Consolidating photos from several folders, drives, or contributors almost always leaves duplicates behind — the same shots copied more than once, plus near-duplicates saved at a different size or format. They waste space and make a library harder to trust. Archyv finds them for you and hands you a clear, side-by-side review before anything is removed.

It catches more than exact copies

Detection runs in two stages. First it groups exact duplicates by their metadata — size, date, and dimensions. Then it compares the pictures themselves, so it also catches the same image saved at a different size, quality, or format — a JPEG and a TIFF of one photo, for instance. You choose how strict that visual match is — Fast, Balanced, or Thorough — on the Duplicate Detection settings tab, and the Duplicate Detection process explains each stage.

You decide what goes — nothing disappears while you look

This is the reassuring part. Nothing is deleted while you browse. Archyv groups the matches and walks you through them in a side-by-side review window, with the metadata shown for each file, so you can compare quality and resolution and keep the best copy. You mark the ones to remove as you go — and you can change any mark right up until you commit. Only when you’re ready does a single action clear out everything you flagged, and removed files go to the macOS Trash, so they’re recoverable if you change your mind. Any protected file you marked is skipped and noted rather than deleted.

Full reference

Duplicate Detection — how the two-stage scan and review work
Duplicate Detection settings — tune detection accuracy