Camera bursts
Ten frames of the same pose. Keep the sharp one; drop the rest without hunting by filename.
Exact file vs similar photo
File mode uses SHA-256. Two files are duplicates only if every byte matches. A JPEG you re-saved, or a screenshot of the same picture, will not match.
Photo mode looks at how the image appears. dHash and pHash turn the picture into a small fingerprint. Photos that look the same — cropped a little, resized, re-exported — land in the same group even when the files differ.
You still choose what to keep. Deletions go to Trash / Recycle Bin. Nothing is removed automatically.
When this helps
Exports and edits
A full-resolution original next to a resized JPEG you sent to someone. They are not byte-identical; they still look the same.
Chat and AirDrop copies
WhatsApp, Messenger, and AirDrop often recompress. Photo mode still groups them with the original when they look alike.
Screenshots of photos
A screenshot of an image on screen will not match SHA-256. Perceptual hashes often still group it.
What it does not do
- It does not upload your library. Hashing runs on the computer.
- It is not a face-recognition or “people in this photo” tool.
- Very different crops or heavy filters may not group. That is expected — better a miss than merging unrelated pictures.
- Cloud-only placeholders (iCloud / OneDrive files not downloaded) are unreliable. Scan local copies.