Find Duplicate Images

Duplicate detection helps clean large image libraries before delivery, archiving, or long-term organization.

Before You Start

Make sure duplicate detection is enabled and the related data has been generated. If it was enabled after indexing, rebuild or refresh the duplicate data first.

Open Settings → Add Files and enable Calculate duplicate image hashes when adding files under duplicate detection. Wait for refresh or repair to finish for existing images. The setting controls the Duplicates entry at the top of the workspace; turning it off keeps existing hashes but stops generating them for newly added images.

Steps

1. Open the duplicate detection entry.
2. Choose the scope: whole database, folder, or collection.
3. Choose exact or near duplicates. For near duplicates, adjust the similarity setting; use excluded formats and size limits where needed, then start.
4. Wait for groups to be generated.
5. Open each group and review the images before deleting anything.

Choosing Scope

• Whole database: broad cleanup.
• Folder: clean one project or directory.
• Collection: clean a prepared delivery set.

Common Cases

• If no groups appear, check whether duplicate data exists.
• If groups are too broad, narrow the scope.
• Always review images manually before deleting files.
• If the dialog reports unprocessed images, use its repair action or refresh the database and wait for the missing data. Searching only groups candidates; it does not delete files automatically.

Example Groups

The sample library contains four landscape photos and one identical backup of each. Exact-duplicate search produces four groups of two and preselects four removal candidates. A selected checkbox means a candidate for removal, not a file already deleted. Review the suggested keeper and cancel the removal dialog if you do not want to proceed.