Learn how to quickly find duplicate photos using Adobe Lightroom Classic to review and organize your library.
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Over time, importing from multiple devices or re-importing the same photos can fill your library with duplicates. Lightroom Classic automatically detects exact duplicate files across different folders in your catalog and groups them into stacks so you can review and clean them up in one place.
Use Duplicates to group all your duplicate photos in a stack.
Duplicates lets you view photos with identical file content across the Catalog, Folders, or Collections panel, based on your selection. You can select All Photographs from the Catalog panel to find all duplicate photos in your entire catalog.
Follow these steps to turn on automatic duplicate detection:
In the Library module, select a folder or multiple folders from the Catalog, Folders, or Collections panel.
Select the Duplicates view in the Toolbar or select View > Duplicates to start detecting duplicate photos.
If you are using the Duplicates view for the first time, the Welcome to Duplicates view window appears. Select Start Finding Duplicates. You can view detection progress in the Library module's header bar.
View the stacked duplicate photos in the Duplicates view. You can also start or pause the Duplicate Detection from the identity plate.
Photos are considered duplicates only when they contain the same image data, regardless of filename, metadata, or catalog edits.
Each group of duplicate photos appears as a stack. Lightroom Classic places the original image at the top, and stacks duplicates behind it. The header section of the Duplicates view displays the detection status and the number of original, duplicate, and hidden photos.
A. Number badge of the stack B. Hidden duplicates C. Header section of Duplicates view D. Duplicates view E. Show Hidden Duplicates
Use the following options in the table to manage your duplicate photos in the stack:
|
Task |
How to do it |
|---|---|
|
View all photos in the stack |
Right-click the stack and then select Expand Stack. You can also select the number badge in the upper-left corner of the stack to expand or collapse it. |
|
Collapse a stack |
Right-click the photo in the stack and then select Collapse Stack. |
|
Set another photo as the original |
Right-click the photo in the expanded stack and select Set as Original. |
|
Remove duplicate photos |
Right-click the stack and then select Remove Duplicates. You can also select multiple stacks and remove duplicate images. |
|
Hide a duplicate photos |
Right-click the photo in the stack and then select Hide from Duplicates. |
|
View hidden photos in the stack |
Select Show Hidden Duplicates in the lower-left side of the Toolbar. The hidden photos have the eye icon. You cannot hide original photos in the stack. |
With stacked photos, you can also expand and collapse all stacks, or remove photos from stacks or the catalog.
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