Burst shots, slight crops, same-scene duplicates — these are byte-for-byte different files that a normal duplicate finder will miss. CleanMachine uses Apple's Vision AI to detect near-identical photos by visual similarity. Free to scan, $19.99 to remove.
macOS 13+ · Apple Silicon & Intel · Apple Vision framework — no cloud processing
Exact duplicates are byte-for-byte identical files — same content, different paths. These happen from importing a card twice, AirDropping photos around, or copying folders. MD5 catches these perfectly.
Near-duplicates are visually identical but technically different files. These are far more common and far more annoying:
CleanMachine uses Apple's VNGenerateImageFeaturePrintRequest API — the same computer vision technology that powers the Photos Duplicates album. It generates a visual "feature print" (a mathematical representation of the image content) for each photo, then uses VNFeaturePrintObservation.computeDistance to measure visual similarity between prints.
Photos below a similarity threshold (0.10) are grouped as near-duplicates. This threshold is calibrated to avoid false-positive groupings of legitimately different shots while catching real duplicates from burst mode and accidental repeat shots.
CleanMachine will never modify the .photoslibrary bundle. Moving files in or out of a Photos library corrupts the SQLite database that manages the library and can cause permanent photo loss on the next iCloud sync. The Duplicate Photos feature only scans loose files in ~/Pictures — not inside any .photoslibrary bundle. This is a hard safety rule.
Vision framework perceptual similarity scan of ~/Pictures. Groups near-identical photos, auto-selects oldest in each group, lets you review before removing anything.
Full MD5 comparison for exact byte-for-byte duplicates across all home folders. Catches exact copies regardless of filename or location.
PhotoKit-powered summary of your library: total photo/video count, screenshot count and size, oldest and newest dates — without touching or modifying anything.
Scans ~/Library/Mail for downloaded email attachments — a common source of photo duplicates. Filter by type and date, remove what you don't need.
Download CleanMachine and run the Duplicate Photos scan — free. See every near-duplicate group before you remove anything. Only $19.99 once to clean them up.
macOS 13+ · Apple Vision framework · No cloud processing · 30-day money-back guarantee
No, and this is intentional. The Photos library (.photoslibrary bundle) has its own duplicate detection (available in Photos → Albums → Duplicates on Ventura+). CleanMachine only scans loose files in ~/Pictures to avoid any risk of database corruption. The Photos app's built-in duplicate detection is the right tool for inside the library.
CleanMachine auto-selects the oldest photo in each duplicate group, keeping your most recent. You can change any selection before removing. All removed photos go to CleanMachine Trash first — fully recoverable until you empty it.
No. All processing uses Apple's Vision framework running locally on your Mac. Photos are never uploaded, shared, or sent to any server. This is one of the explicit design priorities — all analysis stays on your device.