Duplicate Photos Fixer is a utility software that cleans up images that are exact and similar-looking in nature. It offers different scan methods to free up valuable storage space on both internal and external storage drives.

If you’re not getting desired results with Duplicate Photos Fixer, you can try its alternative PictureEcho. PictureEcho is a small yet powerful duplicate scanning tool built for Windows users. If you’ve a huge photo collection and need to fix the image redundancy without having to sit several hours in front of your screen, PictureEcho should be your choice. It offers many add-on functionalities such as Lightroom duplicate scan for professional photographers.

Read on and follow the steps given below to find identical photos in your Windows 10 PC.

Step # 1: Select Your Photo Directories

In order for PictureEcho to search for duplicates, you’ll need to specify the directories that contain your images. You can add as many directories as you want- even if they are located on removable drives such as USB Sticks and External Hard Disks.

1. Click the Add path icon on the left side panel of your screen.

2. In the Folder Browser dialog, select the directory that contains your photo files. For example: C:\Users\UserName
3. Click OK to confirm.

4. If you need to add more directories, repeat the above procedure.

Step # 2: Select Your Preferred Similarity Level

PictureEcho’s similarity settings help you find visually similar images and free up the maximum amount of storage. The pictures similarity’ criteria is broadly classified into four levels:

• Level 1: This takes into account any photos that were captured by your camera within a timespan of 30 seconds
• Level 2: This level displays photos that were taken within a timespan of 1 minute
• Level 3: Selecting this level will bring out photos that were taken within a timespan of 60 seconds
• Level 4: When selected, this similarity level doesn’t take the time aspect into consideration at all. Be careful while analyzing the results to avoid potential data loss.

How do I change similarity settings?

To change your similarity settings, click on the Similarity Settings link label underneath the Exact and Similar Match patterns.

Now, select your preferred Similarity Level and then click OK.

Note: If you’re not getting anticipated results, you can restore the default similarity levels using the Restore Defaults button. You’ll need to re-start the scan again for the changes to take effect.

Nevertheless, if you do not want to scan similar images, use the Exact Match option. This will fetch those images that are 100% identical.

Step # 3: Enable Image Preview & Start Scan

PictureEcho has an in-house Preview feature. As soon as you select a photo, PictureEcho displays the image preview. You don’t need to open up every image to review the results.

Mark Show Preview checkbox and then hit Start Search.

Step # 4: Scan Progress

Please wait while PictureEcho scans your images and determine duplicates. This might take some time depending on the number of folders you’ve selected to scan, and the size of your pictures.

Once the scan is finished, you’ll be able to see thumbnails of all duplicates found along with details about each file. This includes- file name, file extension, file size and file path.

Step # 5: Evaluate Your Results

Your images are grouped based on their similarity. Review the images and use the checkboxes to mark/ unmark them. Mark images that you want to delete/ move, and unmark those you want to retain.

PictureEcho comes with automatic selection patterns that mark hundreds of images in one go. Take an example. If you need to keep images that are smaller in size, click the Select Duplicates button, and choose the Retain smaller images in each group option.

Similarly, you can use other selection patterns listed below to automatically mark/ unmark your files:

• Retain bigger images in each group
• Retain low resolution images in each group
• Retain high resolution images in each group
• Retain newest image in each group
• Retain oldest image in each group

The Select by Location option allows you to mark/ unmark images located in a specific folder of your choice. For example: To keep all images that are located in D:\Images\NYC, click Select Duplicates > Select by image locations.

In the subsequent dialog, click on Add.

You’ll be prompted to type your folder location. Type it or use the Browse button to locate it yourself.

To include results from sub-folders, mark Include sub-folders checked.

Click Add.

Repeat the above procedure again to add multiple folder(s). The results should appear like this:

Finally, click Mark to select the images in the above listed directories, or use Unmark to deselect them.

Step # 6: Take An Action

Once you’re done marking/ unmarking your images, use the Select Action button and choose what you would like to do with the marked images.

Choose Permanent Delete to delete your images straight away, or use the Move to Folder option to move them into a separate folder to review at a later point of time. You’ll need to select a folder location after confirming your action.