Removal of duplicate photos in my dropbox photo library

[Hap H.]

I somehow uploaded several hundred photos from my iphone to dropbox. Not sure how I did it, but now I see a lot of duplicate photos in dropbox (carousel).

[Simon E.11]

I love dropbox, but for the last few months I've been stuck in a cycle of the same photos being uploaded over and over from my iPhone. This did not happen with Carousel, and I think is only happening since Carousel was shuttered. I've followed the advice Dropbox has provided me - delete and reinstall, but that only ever works for the first couple of hours after the reinstall after which the cycle kicks off again.

It is exceptionally frustrating.

[Mirko H.]

It's getting even worse now. Today, duplicating photos where uploaded up to 5 times !

For me, dropbox is done, will definitely Not continue my subscription.

[Meghan M.]

For me I think this problem started when I started using iCloud sync. I'm not positive but I used Dropbox Camera Uploads for *years* with zero issues and in the last year it has become unusable. I have a workflow where my the Dropbox photo automatically dumps into Lightroom but I have had to disable it and am now investigating alternatives, none of which seem as good of a solution as Dropbox Camera Uploads was for a long time. 

Manually deleting dupes or even using an app is not a solution. It's a band aid and a time consuming exercise in frustration. I need a sync/backup solution that doesn't upload dupes in the first place. 

[Simon E.11]

Meghan, I totally agree. I think you've nailed the root of the problem.

[Jake M.6]

I am finding this issue extremely frustrating as well. I have used dropbox for probably around 5 years. Until this month, I have never had any issue with dropbox uploading the same files over and over. I go to clear everything out and then a couple days later the same files are uploading again. I do not understand what is going on with this app on my phone. I am a very technically inclined person and I have yet to find a solution to this annoying problem!!!! I wish there was some actual support from dropbox on this. I am ready to get rid of it if this keeps happening.

[Costa A.]

The fact that this issue has gone on so long with no formal response from Dropbox Support proves they are doing this by design to force people off the free/basic plans to generate more revenue. They just don't care about this known defect for over 1 year now, or else we would get a "thanks for reporting it, we are working on a fix".  Fortunately for us there are dozens of alternate competitors out there that don't have this issue.

[Simon E.11]

I don't think that's the case to be honest Costa. I pay £99 per year and it's happening to me. I've switched off auto upload and put a reminder in my diary to upload at the end of each day. It's a poor show to be honest.

[Meghan M.]

I also pay $12/month for Dropbox. And still I have duplicates.

[Tina R.3]

Thank you, Hap. But I am sorry, there is no way to do this rather you have to do it manually. But in windows pc you can use DuplicateFilesDeleter. it is very simple to use. But make it sure to keep the important files in back up.

Thanks all dropbox users for your valuable times.

[Simon E.11]

I think we have 2 separate but related issues here.

1. Duplicates that already exist in Dropbox - I think everyone would like a solution to this integrated into dropbox rather than having to rely on the semi effective, rather spammy apps that do half a job and then constantly pressure you to leave 5 * ratings on the app store.

2. Duplicates created by auto upload, which appear to have started as a result of auto upload being unable to handle changes in the way iOS deals with photos. This, to me is the more pressing issue as it renders auto upload useless - worse than useless - and means that workarounds have to be found which rely on the user remembering to upload the day's photos or stringing together a workflow using a third party app.

I like dropbox and I want to continue using it, but at the moment I can't use it the way I want to. That means that when a working solution is provided by another service, I am more likely to spend my $99 per year with them.