Why Does My PC Keep Making Duplicates of My Pictures?

Nothing is more annoying than realizing your computer is cluttered with duplicate copies of photos. You may frequently find duplicates popping up in your picture folders and wonder why your PC insists on making unnecessary copies of your photos.

Duplicate photos aren’t just a nuisance – they also waste precious storage capacity on your PC. With high-resolution photos and videos consuming substantial space, those duplications add up quickly. Removing them can recover significant storage capacity.

However, manually identifying and deleting duplicate photos is impractical and risks losing files you want to keep. Windows does provide some built-in tools that can help, but fully solving the problem requires specialized software designed for the task.

In this article, we’ll explore the common causes of duplicate photos and discuss solutions for eliminating the duplicates cluttering up your Windows 10/11 computer.

Also read: Things To Remember While Removing The Duplicate Files

Why do Duplicate Photos Keep Cluttering on the PC?

There are several reasons duplicate photos may accumulate on your Windows computer:

• Importing from Multiple Sources

When you import photos from cameras, phones, USB drives, cloud storage, social media, etc., duplicates can occur. For example, you may have copied the same photos to your computer and backup drive, resulting in two copies.

Connecting multiple devices like phones and cameras can also introduce duplicates, especially if you use the same file naming conventions on multiple devices.

• Syncing Across Devices

Syncing folders across devices is another way duplicates proliferate. For instance, syncing your Photos folder to OneDrive will create a copy in the cloud. If you access OneDrive on multiple PCs, each device now has its own synced copy of those photos.

• File Recovery Software

Using file recovery software when your photos get deleted may restore copies of files that still exist elsewhere on your system. Most recovery software does not check for duplicates before recovering files.

• Copying and Pasting Files

Manually copying and pasting photos will create duplicates if the originals are not deleted. For example, you may copy photos to an external drive for backup purposes but forget to remove the originals from your PC. Or you may paste a photo into multiple locations while editing.

• Software Glitches

Occasionally a software glitch results in files being copied unexpectedly. This can occur with apps that access your photos or during updates or crashes. Rebooting while files are open or transferring may also create duplicate copies.

• Lack of Organization

When photos are scattered across multiple folders and drives without a central organizing system, duplicates flourish since it’s harder to track what files exist where. Keeping your photo storage centralized makes spotting duplicates easier.

As you can see, duplicates happen quite easily! Without a deduping strategy, they build up over time and eat up precious storage space.

Also read: How to Find Duplicate Files with Different Names but Same Content

How to Remove Duplicate Photos from Your Computer?

Now that you know what causes duplicate photos, let’s discuss solutions for eliminating them on a Windows 10/11 PC.

#1 Scan for Duplicates Manually

The most basic approach is to manually scan folders and storage devices for duplicate files. However, this is only feasible if you have a small number of photos stored in a limited number of known locations.

To identify duplicates manually, sort your files by size. Photos that are exactly the same file size are likely duplicates. Then view these side-by-side to confirm they are identical. Finally, delete the copy you don’t want to keep.

While doable for small collections, this process becomes extremely tedious for most users’ photo libraries. A manual approach simply doesn’t scale.

#2 Use Built-in Windows Tools

Windows 10 and 11 both include native tools that can help remove duplicate files, including photos.

One option is the Storage Sense disk cleanup utility. To use it:

Step 1: Go to Settings > System > Storage.

Step 2: Under “Storage Sense”, toggle “Storage Sense” to On.

Step 3: Toggle “Remove duplicate files” to On.

Storage Sense will periodically scan for duplicate files and prompt you to delete them. The tool works fairly well but only scans certain folders, not your entire system.

Also read: How to Find Duplicates Within ZIP Files

#3 Employ Third-Party Duplicate Photo Finder

For a thorough, efficient way to find and remove all duplicate photos across your PC, a dedicated duplicate file finder tool is ideal. This software quickly scans entire drives and provides a simple interface to purge duplicate files.

One of the best options currently available for Windows 10/11 is Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro by Systweak. This purpose-built utility locates 100% identical duplicate photos in seconds and allows you to delete unwanted copies in bulk.

Key features that make Duplicate Photos Fixer the top choice include:

• Intelligent scanning engine to instantly spot duplicate photos.
• Support for all major image formats like JPG, PNG, RAW, TIFF, and more.
• Scans all locations including folders, external drives  & cloud storage     .
• Preview mode to visually confirm duplicates before deleting.
• Advanced filters for sorting by date, size, resolution, and more.
• Retain the oldest or newest copy according to your preference.
• Exclude folders option to ignore scans of certain locations.
• Lightweight program with minimal impact on PC performance.

For quickly and safely removing 100% identical duplicate photos, Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro  provides the most robust solution. The easy-to-use interface makes it accessible for beginners while advanced controls appeal to power users.

Also read: Anti-Twin vs Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro: Top Duplicate Photo Finder Compared

Why You Should Use Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro?

To summarize, Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro offers significant advantages over manual methods and built-in Windows tools:

• Saves time: Scans in seconds versus hours of manual searching.
• Finds all duplicates: Scours entire PC across all locations and drives.
• Safely deletes: Preview mode and selective deletion removes only unwanted copies.
• Recovers space: Frees up storage capacity by deleting duplicates.
• Easy to use: Intuitive design and 1-click removal.
• Lightweight: Small footprint and low system resource use.
• Portable: No installation is required for the standalone version.
• Free trial: Test Duplicate Photos Fixer risk-free before purchasing.

For those struggling with duplicate photo clutter, Duplicate Photos Fixer makes it simple and stress-free to reclaim lost storage space. The efficiency and safety it provides are unparalleled.

Conclusion

As we’ve explored, duplicate photos are a common annoyance that can quickly accumulate from a variety of causes. Manual identification and deletion of duplicates becomes unrealistic as your photo libraries grow.

Built-in Windows tools help but fall short of offering a complete duplicate photo removal solution for the average user. That’s where a dedicated tool like Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro proves invaluable.

By leveraging smart scanning technology and an intuitive interface, Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro makes it easy to reclaim gigabytes of storage space wasted on duplicate photos. It saves you the hassle and provides peace of mind knowing you have culled all unnecessary copies. The benefits of speed, safety, and simplicity make Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro the top choice for removing duplicate photos on Windows 10/11 PCs. Download it today and reclaim your disk space! Follow us on social media – Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.