Samsung Gallery's Delete Duplicates feature does what Google Photos refuses to do

My phone is absolutely filled to the brim with photos and videos.

When my storage starts getting a little low, I always dread going through them all and trying to delete stuff I don’t need.

While I have a backup cloud folder for all my photos and files, the millennial in me hesitates to delete photos from my device.

I thought to myself, there must be a more automated way to clean up my photo storage. By default, I checked Google Photos first but didn’t find anything useful.

I was surprised to find a feature hidden in my Samsung Gallery app that would do the trick.

It’s called Delete Duplicates, and as soon as I read the name of this feature, I knew I’d be on board.

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Posts By  Faith Leroux

Where did these duplicates come from?

They popped up unexpectedly

I can hear the scoffs and eye rolls when I mention having duplicate photos on a phone.

As if I am one of those people who saves photos multiple times back to back (not naming names, but you know who you are).

I found a few of my social media apps were downloading photos when they were being posted or shared.

WhatsApp and Snapchat were the biggest contributors here, but there were a few from Facebook Messenger as well.

I’d take a picture on Snapchat, save it on the app, then later it was uploaded and downloaded when I shared it on WhatsApp.

This sometimes happened in short spans of time, but it was also happening over time when I had forgotten I had already downloaded a picture of a recipe months ago and now had multiple copies of it.

These situations combined made for the perfect use of the Delete Duplicates feature.

Good news for Samsung device users

You’ll be done in a few seconds

Because this is a Samsung Gallery feature, you’ll find this on your Samsung phone. However, it’s a One UI exclusive, so you might have to dig around for a third-party app if you’re on a different brand of device.

On your device, open your Gallery app. In the lower-left corner, tap the three-line icon with the word Menu below. Tap the bubble that says Clean Out. Then, tap the Delete Duplicates option.

From here, you’re brought to a screen with side-by-side copies of duplicate files, the folder they are stored in, and how much space they take up.

When you click the Delete Duplicates button at the top of your screen, you will have the option to select which photo you’d like to keep (though the only difference in the files is which folder they are in).

Go ahead and click Delete and you’re done!

I thought there was a good workaround for Google Photos

It turns out they just don’t have the option

I expected Google Photos to have a similar workaround, but it’s difficult to find.

Browsing the Google Help forums, there seemed to be mentions of Google Photos automatically stacking your similar photos but only when they were taken in succession and were visually similar.

My photos that fit this category did not show up as stacks in my Google Photos, so I can’t confirm or deny why this isn’t working for me.

But even if it was working, it still doesn’t quite solve the problem.

I’m not looking to choose photos from a burst shot or a slipped finger taking multiple photos at once. I’m looking to delete duplicates that might have come from any source over any period of time.

For that reason, Samsung Gallery has the solid win.

You’ll either love it or be totally underwhelmed

It’s still worth it either way

How useful this feature will be to you depends on how many duplicates are in your phone.

If you have tons of duplicate videos, for example, this will free up a ton of space instantly. However, if it’s only a handful of photos, this tool won’t feel terribly dramatic.

Either way, I love the option and wish Google Photos would follow suit.

Especially since my Google Photos are backed up from multiple devices and sources, so there is a greater chance of duplicate downloads and uploads.

Another little hidden gem in my Samsung Gallery

Finding these little details feels like uncovering gems.

It’s so simple, but in this day and age, with the state of image-related technology, it feels like this feature should’ve been available all along.

Not only that, but the presence of this feature alerted me to apps that were double-saving my photos and allowed me to adjust my settings accordingly.

Sometimes I have no idea what ridiculous default settings have been enabled until I dig around in a feature like Delete Duplicates.

I hope in the future Google Photos will take a page from Samsung Gallery’s book, because I love using Google Photos, but these kinds of details make all the difference.