How to Delete Similar Photos on iPhone

Apple Photos can merge exact duplicates, but a burst of retakes is a different problem. Two photos may show the same person or scene while differing slightly in timing, crop, exposure, or resolution. Those files are not identical, so they can remain scattered through your library.

HEVCut groups visually similar photos so you can compare them, choose the best version, and remove only the extras you approve.

Download HEVCut and Allow Photo Access

1. Open the App Store on your iPhone.
2. Search for HEVCut.
3. Choose the listing with the purple HEVCut icon and tap Get.
4. Open the app and allow full photo-library access.

Full access is needed to analyze the library, calculate potential savings, and show the photos together for review. HEVCut performs this media workflow on the iPhone rather than uploading your library to a compression server.

Find Photos That Look Alike

Open Duplicates in HEVCut and look for the Near and Similar groups. These can include:

• several attempts at the same portrait;
• photos taken seconds apart;
• edited and unedited versions;
• saved copies with different dimensions;
• Live Photos beside ordinary still images.

An exact-duplicate tool can safely identify byte-for-byte copies. Similar-photo cleanup needs your judgment because the images may capture different expressions or moments.

Choose the Best Photo in Each Group

Tap Use Suggestions to let HEVCut mark a likely keeper. The suggestion can consider useful signals such as resolution, file size, edits, favorites, and Live Photo status.

Treat the suggestion as a starting point, not an automatic decision. Open the group, compare the photos at full size, and change the keeper whenever another image has the better expression, focus, or composition.

Review Before You Delete

HEVCut visually separates the proposed keeper from the extras. Check every group and deselect anything you still want. Nothing should be removed merely because two photos look alike.

After confirming the deletion, iOS places removed photos in Recently Deleted. They continue to use storage there until iOS removes them automatically or you empty that album yourself. Only empty it after one final check.

Similar Photos vs. Exact Duplicates

Use Apple Photos or HEVCut’s exact groups when files are genuinely identical. Use Near and Similar groups when you are trying to reduce repeated shots of the same subject. Keeping those workflows separate makes the review safer and prevents a look-alike image from being treated as an exact copy.

For a broader cleanup, follow the guides for cleaning your camera roll by swiping and finding the largest videos on your iPhone.