Library Cleanup finds the burst clones, repeat video takes, and screenshot piles hiding in Apple Photos — then lets you review and remove them, one confident tap at a time. Everything runs on your Mac. Nothing is ever uploaded.
Free· Apple Silicon· macOS 13 Ventura or later· ~43 MB
How it works
The app reads your Photos library locally and uses Apple's on-device Vision framework to spot look-alikes and clutter. No cloud, no queue.
Burst clones, repeat clips, and screenshots are lined up side by side — with the sharpest, steadiest keeper already picked out for you.
Every keep or discard you make quietly tunes the next round of suggestions toward the shots you actually care about.
Confirmed removals go through macOS itself and land in Recently Deleted — recoverable for 30 days if you change your mind.
Privacy
This isn't a policy footnote — it's how the app is built. There is no server to send anything to.
Every scan, comparison, and thumbnail is computed on your own machine using Apple's Vision framework. Your library is never copied off it.
Everything happens on your own Mac. No sign-up, no servers, no uploads, and no analytics on your images.
Because nothing leaves your Mac, there's nothing to breach, sell, or subpoena. What you see is the whole story.
A fair question
To do its job, Library Cleanup needs to read your entire Photos library and delete photos through Apple's PhotoKit. That requires Full Disk Access and delete permissions the Mac App Store sandbox simply doesn't hand out.
Rather than cripple the app to fit inside the sandbox, it's distributed directly — so it can actually be useful.
This is a free passion project without a paid Apple Developer account, so the app is signed but not notarized. macOS will warn you the first time you open it. That's expected — the two-minute install steps below walk you through it.
Delete without the dread
Nothing is deleted automatically. The app suggests; you decide, group by group.
Deletions run through the system's own Photos prompt — a second, native checkpoint.
Removed items go to Recently Deleted in Photos, right where you'd expect to find them.
Scanning only reads your library. Nothing is edited, moved, or re-compressed.
Installing
Because the app isn't notarized, macOS asks you to allow it once. Here's the whole dance.
Drag Library Cleanup into your Applications folder.
System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Open Anyway. (If it says "damaged," use the command below.)
Privacy & Security ▸ Full Disk Access ▸ add Library Cleanup. Required to read your library.
The first time you confirm a removal, macOS asks for Photos access. Click Allow.
# Clears the download-quarantine flag. It doesn't change the app. $ xattr -cr "/Applications/Library Cleanup.app"
About the maker
Hi, I'm Václav Trnka, an IT product manager. Library Cleanup started as a way to tame my own overflowing Photos library, and became a passion project I'm sharing for free. There's no company behind it and no roadmap board — just someone who cares that it works well and keeps your photos safe.
Questions, ideas, or something not working right? I'd genuinely like to hear it — reach me on LinkedIn.
Connect on LinkedInFree, private, and entirely on your Mac. See what a clean library feels like.
Download for macOSFree·Apple Silicon·macOS 13 Ventura or later·~43 MB