---
title: "How to delete similar photos and bursts on iPhone"
description: "To delete similar photos on iPhone, PicWay sorts them and your bursts into groups, puts its best pick first, and lets you choose. Extras are set aside."
url: "https://picway.app/guides/clean-similar-burst-photos/"
lang: "en"
type: "guides"
updated: "2026-11-01"
published: "2026-11-01"
keywords: "similar photos"
---

# How to delete similar photos and bursts on iPhone

URL: https://picway.app/guides/clean-similar-burst-photos/
Markdown: https://picway.app/guides/clean-similar-burst-photos/index.md
Last updated: 2026-11-01

To delete similar photos on iPhone, use PicWay. It sorts similar shots and bursts into groups, and you go through them one group at a time and pick what to keep. The rest get set aside and stay in your library until you review them and choose to delete. iOS then asks you to confirm.

## How to do it {#steps}

1. **Open Similar photos**: On the Memories tab, tap Similar photos under Next up. Don’t see the card? Scroll down to More ways to tidy, tap View all, then tap Similar photos under Smart tidy.
2. **Pick what to keep, group by group**: PicWay puts what it thinks is the best shot first, and you choose. Tap Keep on a photo to mark it, then tap the button below to keep what you marked. To keep everything, tap Keep all. To keep nothing, tap Set all aside.
3. **Clean up bursts next**: Back on the Memories tab, tap Clean up bursts under Next up and go group by group the same way. This card only appears when your library has burst groups.
4. **Review in Set aside, then decide**: Open Set aside and look through them again. Tap Put back at the top right of any you want to keep. If you delete two or more at once, PicWay first asks you to confirm the count. Tap Continue deleting, and iOS asks you to confirm.

## Similar photos vs. Duplicate items {#similar-vs-duplicates}

Similar photos are several shots of the same moment, each a little different, so you choose which to keep. Bursts of the same scene count here too.

Duplicate items are exact matches of a photo or video. There’s less to choose: on the **Duplicate items** page, tap the button to keep one per group. PicWay keeps the one you favorited, or else the earliest, and sets the rest aside.

The Photos app on iPhone can handle duplicates too: open Duplicates under Utilities in Collections and tap Merge ([Apple’s guide](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/iph1978d9c23/ios)). See [how to remove duplicate photos on iPhone](https://picway.app/guides/duplicate-photos-iphone/) for more, and [PicWay vs. the Photos app](https://picway.app/compare/apple-photos/) to compare the two.

## Why don’t I see the card yet? {#card-not-ready}

Finding similar and duplicate photos takes a while, and longer with a bigger library. Turn on Background App Refresh in the iPhone Settings app so PicWay can keep looking while your iPhone is idle. Without it, PicWay still works, but the search pauses while your iPhone is locked, and Similar photos may not find everything.

To see whether it’s on, open PicWay’s settings, then tap **Photos & iCloud**. The **Background processing** section shows the **Background App Refresh** status.

## Can I recover what I deleted? {#recover-after-delete}

Yes. Deleted photos go to Recently Deleted in the Photos app, and you can recover them for 30 days. You recover them in the Photos app. PicWay can’t empty Recently Deleted for you.