My iPhoto Displays Duplicates

Duplicate photos appearing in your iPhoto is not an uncommon occurrence. User errors and sync issues can cause duplicate photos to appear. While you can manually remove any duplicates, you can also use an app to hunt down those identical photos automatically. If all else fails, rebuilding your iPhoto library will also remove the duplicates.

1. iPhoto Issues

   • When you sync your photos to iPhoto, errors can occur. For example, temporarily disconnecting your digital camera from your computer during the sync can cause an error. Some errors can cause duplicate photos to appear in your iPhoto.

     User error can also cause duplicates. Uploading the same folder from your computer twice, uploading photos multiple times from your iPhone or uploading your digital camera photos twice will add duplicate photos to your iPhoto.

   Manual Resolution

   • While time consuming, you can manually locate and delete duplicate photos in iPhoto. For more obvious duplicates, you can browse through your iPhoto library, hand-select duplicate photos and delete them individually. With iPhoto, you can also zoom in on two similar photos to compare from a close-up range before deleting. This will help you narrow down several similar photos so you do not accidentally delete unique photos.

   Applications

   • Several third-party developers have created applications you can download to locate and remove duplicates. These apps, both free and paid versions, uses recognition software to locate photos with identical file names or identical pixels. Depending on the app, the duplicate photos will delete automatically from iPhoto, or you can review and delete the found duplicates yourself. While these apps do help locate duplicate photos, the app may miss some duplicates, leaving them in your iPhoto library.

   Rebuilding Your Library

   • Manually removing your duplicate iPhoto photos, or using an app to locate the photos automatically, can leave duplicate behinds. If this happens, you can rebuild your iPhoto library. Rebuilding your library will remove all of your photos and create a new library folder, which you can use to manually add new photos from your iPhone, digital camera or photos stored on your computer.