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MalagLagoon

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 19, 2019
157
56
I’ve got an old external hard drive containing photos from my 2010 android phone and my 2013 Samsung phone. The photos are contained in ten different directories and there are duplicates.

I know that Photos for a Mac has a feature that helps identify and delete duplicate photos. However I’m still using macOS Monterey - and therefore I do not have this feature.

Is there any software that could help me find duplicates before I upload to iCloud Photos?
 

MalagLagoon

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 19, 2019
157
56
I used to use Gemini. It's available in the App Store
Thanks. Do you know if it is possible to limit Gemini to a single folder? I'm just being cautious. I don't want Gemini searching "in every corner of your Mac" or to have it constantly running in the background. Also, do they want a subscription? Seems like every software app wants a subscription these days.
 

JonnyMacx86

macrumors regular
Feb 10, 2024
152
330
Halifax, NS
Thanks. Do you know if it is possible to limit Gemini to a single folder? I'm just being cautious. I don't want Gemini searching "in every corner of your Mac" or to have it constantly running in the background. Also, do they want a subscription? Seems like every software app wants a subscription these days.
Yes, you can point it to whichever folder you like. Not sure about the subscription bit as I haven't used it in a while. Last time it was a one-time purchase.
 

MalagLagoon

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 19, 2019
157
56
Is this Gemini 2 program well behaved? I don't want some nonsense software aggressively rifling through my entire the computer the SECOND it's installed. I want to install it and ONLY have it look at ONE folder. I'm not liking this. I don't know what the hell it's doing.
 

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MalagLagoon

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 19, 2019
157
56
Maybe I'm still working out my PTSD from the decades of dealing with Microsoft Windows.
 

MalagLagoon

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 19, 2019
157
56
I'm not understanding why Gemini 2 cannot find and delete ALL duplicates in one operation. I'm having to repeat the same operation over-and-over to delete all duplicates. Surely this cannot be the intended idea with Gemini 2. What am I doing wrong?

The YouTube video link below demonstrates the issue:

 

JonnyMacx86

macrumors regular
Feb 10, 2024
152
330
Halifax, NS
I'm sorry, I'm just seeing this now. I can't say that I recall having this issue, but surely if it catches *most* on a single pass, and then more on the next, it shouldn't take long to get the job done. Just being optimistic. Did you have any more luck over the weekend?
 

MalagLagoon

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 19, 2019
157
56
I'm sorry, I'm just seeing this now. I can't say that I recall having this issue, but surely if it catches *most* on a single pass, and then more on the next, it shouldn't take long to get the job done. Just being optimistic. Did you have any more luck over the weekend?
I just continued running it until it stopped saying there were duplicates. I didn't count the number of times I re-ran Gemini 2 - but, maybe 5 to 10 times. I'm scratching my head why they'd set it up that way - having to constantly re-run the same search over and over. But, even with that hassle, this is way better than attempting to manually find duplicates. With the amount of photos I had - spread across 11 directories - it wouldn't be possible for me to manually find all duplicates. Gemini reduced 32 GB to about 20GB - so, in the end - Gemini 2 is very useful.

The price for Gemini 2 is about $20 per year - a subscription. I didn't see an option to buy without a subscription - not in the Apple store anyway.
 
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