Ranking updated
Best photo cleaner apps in 2026
For duplicates, similar and blurry shots found on the device, with an in-app trash before anything is deleted, Gallery Cleaner. For a plain swipe through your camera roll by category with a storage goal, ThumbSort. For a full storage cleanup with video compression and contact merging, CleanMy®Phone. For swiping photos into albums as you go, Slidebox, and for month-by-month cleanup with memories, Swipewipe. Full breakdown below.
How we picked: a photo cleaner has to make deleting fast without deleting the wrong thing. We read each developer’s own App Store description for how you decide what goes, what the app finds for you, whether there is a safety step before deletion and where your photos are analysed.
Find duplicate and blurry photos
Gallery Cleaner looks for photos that may be taking up space for nothing: exact duplicates, groups of visually similar photos, blurry and low-quality shots, large photos and burst sequences. You swipe through or select results, see the estimated storage the selection represents, and everything goes to a temporary in-app trash before you confirm deletion from your library. The developer says photo matching and quality analysis run on the device and your photo content is not uploaded.
Swipe to delete photos
ThumbSort shows one photo at a time, full screen: swipe left to delete, right to keep. You pick a category such as Today, Last 7 days, Screenshots, Videos, Selfies or Live Photos, set a storage goal and keep a daily streak, and deleted items wait in a review queue until you confirm. The free version has a daily swipe limit, and the developer says the app never uploads your media. Swipewipe uses the same swipe and takes your library month by month, with an On This Day view and a widget. Slidebox adds albums: swipe to delete, tap to file a photo into an album, swipe between similar shots to choose which to keep, and undo any action.
Free up iPhone storage
CleanMy®Phone from MacPaw scans the whole library for blurred photos, old screenshots, large videos and duplicates, compresses videos, turns Live Photos into still images, merges duplicate contacts and groups photos into categories such as Travel, Pets or Documents. It works on the device, lets you mark photos as Sensitive so they are never included in a cleanup, and deleted items can still be recovered from Recently Deleted on your iPhone. To edit the photos you keep, see photo editing apps.
| App | Best for | How you clean | Before it deletes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gallery CleanerCensuusApp Store | duplicates and blurry shots | finds exact duplicates, similar, blurry, large and burst photos; swipe or select | an in-app trash you review first |
| ThumbSortCensuusApp Store | a quick daily swipe | one photo at a time by category, left to delete, right to keep | a review queue you confirm |
| CleanMy®PhoneApp Store | a full storage cleanup | scans for blurred photos, screenshots, large videos and duplicates; compresses videos | you choose, and Recently Deleted still works |
| SlideboxApp Store | sorting into albums | swipe to delete, tap to move into an album, compare similar photos | undo for any action |
| SwipewipeApp Store | month-by-month cleanup | swipe right to keep, left to delete, month by month | you decide on each photo |
Frequently asked questions
Is there an app to swipe through photos and delete them?
ThumbSort, Swipewipe and Slidebox all let you swipe left to delete and right to keep, and Gallery Cleaner adds swiping on top of duplicate and blurry photo detection.
Which app finds duplicate photos on iPhone?
Gallery Cleaner finds exact duplicates and groups similar photos, and CleanMy®Phone finds duplicates and similar shots and helps you choose the best one.
Do photo cleaner apps upload my photos?
Gallery Cleaner and CleanMy®Phone say their analysis runs on the device, and ThumbSort says it never uploads your media.