Duplicate Photos

I think it's a huge mistake  to just have 1 copy of an image.  I have copies of copies, all in different locations, ya never know.  

You have 5  copies of Uncle Jeb at the picnic in the smae folder, so?   Hard drives are cheap, and no one but you really cares about the photos.    

Photoshop Elements doesn't have a built-in feature specifically for identifying and deleting duplicate photos in bulk. However, you can try the following steps to manage duplicates:

1. Manual Search : Use the "Organizer" in Photoshop Elements to browse your photos. You can sort by date or name to help identify duplicates.

2.  Compare Images : Open images that look similar side by side and manually delete the duplicates.

3.  Use Third-Party Software : Consider using dedicated duplicate photo finder software. Programs like Duplicate Photo Remover, Finder, or other image deduplication tools can scan your folders and help you find and delete duplicates photo.

4.  Backup First : Before making any bulk deletions, make sure to back up your photos to avoid accidental loss.

If you need more detailed help with any of these steps, feel free to ask!

I agree with Greg. If you don't find why you are creating duplicates, it's useless to use external tools, you'll continue to produce them.

The included tools in PSE may not be the best for finding and eliminating duplicates, but the huge strength of PSE and asset management program based on relational databases is that they are built to prevent duplicating. 

So, you have to find out what special workflow lets you import (record) the imported files again in the catalog.

There is no magical tool to tell you what is wrong in your workflow. What you must know is that the organizer does not consider duplicates by the file names. The main criteria are date_taken and file size in kilobytes. The contents are different.

Suppose you have found a list of suspected duplicates. For instance, I have received identical family photos from various family members. They have not been given the same file name, they don't have any date_taken and they have been scanned in different sizes. Visual similaity can find them. But what to do to "delete" duplicates?  You'll probably have to select the best copy manually. The organizer lets you stack the candidates together. Then you can decide to keep the best one "on top" of the stack (lossless editing) and to remove the duplicates from the catalog or/and the disk.

External tools can't do that.

https://johnrellis.com/psedbtool/photoshop-elements-faq.htm#_Find_and_delete

Being a professional, I will never suggest you use a command to delete mass duplicate photos. I would rather suggest you use duplicate photo finder software like the ones used by experts like Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro or PictureEcho.

Software that can scan your photo library and help you delete duplicates. Try one of these Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro, VisiPics, and Duplicate Photo Cleaner

ONLY delete files using the Organizer.  You can select multiple thumbnails in the grid (using Shift-Click, Ctrl-Click and/or Shift+Ctrl-Click) and press the Delete key .  You will then be given the option to also delete the duplicate files from your hard drive.

You still haven't told us how these duplicates may have been generated, so there's not much else I can suggest.  And since you still don't know the answer to that question, more duplicates may be generated in the future.

Are they exact duplicates?  If so, it would be best to figure out how they became a part of the catalog.  In theory, there should be no import of an exact duplicate file.  So, if I were you, I would investigate where the duplicate files are stored on your computer.  Take a look at the location of each duplicate photo.  (You can do so by selecting a photo and looking at the Location link in the Info Panel on the right of the Organizer window.)  Hopefully, this will give you some clues. 

Duplicates are frequently found when backup files are imported into the catalog.  Since they may have different names and properties, they can be imported unintentionally.  If the duplicates are not true copies of a file, e.g. a similar photo shot in burst mode, our suggestions for you may be different.