My iPhone’s Photos library has steadily grown over the years, to the point where I’d get anxious about how much free storage I had left. Then I discovered two things that made a huge difference: The Photos app has a built-in feature for detecting duplicate shots; and the task of sorting and deleting copies or unneeded images is strangely therapeutic. Performing this repetitive task allows me to focus on just one thing, and as a bonus, I get to revisit some favorite memories.

As long as you’re running iOS 16 or later, you can locate and toss duplicate photos right in the Photos app, no extra utilities needed.

Apple introduced its “duplicate detection” feature in 2022 and it works just as its name suggests. The tool uses on-device AI to identify identical images and aggregate them in an easy-to-find album in the Photos app. Apple says the iPhone classifies duplicates not only as exact copies but also as photos that appear to be the same but have unique resolutions, file formats or other slight differences. That includes lower-resolution versions you may have saved to share on social media or even bursts of near-identical shots taken at the same time.

Make sure to turn on iCloud syncing before going through the step-by-step process below. Note that the layout of the Photos app changed in iOS 18, which is what I’m using for these examples. If you haven’t moved up to that version, look for Duplicates in the Albums list.

For more, check out every new feature we’re expecting Apple to drop with iOS 26 this fall.

Here’s how to use the iPhone’s built-in tool to free up storage space:

1. Open the Photos app on your iPhone. 

2. Scroll down to the Utilities section and tap Duplicates. This is where you can view all the duplicate photos on your iPhone and delete them, either individually or at once. 

3. If you want to delete all the duplicates at once, tap the Select button, and then tap Select All. You can also remove them in groups of two or more: Tap Select in the top right corner and then tap the Select button to the right of the pairs. Next, tap Merge [number] to merge all the duplicate photos your iPhone detects and send them to the trash.

4. If you want to delete duplicates individually, tap the Merge button that appears next to each pair. Then tap Merge [number] Copies to delete duplicates. Go down the line and repeat this step for all the identical photos you want to delete. 

Merging keeps the best version of the photo in your library. The duplicates are moved to the Recently Deleted album.

If you found this iOS feature helpful, check out CNET’s cheat sheet for iOS 18. For more advice on how to save space, read our full list of tips for clearing your iPhone’s storage.