TY Gary. This presentation my seem obvious to those who have never made the major mistake of deleting an important file (does this person exist?, still your clear presentation may save some person or small business a lot of stress and money. This is the counter argument to “When in doubt, throw it out!” Keep up the great work.
Yes, Garry, I fell for this mistake 6 or 7 years ago before I fully understood the system. I lost many valuable photos - much to my wife's annoyance! Now I probably over-react by transferring photos to external hard drives to make sure I can find them again in case I make the same error. Thanks Garry for the warning.
Gary, did you make this to help me understand photos? This was an excellent tutorial, because you started with iTunes which is easy to understand. Thank again Nancy
I want to be able to find duplicates of photos in different folders by selecting one image and then asking Finder - or an App that can do this - to find all duplicates, using the visual content of the image, not its filename. This is the tool I really need in order to clean up my filing system of images!
I guess those not familiar with the Mac landscape might think that about duplicates. Back in '01 or '02 I moved the iTunes library without telling iTunes that I did. I ended up having to go up to the attic and dig all those CD's back out and re-import them into iTunes. Much simpler than trying to undo my knucklehead moment. I thought two, three, and four times before deleting or moving anything for awhile after that. I think we all have done something similar.
The duplicates that drive me insane are say I have a photo that I send in a text message. Apple counts the photo as follows 1) on my iPhone in photos 2) within the text message on my iPhone 3) within the text message on my MacBook So I then have to go back and delete the instance within the text message on my phone and text message on laptop. Otherwise, all 3 of those duplicates count towards my overall storage space. That’s one thing I really wish Apple would clean up. But I also suspect they retain how it is so people burn through their storage faster and then need new iPhones/laptops.
Right. You are exporting a copy of the photo and using it in the Messages app. That copy may be a smaller file, BTW. Most people don't bother to delete the message though like you are doing. How many photos are you sending that this is a problem? Also, if you are using "Messages in iCloud" then deleting the message on one device should do it on all devices.
I was interest in how to get rid of duplicates in Photos, this helped me understand Library vs all of the other albums. Still looking for how to get rid of duplicates in Photos though.
So how does iCloud factor into this? If I create a document and Save As a document to my Desktop, it also appears in iCloud and on my iPad/iPhone. I can download the file to my iPad and modifiy it but those mods do not show up in the file on my Desktop. Duplicates?
If you save it to iCloud Drive, it doesn't "also" appear there. It is just there in iCloud Drive. You can see iCloud Drive from all of your devices. But think of it as ONE PLACE. If you open the file on any device and change it, the one file has been changed and you'll see the changes on all of your devices. Not sure what you mean by "I can download the file to my iPad" -- what are you doing, exactly? There's no need to move the file at all. Just open it in iCloud Drive.
So every song file got duplicated in place? Hard to give you a "best way" without seeing it. For instance, if you selected the files and used File, Duplicate then you'll now have different file names for the new ones. Easy to delete those.
Thanks again Gary. Though I already knew pretty much all the detail in this one I did have a “wait what?” moment ….. Smart Folders in the finder? That’s one I’ve never thought of or even explored …. I need to follow up on that concept.
I've had a Mac since 1998 and now work for Apple so there are no PCs running Windows (that I use), even so, in each of your videos I learn at least one new trick, tip, or feature--often (mostly)--I learn a lot more. thank you.
Hmm, I've always thought the "Recents" folder was just like an album: a listing/link to the single original. Don't understand Apple's logic on this one, but thank you for the information.
what about when you have duplicates in the Library? when I upload a device, it doesnt ask me if I want to remove duplicates, if I docked that device and dont remove photos from the said device, it will upload that photo again! it happens all the time! I dont always remove pics after uploading to my Mac! how do u search for dups in library or how you tell iPhoto u dont want to upload the duplicate?
