delete Selected: the rest go to Recently Deleted for 30 days.

Step 4 of 5One tap clears the extras from your library.

Step 5 of 5See what you cleared. Changed your mind? Everything waits in Recently Deleted for 30 days.

Is it safe to delete similar photos?

Review each group before you delete. Everything you remove goes to Recently Deleted and stays there for 30 days, so a mistake can be undone.