Samsung Gallery's Delete Duplicates feature does what Google Photos refuses to do
Android Police 2026-07-02 16:15:11
Context: The author, Olivia Locksley, a project manager and podcast producer, was struggling with managing her phone's storage due to a large number of photos and videos. She discovered a feature called "Delete Duplicates" in her Samsung Gallery app that automatically identifies and allows users to delete duplicate photos. This feature is exclusive to Samsung devices with One UI.
Key Facts
- The "Delete Duplicates" feature in Samsung Gallery identifies duplicate photos from various sources, including social media apps like WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Facebook Messenger, and allows users to select which ones to keep or delete.
- To access the "Delete Duplicates" feature, users need to open the Gallery app, tap the three-line icon with the word "Menu" below, select "Clean Out", and then tap "Delete Duplicates".
- The feature displays side-by-side copies of duplicate files, including the folder they are stored in and the space they take up, and allows users to select which photo to keep.
- Google Photos has a limited feature that stacks similar photos taken in succession and visually similar, but it does not offer a similar feature to delete duplicates from various sources over time.
- The author found that social media apps like WhatsApp and Snapchat were downloading photos multiple times, contributing to the accumulation of duplicate photos on her device.