There are a few photos which i intentionally have multiple copies of, however, this is down to how i store my photos (i have them manually sorted into a collection of folders, so that i can easily move or copy them between operating systems, right now i use both Windows and Mac OS (and i got my first (new) mac less than 24 hours ago), and i find it easier to add the photos to an email, or to upload them to a website, if the photos are accessible from the file system, especially as i use a third party browser so that my bookmarks sync between the different computers, and because i use gmail with 2 factor turned on, i am not able to link gmail to the mail app as google have apparently decided that it is “insecure” or something
hey sir this question has nothing to do with this post. I'm in the midst of acquiring an external storage drive for my Mac. I was thinking of getting a Lacie 1T Mobile SSD Secure. There is also a Lacie Rugged (orange in color).. The former is $140 more than the latter, could you help me figure out why that is? The former more expensive one says the owner can work directly from the drive, that's a big selling point for me. Do you think the Rugged model has this same option too? Thank you for your time.
My guess would be that the cheaper one is a hard drive and the expensive one is an SSD. But it should be easy enough to check. SSD would be much faster. Which is better depends on what you are using it for.
Will it also warn you if you’re deleting a folder with content that appears to be a duplicate? I have a folder in my sidebar that I may have created while playing around to gain some experience that looks suspicious. Thanks so much! You’re the best.
@@chucksaeger7500 OK I see. But what do you mean by "folder" in this case? An album? Photos are not "in" albums. You can delete an album and no photos will be deleted. I talk about this in the video.
@@macmost It’s a folder in the sidebar in finder. I think I created it to hold projects in Logic Pro not knowing that logic saves to its own folder aptly named logic; but I don’t want to delete and lose my stuff. Sorry for being annoying.
@@chucksaeger7500 Oh, OK, so not in the Photos app at all. There are no folders "in" the sidebar of the Finder. Those are just shortcuts/links to actual folders. You can get it out of the Finder sidebar (Control+click on it and choose Remove From Sidebar) but it is still a folder you have somewhere on your drive. Before deleting the actual folder make sure it really is a duplicate as you could just be looking at the same folder in two different ways as I talk about in this video.
In this context it would be great if you could explain the APFS File System. I know Apple added a feature to save space by not actually duplicating a file e.g. in Finder, although you copy and paste it to another folder, but I don't know if this is actually true and where the limits are, I just remember I heard of it.
Not really relevant here for what I am talking about. APFS will save space by not actually creating a duplicate file when you duplicate something in the Finder. But once you change that second file, then it does make a copy so there can be two separate things. This is useful for backup snapshots, but nothing you need to worry about understanding. It doesn't apply here because what is happening isn't that a duplicate is being created AT ALL. It is the user not understanding that Recents isn't a separate place, for instance.
Not sure what you mean by "trace." But to get rid of duplicates I recommend first being very very sure they are duplicates (watch this video to see how easy it is to make a mistake). Then next figure out why you have duplicates. Change your procedures or behavior to stop that. Then manually go though your files or photos to get rid of them. Any automatic process could delete things you want. Basically, roll up your sleeves and do the work to do it right. In macOS Ventura there will be a handy function in the Photos app that will let you see similar photos so you can decide on a case-by-case.
Thanks for that. One thing that annoys me about photos is during the syncing process between my iPhone and Mac. If I forget to check "Delete Originals" when I sync, I end up with 2 copies on my iPhone. The original and one that is copied back from my Mac. This is very frustrating. I have so many duplicates on my phone and no easy way to clean them up.
Not sure what you are experiencing there. Are you manually importing and then manually syncing photos back to your iPhone? Why not just use iCloud Photos instead. No manual syncing at all, much easier, and this wouldn't happen.
Gary I find it amazing how much you know! Any chance of discussing duplicate photos in Photoshop Elements on Mac? Seems like every time I open organizer I have more duplicates.
@@robertminnicks1136 I haven't touched it in more than a decade. I suppose your main task is to figure out what you are doing that is creating duplicates.
TY Gary. This presentation my seem obvious to those who have never made the major mistake of deleting an important file (does this person exist?, still your clear presentation may save some person or small business a lot of stress and money. This is the counter argument to “When in doubt, throw it out!” Keep up the great work.
Yes, Garry, I fell for this mistake 6 or 7 years ago before I fully understood the system. I lost many valuable photos - much to my wife's annoyance! Now I probably over-react by transferring photos to external hard drives to make sure I can find them again in case I make the same error. Thanks Garry for the warning.
Gary, did you make this to help me understand photos? This was an excellent tutorial, because you started with iTunes which is easy to understand. Thank again Nancy
A very useful and informative video tutorial today! Thank you, Gary! 👏❤️
"It just works."
