# How to delete duplicate photos on iPhone

**Short answer:** in iOS 16 and later, open **Photos › Collections › Utilities › Duplicates** (on iOS 18: Albums › Utilities) and tap **Merge**; Photos keeps the best-quality copy and combines the details. It only finds exact or near-exact copies. For **similar shots, bursts and re-saved copies**, use a scanner such as Spaceclear, which also picks the best photo of each set for you.

## Steps
1. Open **Photos** and scroll to **Utilities**, then tap **Duplicates**. (If you don't see it, your iPhone is still indexing; leave it charging overnight.)
2. Review each pair and tap **Merge**, or **Select › Merge** for several at once.
3. For similar photos and retakes, open [Spaceclear](/) and tap **Similar Photos**: each set has the best shot marked **BEST**, the rest pre-selected.
4. Review, delete, then empty **Recently Deleted** to free the space.

## Built-in Duplicates vs Spaceclear
| | Photos › Duplicates | Spaceclear |
|---|---|---|
| Exact copies | ✓ | ✓ |
| Re-saved or resized copies | some | ✓ |
| Similar shots and retakes | — | ✓ (best kept) |
| Burst frames | — | ✓ |
| Blurry photos | — | ✓ |
| Lookalike videos | — | ✓ |
| Price | free | free to scan; Pro $8.99 once |

## FAQ
### Does merging duplicates lose anything?
Photos keeps the highest-quality version and combines captions, keywords and favorites. The other copy goes to Recently Deleted for 30 days.

### How does Spaceclear decide which photo is best?
It prefers your favorites and edited photos, then the sharpest, best-composed shot (Apple's on-device image analysis) and the highest resolution.

### Will deleting duplicates on my iPhone delete them from iCloud?
Yes, if iCloud Photos is on: deletions sync everywhere, which also frees iCloud storage.