How do I import photos without duplicates?

Hi Ryan,

Please answer this question to get more clarity on this issue.

• Which program or application are you using to import the photos or view the photos?

This issue might occur due to incorrect settings in the computer. Sorry to know that you are facing this issue.

You can use the Photos app to view or edit photos and videos in your Pictures library and on OneDrive, and to import photos and videos. The Photos app includes a wide range of editing options to enhance your photos, from automatic fixes to advanced adjustments. After you've finished editing your photos and videos, you can then share them with friends and family without leaving the app.

When you import photos using the Photo app, the app automatically searches for all photos and videos that it hasn’t imported before and selects them. You can also swipe down on or click each photo and video you want to import, or tap or click Select all.

Refer to this article to know more.

Photos app for Windows help: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/photos-app-faq

I'm using the built-in Windows importer. The main issue is that I've upgraded from W7 to W8 and can't figure out how to get it to recognize the duplicates that are already on my computer.

I looked at the new Photos app, but it's really poor, especially on a non-touch device, and there is no way to configure photo imports. I understand that these apps will detect duplicates for photos they've imported previously, but I can't find a way to have the detect which photos are already on my drive. I don't want to re-import all 2000 pictures and have to run another tool to weed out the duplicates.

Hi Ryan,

Sorry for the delay in reply.

• What is the name of the software that you are using to figure out the duplicate pictures?

You may follow these steps to remove duplicate pictures from Windows Explorer:

• Open Windows Explorer by pressing the Windows key and the letter "E" on your keyboard simultaneously.

• Select the area on your computer you wish to search by using the drop-down menu at the top of the Window. For example, select "C:" if you wish to search your entire C drive. Choose "My Photos" if you wish to search only that particular folder. Searching the entire C drive will help you find the most duplicate photos, as often they are not stored in a single folder.

• Search for duplicate picture files by searching for files that end in one of the most common photo extensions: .jpg, .tif, .png and .gif. An extension is the three letters after the dot (.) in the file name. In the "Search" area at the top of the Explorer window, type ".jpg" (without the quotation marks). The asterisk () tells the computer to search for any file name and the .jpg tells it to search for files ending in ".jpg”.

• Sort the search results by listing them by "Detail" on the drop-down viewing button. This button allows you to view results by thumbnail, list or detail. The "Detail" option provides the most information, as you can see the name of the photo, the size of the file and the date created. The location of this button varies slightly based on your version of Windows. If you need help viewing the list sorted by "Detail," see the Explorer "Help" menu (usually a small circle with a question mark on it) or visit Microsoft's website for Windows help.

• Find duplicates by clicking the word "Name" at the top of the window that is displaying the search results. Your photos will now be sorted alphabetically and numerically, lumping like-named files together.

• Scroll down the list until you see two files with the same name. Right-click the name of the file you want to delete and select "Delete”.

• Perform the same search again, but this time search for ".tif." Continue with this process until you have searched again for ".png" and ".gif" photo images.

Absolutely terrible advice. 

Certainly you can have two pictures with the same name if they come from different cameras or phones.

Even if you said "open them all one by one and pick what you want" it would be better than your advise which could result in deleting things you want.

To delete existing duplicates there are many freeware programs such as this

To stop importing duplicates you could change the import settings to import to a folder using the taken date but even that will not solve the issue really as you could still have duplicate names.  It would reduce it though.