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Google Photos duplicate remover alternatives (2026)

Updated November 7, 2026 · 11 min read

In 2026 there are four ways to remove duplicates from Google Photos. Google's own features are free but have no duplicate finder. A handful of Chrome extensions work on photos.google.com. Two open-source projects suit people who are happy to install things by hand. Desktop duplicate finders work too, but only on a downloaded copy of your library. The best-known extension is AENGIX's Google Photos Duplicate Remover. PicSweep also covers iCloud Photos, and Delete Duplicates from Google Photos (CDF) gives you simple keep rules. Doppelgone, which we make, keeps the best shot of each set, says why, and costs one payment. Below, each one is described from its own store page or website, checked on 7 November 2026, including where it does better than ours.

Why almost every option is a browser extension

Google changed the rules for outside apps on 31 March 2025. Since then, Google's Photos API only lets an app list and search the photos and albums that app created itself. The permissions that let an app read a whole library were removed. Google's API reference also lists no way to delete a photo.

So an app on your phone, or a service on someone else's server, can no longer use Google's official API to scan your whole library and move the doubles to the trash. Phone cleaner apps work on the phone's own gallery instead. A tool that cleans the cloud library has to run in your browser while you're signed in to photos.google.com. That's why most of the options below are extensions or scripts.

The options at a glance

Option Works on Free version Paid version How it picks what to keep Where photos are compared (as stated)
Google Photos itself Web, Android, iPhone Free Storage plans only No duplicate finder. Photo Stacks pick a top shot among similar photos Google's own service
Google Photos Duplicate Remover (AENGIX) Chrome, Google Photos Analyses up to 100 photos or videos PRO, unlimited. Price not shown on the listing Its own pick, or rules you choose: size, resolution, shoot date, upload date, name "Your photos never leave your browser"
PicSweep Chrome; Google Photos and iCloud Photos 1,000 photo hashes and 50 deletions a day $4.99 for 30 days, $3.99 a month or $34.99 a year Selects duplicates for you, with adjustable similarity. Favourites protected by default Listing: media never uploaded. FAQ: anonymous hashes go to its servers for grouping
Delete Duplicates from Google Photos (CDF) Chrome, the Google Photos view you have open 5 duplicate sets, once A Cloud Duplicate Finder subscription. Price not shown on the listing Keep Best, Newest, Oldest, Low resolution or High resolution. You press Trash yourself In Chrome, says the listing
Doppelgone (ours) Chrome (Google Photos and iCloud Photos), plus Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android apps Unlimited scans and 200 clean-ups One payment of $9.99 for unlimited clean-ups on up to 3 libraries The best shot of each set (eyes open, sharp, well lit), with the reason shown. You approve every clean-up "Your photos never leave your device."
Google Photos Deduper (open source) Chrome, installed by hand Free None You choose the keeper in each group In your browser, says the project
Google Photos Toolkit (open source) Browsers with the Tampermonkey add-on Free None None: it filters and moves in bulk, and you decide In your browser
Google Takeout plus a desktop finder A downloaded copy on your computer Free tools exist, such as dupeGuru Paid tools exist, such as Cisdem and Duplicate Photos Fixer Depends on the tool On your computer. Results must be applied in Google Photos by hand

1. Google Photos itself (free)

Google's help pages describe no duplicate finder (checked 7 November 2026). What Google does offer:

  • Storage suggestions. Google's storage tools point out things to review, such as large photos and videos, blurry photos and screenshots.
  • Photo Stacks. Since November 2023, Google Photos on Android and iPhone groups similar photos taken close together into a stack and picks a top shot. You can choose a different top shot or switch stacks off. Switch them off and every photo is still there. Stacking tidies the view; it doesn't free space.
  • Free up space. This removes the phone's copies of photos that are already backed up. It clears the phone, not your Google storage.

A teardown of the Google Photos Android app (version 7.86.0, July 2026) found unreleased features named "Smart Cleanup" and "Dupebuster". Google hasn't announced them, so don't plan around them yet.

Good for: a few obvious pairs, and anyone who'd rather not install anything. The by-hand method is in how to delete duplicate photos in Google Photos.

2. Google Photos Duplicate Remover, by AENGIX

A Chrome extension that works inside Google Photos. It finds duplicate and lookalike photos and videos. It can choose what to keep, or you can choose by size, resolution, shoot date, upload date or name. Removed items go to the Google Photos trash, where you can restore them.

Where it does better than Doppelgone: it handles duplicate videos, which Doppelgone never touches. It's well established, with 20,000 users and a 4.0 rating from 79 ratings on the Chrome Web Store, and it comes in 11 languages.

Where it's weaker: it covers Google Photos only; the listing doesn't mention iCloud Photos. The free version analyses up to 100 items, and the listing doesn't show the PRO price.

3. PicSweep

A Chrome extension for both Google Photos and iCloud Photos. It finds duplicates and similar shots, and you can widen the similarity setting to catch shots taken in a row and edited copies. It also finds blurry photos and lets you filter by date, album or keyword. You compare items side by side, favourites and starred photos are protected by default, and removed items go to the service's own trash.

Where it does better than Doppelgone: a free allowance that renews every day, a 30-day pass that suits a one-off clear-out, and a blurry-photo finder.

Where it's weaker: ongoing use is a subscription ($3.99 a month or $34.99 a year). The store listing says your media is never uploaded, and the FAQ on its website says anonymous hashes of your photos go to its servers to group similar ones. It's also young: 1,000 users and 6 ratings (4.7) on the Chrome Web Store.

4. Delete Duplicates from Google Photos (CDF)

A Chrome extension from SORCIM Technologies. It compares the photos loaded in the Google Photos view you have open, so it suits focused clean-ups such as one album or one month. You pick a keep rule, it selects the rest, and you press Trash yourself. It never empties the trash.