I want to be able to find duplicates of photos in different folders by selecting one image and then asking Finder - or an App that can do this - to find all duplicates, using the visual content of the image, not its filename. This is the tool I really need in order to clean up my filing system of images!
I guess those not familiar with the Mac landscape might think that about duplicates. Back in '01 or '02 I moved the iTunes library without telling iTunes that I did. I ended up having to go up to the attic and dig all those CD's back out and re-import them into iTunes. Much simpler than trying to undo my knucklehead moment. I thought two, three, and four times before deleting or moving anything for awhile after that. I think we all have done something similar.
The duplicates that drive me insane are say I have a photo that I send in a text message. Apple counts the photo as follows 1) on my iPhone in photos 2) within the text message on my iPhone 3) within the text message on my MacBook
So I then have to go back and delete the instance within the text message on my phone and text message on laptop. Otherwise, all 3 of those duplicates count towards my overall storage space. That’s one thing I really wish Apple would clean up. But I also suspect they retain how it is so people burn through their storage faster and then need new iPhones/laptops.
Right. You are exporting a copy of the photo and using it in the Messages app. That copy may be a smaller file, BTW. Most people don't bother to delete the message though like you are doing. How many photos are you sending that this is a problem? Also, if you are using "Messages in iCloud" then deleting the message on one device should do it on all devices.
This was soooo helpful and stated clearly. Thank you!
I was interest in how to get rid of duplicates in Photos, this helped me understand Library vs all of the other albums. Still looking for how to get rid of duplicates in Photos though.
See ua-cam.com/video/502eMhFsTeM/v-deo.html
So how does iCloud factor into this? If I create a document and Save As a document to my Desktop, it also appears in iCloud and on my iPad/iPhone. I can download the file to my iPad and modifiy it but those mods do not show up in the file on my Desktop. Duplicates?
If you save it to iCloud Drive, it doesn't "also" appear there. It is just there in iCloud Drive. You can see iCloud Drive from all of your devices. But think of it as ONE PLACE. If you open the file on any device and change it, the one file has been changed and you'll see the changes on all of your devices. Not sure what you mean by "I can download the file to my iPad" -- what are you doing, exactly? There's no need to move the file at all. Just open it in iCloud Drive.
So if I have made a mistake and duplicated my entire iTunes library, how do I erase duplicates safely, without going through each one?
So every song file got duplicated in place? Hard to give you a "best way" without seeing it. For instance, if you selected the files and used File, Duplicate then you'll now have different file names for the new ones. Easy to delete those.
Thanks again Gary. Though I already knew pretty much all the detail in this one I did have a “wait what?” moment ….. Smart Folders in the finder? That’s one I’ve never thought of or even explored …. I need to follow up on that concept.
I've had a Mac since 1998 and now work for Apple so there are no PCs running Windows (that I use), even so, in each of your videos I learn at least one new trick, tip, or feature--often (mostly)--I learn a lot more. thank you.
Hmm, I've always thought the "Recents" folder was just like an album: a listing/link to the single original. Don't understand Apple's logic on this one, but thank you for the information.
It is. That's pretty much what I say in this video.
what about when you have duplicates in the Library? when I upload a device, it doesnt ask me if I want to remove duplicates, if I docked that device and dont remove photos from the said device, it will upload that photo again! it happens all the time! I dont always remove pics after uploading to my Mac! how do u search for dups in library or how you tell iPhoto u dont want to upload the duplicate?
Use the new feature in Ventura: support.apple.com/guide/photos/remove-duplicates-pht5a3157c1d/mac
@@macmost thanks Gary i appreciate your reply and information.
Tip: If you hold down the command key and press delete, your photo will be removed from the library even if you're doing it from an album.
