Eliminate duplicate images in photoshop elements organizer 2020

@Walter_H's reply makes the most sense for what you are experiencing.  So, we need you to confirm that as a possibility.  Provide us with a screenshot (like Walter's) of your Watch Folders dialog which can be accessed via the File>Watch Folders menu.  You should definitely not be placing your backup folders in a Watched Folder (and I also suggest that you not add files from Watch Folders automatically, because it looks like that is what has gotten you into trouble here.)

To try to provide some solutions, please tell us more about how you store your files. Are they all in the Pictures folder on your C drive or somewhere else? 

How do you name the folders where the images are stored, e.g. by date or content? 

Where are you storing your backups?

Another way we may be able to confirm whether your backups are the source of the duplicates is for you to do the following:

• Press Ctrl+Shift+K.  A search text box will appear.
• Enter B00 into the text box and click OK.

How many files are now found in the grid?  Make sure you are in Details View (Ctrl+D) and that File Names is checked on the View menu.  Do all of the file names start with B00?

Make sure that your Folders panel is set to View as Tree.  Does your backup folder location appear in the Panel?

And when you say you have more than one catalog, are these just backups of a single catalog or have you created more than one for other reasons?

Hi Greg - thanks for the reply.

To answer your question - it's been a long standing (5 yr?) problem.

I'd backup the catalog - then the next time I'd open Adobe - I'd have another copy of all of the photos in my organizer.

After a while, I lost track of which one I'd worked on - ID'ing people and putting them in chronological order.

I've now got at least 4 copies of each photo - and as much as 10-12 of some of the older ones - most of them with different dates and positions in the Organizer grid.

Please explain what you mean by a duplicate file.  In theory, there should be no exact duplicates of your files in any catalog.   If you are talking about similar files e.g. those shot in bursts, or perhaps edited copies of files, then there are a number of possibilities to find and consolidate the files into stacks.

So how did you wind up with these duplicates?  And why do you have more than one catalog?