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peterf66222883
Participant
June 12, 2020
Answered

Delete duplicates

  • June 12, 2020
  • 8 replies
  • 5122 views

I made a new master catalogue and imported all my catalogues into it. There are now many duplicates of the same photo - how do I delete all those duplicates?

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer dj_paige

Another possibility is to use a Duplicate Finder program outside of Lightroom Classic to delete the alleged duplicate files from your hard disk(s). Then, in Lightroom Classic the duplicates now appear as a missing photo with the exclamation point icon. Then you can get rid of them in basically a quick sequence of actions:

 

  1. Library->Find All Missing Photos
  2. Select all
  3. Remove all of these missing photos from the catalog in one action
  4. Celebrate!

8 replies

T
trafique
Participant
September 1, 2023

In lightroom Classic go to Library Filter. Select Attribute and then click on the middle icon called virtual copies located top right hand virtual copies. All virtual copies will be diplayed - then you can remove photos from lightroom (Not the disk)

V
vicibhg
Participant
September 11, 2022

You can also go to the Library view, enable a Library Filter on Text, and then enter a filter criterion for contains "Copy"

 

This should show all the copies, assuming your copy of Lightroom appended "Copy 1" or "Copy X" to the file name. From there, select all the filtered photos and apply the flag as gary_sc mentioned and delete all.

    Rob_Cullen
    Community Expert
    Rob_CullenCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 11, 2022

    @vicibhg  Just be aware with your suggestion that filter criterion for contains "Copy" will also find Virtual Copies.  Virtual Copies are not physical files, they do not occupy any space on the hard-drive, they only appear in the catalog and may have been edited for special purposes differing to the 'original'.

     

    Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .
    M
    Monika245158837u74
    Participating Frequently
    June 8, 2022

    It is difficult to identify duplicate photos. Also, they consume a lot of space. One way is to manually delete and delete the duplicate photos. The other method is automatic and uses duplicate photo finder software.

    The automated method uses different types of software. I recommend "Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro". This software is great for identifying duplicate images.

    dj_paige
    dj_paigeCorrect answer
    Legend
    September 9, 2020

    Another possibility is to use a Duplicate Finder program outside of Lightroom Classic to delete the alleged duplicate files from your hard disk(s). Then, in Lightroom Classic the duplicates now appear as a missing photo with the exclamation point icon. Then you can get rid of them in basically a quick sequence of actions:

     

    1. Library->Find All Missing Photos
    2. Select all
    3. Remove all of these missing photos from the catalog in one action
    4. Celebrate!
    Rob_Cullen
    Community Expert
    Rob_CullenCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 28, 2020

    Sorry to disagree with you, Jossbutler, but Duplicate photos fixer  will NOT find Virtual Copies in Lightroom-Classic.

    Reading a review and TBMK it can only find the duplicates of original physical files in folders.

    Running any 'Duplicate Finder' that is not a Lr Plugin can damage your Lr Catalog, and not advisable!

    ("damage" = Photos showing as 'missing' in the catalog. Wrong files deleted causing lost editing.)

    For Catalog safety run ONLY a Plugin Duplicate Finder.

     

     

    Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .
    Rob_Cullen
    Community Expert
    Rob_CullenCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 12, 2020

    Adding to above replies-

    Be also aware that a Catalog merge has the ability to create Virtual Copies if one single image file was referenced in multiple catalogs with differing Development. So you may see more than one Preview of one image in the merged  master Catalog. (ie. not physical files)

    The manual 'tidying' of duplicates can be assisted by plugins that can keyword 'Duplicates' and so make them easier to find.

    DUPLICATE FINDER Teekesselchen: Home

    Duplicate Photos (Lightroom Queen)

     

     

    Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .
      gary_sc
      Community Expert
      gary_scCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 12, 2020

      Hi Peter,

       

      Axel is correct, this is a manual operation. However, one thing to speed things up (a bit) is in the Library mode, press the right arrow key to advance to the next image, and if you want to delete it, press the "x" key to "reject" the photo. Continue until you finish that folder (or whatever quantum bit you want to work with).

       

      Then Enable Filters (Command/Control-L) and click on the black flag in the Filter region. This will display all of the rejected images. Then press Command/Control-a to make all rejected photos selected and finallly Command/Control-(backspace) to Delete all of the images from your system.

       

      Yes it can be tedious but some nice music and falling into a zen mental mode will make this tolerable.

       

      Good luck!

        AxelMatt
        Community Expert
        AxelMattCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        June 12, 2020

        You must select the duplicate manually. There's no function or filter or seach function to find duplicates automatically.

         

        My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 25H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 8 - PureRAW 5 - Topaz Photo
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