Like most people, I have thousands of photos spread across Google Photos. And like most people, I have duplicates. Lots of them. Screenshots, multiple uploads, WhatsApp backups—the mess is real. So I built a Python script to solve it: google-photos-duplicate-finder.

The Problem

Google Photos is great, but:

  • Multiple devices = multiple uploads
  • Screenshot accumulation
  • WhatsApp/WhatsApp Business duplicates
  • No built-in duplicate detection
  • Manual deletion is painful

The Solution

A Python script that:

  1. Connects to Google Photos API
  2. Identifies duplicates using multiple methods
  3. Provides detailed reports
  4. Helps you clean up safely

Installation

git clone https://github.com/irfancode/google-photos-duplicate-finder
cd google-photos-duplicate-finder
pip install -r requirements.txt

Setup

1. Google Cloud Console

  1. Go to Google Cloud Console
  2. Create a new project
  3. Enable “Photos Library API”
  4. Create OAuth 2.0 credentials
  5. Download credentials.json

2. First Run

python main.py --auth

This opens browser for OAuth authentication.

Detection Methods

Method 1: Filename Matching

# Find files with same name
matches = find_by_filename(media_items)

Good for: Quick scans, obvious duplicates

Method 2: Metadata Comparison

# Compare creation time, device info
matches = find_by_metadata(media_items)

Good for: Same photo from different devices

Method 3: Content Hashing

# Download and hash image content
matches = find_by_hash(media_items)

Good for: Exact duplicates, compressed copies

Usage

Quick Scan (Filenames Only)

python main.py --method filename --report

Deep Scan (Content Hash)

python main.py --method hash --report --download

Interactive Review

python main.py --interactive

Code Walkthrough

Authentication

from google_photos import GooglePhotos

photos = GooglePhotos('credentials.json')
photos.authenticate()

# Get all media items
media_items = photos.list_media()

Duplicate Detection

def find_duplicates(media_items, method='hash'):
    if method == 'filename':
        return find_by_filename(media_items)
    elif method == 'metadata':
        return find_by_metadata(media_items)
    elif method == 'hash':
        return find_by_hash(media_items)

Hash Comparison

import hashlib

def compute_hash(media_item):
    # Download image
    content = download_image(media_item['baseUrl'])
    # Compute SHA256
    return hashlib.sha256(content).hexdigest()

Results

Typical scan findings:

  • 500-1000 duplicates in average library
  • 20-30% storage savings
  • Most common: Screenshots, WhatsApp images

Safety Features

  1. Read-Only Mode — Scan without deleting
  2. Reports First — Review before acting
  3. Batch Processing — Delete in chunks
  4. Trash, Not Delete — Items go to trash first

Future Enhancements

  • Face detection for grouping
  • AI-powered similarity detection
  • Cloud function deployment
  • Mobile app companion

Conclusion

Google Photos is an excellent service, but it lacks native duplicate management. With google-photos-duplicate-finder, you can reclaim storage and organize your memories.

The best part? It’s open source, so the community can improve it together.

Questions? Let’s connect!

Connect: LinkedIn GitHub