Get help
Questions, problems or ideas? Write to jorgeealdunate@gmail.com. It helps to include your macOS version and your Keepsift version (shown in Keepsift → About Keepsift).
What Keepsift does
Keepsift finds exact duplicate photos and visually similar shots (bursts, near-identical retakes, resized or re-saved copies) in the folders and drives you choose and in your Photos library. It suggests the best photo of each group, lets you compare the rest side by side, and moves only what you confirm to the Trash, with Undo. Everything runs on your Mac, with no internet connection and no account.
Getting started
- Open Keepsift and click Select Folders to Scan (hold ⌘ to pick several), drag folders or drives onto the window, or click Scan Apple Photos.
- Choose Exact Match or Visual Similarity, and adjust the similarity slider (Strict ↔ Loose), file types and minimum size if you like.
- In each group, the suggested keeper is marked Keep. Change it with Keep This if you prefer another one.
- Click Review Before Trash… to compare side by side, then confirm. The summary shows how much space you freed and offers Undo.
Frequently asked questions
How do I scan a folder or several folders?
Click Select Folders to Scan and choose one or more folders (hold ⌘ to select several), or drag them from Finder onto the Keepsift window. All folders are scanned together, so duplicates between folders are found too. Press ⇧⌘N (File → Scan Last Folders Again) to repeat your last folder scan.
What is the difference between exact and similar?
Exact Match finds byte-for-byte identical files, even with different names. Visual Similarity also finds photos that look the same or almost the same, such as bursts, retakes, edited or resized copies. Use the slider to make it stricter or looser.
How is the "Keep" photo chosen?
Keepsift prefers the highest resolution and larger file, avoids screenshots, and favors the original (oldest) copy. It is only a suggestion: you can pick any other photo with Keep This, and nothing is moved until you confirm.
Why does Keepsift ask for access to Photos?
Only to scan your Photos library for duplicates when you click Scan Apple Photos. macOS shows the permission prompt the first time. If you declined and changed your mind, open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Photos and turn on Keepsift. Folder scans do not need this permission.
How do Trash and Undo work?
Keepsift never deletes permanently. Files are moved to the macOS Trash, and Photos items to the Recently Deleted album in Photos. After a cleanup, the summary has an Undo button that puts files back where they were, and ⌘Z undoes the most recent deletion during your session. Later, you can still use Finder's Put Back from the Trash, or Recover in Photos → Recently Deleted. The disk space is reclaimed when you empty the Trash.
Why are some photos skipped (iCloud-only)?
If you use iCloud Photos with Optimize Mac Storage, some originals live only in iCloud. Keepsift works fully offline and never downloads your library, so those photos are skipped, along with videos and files it cannot read. Click View Details on the skipped-items notice to see the list. To include them, choose Download Originals to this Mac in Photos → Settings → iCloud, wait for the download, and scan again.
Can I scan external drives and SD cards?
Yes. Connect the drive, then choose it (or a folder on it) with Select Folders to Scan or drag it onto the window. You can scan several drives and folders at once. The drive must be writable to move files to the Trash. Network drives work but can be slow.
Scanning is slow, or a folder won't scan
The first similarity scan of a large library takes longest; later scans are faster thanks to a local cache. Try an Exact Match scan for a quick pass, or scan a smaller folder first. If a folder will not scan, choose it again with Select Folders to Scan so macOS grants access, and check that you have permission to read it in Finder.
System requirements
macOS 13 Ventura or later, on Apple silicon or Intel Macs. Visual similarity uses Apple's Vision framework, which is most accurate on macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
Does Keepsift collect any data?
No. Keepsift collects nothing and never connects to the internet. Read the privacy policy.
How do I uninstall Keepsift?
Quit Keepsift and drag it from Applications to the Trash. Its cache and settings live in its own sandbox container and are removed with it.