There are a few photos which i intentionally have multiple copies of, however, this is down to how i store my photos (i have them manually sorted into a collection of folders, so that i can easily move or copy them between operating systems, right now i use both Windows and Mac OS (and i got my first (new) mac less than 24 hours ago), and i find it easier to add the photos to an email, or to upload them to a website, if the photos are accessible from the file system, especially as i use a third party browser so that my bookmarks sync between the different computers, and because i use gmail with 2 factor turned on, i am not able to link gmail to the mail app as google have apparently decided that it is “insecure” or something
Having 2-factor turned on doesn't stop you from adding Gmail to the Mail app at all. It works perfectly fine.
hey sir this question has nothing to do with this post. I'm in the midst of acquiring an external storage drive for my Mac. I was thinking of getting a Lacie 1T Mobile SSD Secure. There is also a Lacie Rugged (orange in color).. The former is $140 more than the latter, could you help me figure out why that is? The former more expensive one says the owner can work directly from the drive, that's a big selling point for me. Do you think the Rugged model has this same option too? Thank you for your time.
My guess would be that the cheaper one is a hard drive and the expensive one is an SSD. But it should be easy enough to check. SSD would be much faster. Which is better depends on what you are using it for.
Will it also warn you if you’re deleting a folder with content that appears to be a duplicate? I have a folder in my sidebar that I may have created while playing around to gain some experience that looks suspicious.
Thanks so much! You’re the best.
Warn you of what? It can't know what is important to you and what isn't, but you should have to confirm before deleting a folder.
@@macmost When I say “warn”, I mean show the window that says something like proceed or cancel. You showed it in your file deletes.
@@chucksaeger7500 OK I see. But what do you mean by "folder" in this case? An album? Photos are not "in" albums. You can delete an album and no photos will be deleted. I talk about this in the video.
@@macmost It’s a folder in the sidebar in finder. I think I created it to hold projects in Logic Pro not knowing that logic saves to its own folder aptly named logic; but I don’t want to delete and lose my stuff. Sorry for being annoying.
@@chucksaeger7500 Oh, OK, so not in the Photos app at all. There are no folders "in" the sidebar of the Finder. Those are just shortcuts/links to actual folders. You can get it out of the Finder sidebar (Control+click on it and choose Remove From Sidebar) but it is still a folder you have somewhere on your drive. Before deleting the actual folder make sure it really is a duplicate as you could just be looking at the same folder in two different ways as I talk about in this video.
In this context it would be great if you could explain the APFS File System. I know Apple added a feature to save space by not actually duplicating a file e.g. in Finder, although you copy and paste it to another folder, but I don't know if this is actually true and where the limits are, I just remember I heard of it.
Not really relevant here for what I am talking about. APFS will save space by not actually creating a duplicate file when you duplicate something in the Finder. But once you change that second file, then it does make a copy so there can be two separate things. This is useful for backup snapshots, but nothing you need to worry about understanding.
It doesn't apply here because what is happening isn't that a duplicate is being created AT ALL. It is the user not understanding that Recents isn't a separate place, for instance.
Now I know my mistakes! Thanks Gary.
How do I trace and delete duplicate photos or files?
Not sure what you mean by "trace." But to get rid of duplicates I recommend first being very very sure they are duplicates (watch this video to see how easy it is to make a mistake). Then next figure out why you have duplicates. Change your procedures or behavior to stop that. Then manually go though your files or photos to get rid of them. Any automatic process could delete things you want. Basically, roll up your sleeves and do the work to do it right. In macOS Ventura there will be a handy function in the Photos app that will let you see similar photos so you can decide on a case-by-case.
Thanks for that. One thing that annoys me about photos is during the syncing process between my iPhone and Mac. If I forget to check "Delete Originals" when I sync, I end up with 2 copies on my iPhone. The original and one that is copied back from my Mac. This is very frustrating. I have so many duplicates on my phone and no easy way to clean them up.
Not sure what you are experiencing there. Are you manually importing and then manually syncing photos back to your iPhone? Why not just use iCloud Photos instead. No manual syncing at all, much easier, and this wouldn't happen.
Gary I find it amazing how much you know! Any chance of discussing duplicate photos in Photoshop Elements on Mac? Seems like every time I open organizer I have more duplicates.
Not sure what you are dealing with there. Photoshop Elements is a photo editor, not a photo organizer.
Gary PSE is an editor and has the ability to organize your photos in PSE .
@@robertminnicks1136 I haven't touched it in more than a decade. I suppose your main task is to figure out what you are doing that is creating duplicates.
Common misconception
👍👍👍
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