Where it does better than Doppelgone: simple, predictable rules, such as always keeping the highest-resolution copy, and you do the final delete step yourself.

Where it's weaker: it only compares what's loaded in the current view, not the whole library. The free trial covers 5 sets, the subscription price isn't on the listing, and it's new (version 1.0.1, 992 users).

5. Doppelgone (ours)

A Chrome extension that works on photos.google.com and on iCloud Photos at icloud.com. It finds exact copies, lookalikes and burst shots. In each set it keeps the best shot, with eyes open, sharp and well lit, and says why. Tap any other photo to keep that one too. You approve every clean-up. Removed photos wait 30 days in the Google Photos trash, with one-click undo. Favourites, videos and photos shared with you are never touched.

Your photos never leave your device. The privacy page lists the little that does go to our server. There are also apps for Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android that clean the photos on those devices; the Mac app also cleans the Mac Photos library.

The free plan gives unlimited scans and 200 clean-ups. Pro is one payment of $9.99, with no subscription, for unlimited clean-ups on up to 3 libraries. On phones it's an in-app purchase at the store's price. MakeUseOf's Sara Heritage wrote, on 13 October 2026: "It's about time somebody made a specific, user-controlled tool".

Where it's weaker: it doesn't touch videos, so it won't clear duplicate videos. And to clean the Google Photos library itself you need Chrome on a computer (Windows, Mac, Linux or ChromeOS). Our phone apps clean the photos on the phone.

6. Open source: Google Photos Deduper and Google Photos Toolkit

Google Photos Deduper is a free Chrome extension that you install from GitHub: download it, turn on developer mode in Chrome and load it by hand. It works through the Google Photos website, finds visually similar photos in your browser, and lets you choose what to keep before moving the rest to the trash.

Google Photos Toolkit is a free userscript for the Tampermonkey add-on. It can filter your library (including by similarity), add items to an album, move them to the trash, and empty the trash. It has no "keep the best" logic. Its makers say it uses Google Photos' undocumented web interface, so a change at Google can break it. Take care: emptying the trash is permanent.

Good for: people who want something free whose code they can read, and who are comfortable with developer tools.

7. Google Takeout plus a desktop duplicate finder

Desktop finders such as dupeGuru (free and open source), Cisdem Duplicate Finder and Duplicate Photos Fixer work on files on your computer. To use one on Google Photos, export your library with Google Takeout, scan the download, then find and trash each result in Google Photos by hand. Deleting the downloaded copy changes nothing in the cloud.

Good for: people who wanted an offline backup anyway. The steps and trade-offs are in duplicate photo finders for Google Photos compared.

Which one should you pick?

  • A handful of obvious copies: do it by hand in Google Photos.
  • Duplicate videos as well as photos: AENGIX's extension covers videos. Doppelgone doesn't touch them.
  • Google Photos and iCloud Photos both: PicSweep or Doppelgone. Choose Doppelgone if you'd rather pay once and also want apps for your computer and phone.
  • Strict rules such as "always keep the highest resolution": CDF.
  • Free and open source, installed by hand: Google Photos Deduper.
  • You want an offline backup too: Takeout plus a desktop finder.

Five questions to ask before you install any of them

  1. Where are my photos compared, and what, if anything, goes to a server?
  2. Do removed photos go to the Google Photos trash, or are they deleted for good?
  3. Can I undo a whole clean-up in one step?
  4. Are favourites, videos and photos shared with me left alone?
  5. Is it a one-off payment, a pass or a subscription, and what does the free version really allow?

If a tool's own pages don't answer these, treat that as the answer. There's more in is it safe to delete duplicate photos in Google Photos.

Frequently asked questions

Does Google Photos have its own duplicate remover?

Not at the time of writing. Google's help pages, checked on 7 November 2026, describe Photo Stacks, which group similar shots and pick a top photo, and storage suggestions such as large files, but no duplicate finder. A July 2026 teardown of the Android app found unreleased features named Smart Cleanup and Dupebuster; Google hasn't announced them.

Why can't phone cleaner apps remove duplicates from Google Photos?

Since 31 March 2025, Google's Photos API only lets an app see the photos that app created, and it has no way to delete photos. So phone cleaners work on the phone's own gallery, and tools that clean the cloud library run in your browser on photos.google.com.

Are Google Photos duplicate remover extensions safe?

They can be, if you check four things first: where photos are compared, whether removed photos go to the Google Photos trash, whether you can undo, and what the tool leaves alone. All the extensions in this list use the Google Photos trash, which keeps photos for 30 days. The Toolkit script can also empty the trash, which is permanent.

Which tools work with both Google Photos and iCloud Photos?

In this list, PicSweep and Doppelgone both work on Google Photos and iCloud Photos in the browser. Doppelgone also has iPhone and Mac apps that work on the Photos library, which stays in sync with iCloud Photos when that's turned on.

Will removing duplicates free up Google storage straight away?

Not until the trash is emptied. Photos in the Google Photos trash still count toward your storage until they're deleted from it, either by you or automatically after 30 days. See Google Photos trash explained.

What to do next

If your library is small, try Google's own tools first. If it isn't, add Doppelgone to Chrome, open photos.google.com and run a free scan to see how much space the doubles take. Nothing moves until you approve it, and Pro is one payment if you need more than 200 clean-ups.

Sources

Checked on 7 November 2026:

Google Photos is a trademark of Google LLC; iCloud is a trademark of Apple Inc. Doppelgone is not affiliated with Google or Apple. Other product names belong to their owners, and Doppelgone is not affiliated with any of the tools listed here.