Photo Stream is duplcating photos

[rhaezorblue]

I turned on Photo stream for a minute on my Macbook Air and remembered right away why I had it turned off previously.. it duplicates the photos stored in Photo Stream because PS does not support the .HEIC format .. so now I have 1,000 photos duplicated as there is a .JPG version from PS and my original version which ends in .HEIC. For those that have made this mistake as well, how do we delete all the duplicates quickly?

 

[jk73]

If you know the start date of the duplicates, run a file type search and then delete whichever type you don't want to keep. Note that if you delete the JPG files, you might have other photos you saved (rather than took yourself) mixed in.

I started a thread about this about a year ago after discovering the same problem. Unbelievably dumb bug or "feature." Makes no sense that Photo Stream wouldn't support Apple's preferred file type or at least warn people of the potential for mass duplicates.

Why does Photo Stream not support HEIC?

If Apple wants us to use HEIC files and to use iCloud for syncing photo libraries, why do iOS devices still send JPG versions to Photo Stream, which then creates duplicates if one syncs their iOS device via cable (which often can't be avoided)? I don't understand it. Is there a technical reason...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[JayKeith]

I can't recall if I posted this already, but until this bug is fixed, we've used Duplicate Photo Cleaner. It's simple to use, finds duplicates and similar photos on our MacBooks and iPhones. They have a Windows and Android app too. Here's the link: https://www.duplicatephotocleaner.com/