Photos re-importing previously imported iPhone photos every time

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Every time I go to import photos from my iPhone, Photos shows several hundred photos that have been previously imported as new. I've imported these photos before but Photos (and previously iPhoto) still thinks they're new every time.

I've tried importing them again but the next time I go to import photos, they're there again as new photos, rather than showing in the Already Imported section. I could import them over and over and over again and they'd still show when clicking the 'Import All New Items' button.

Any suggestions to get these ones seen as previously imported items, short of deleting them altogether?

 

[owbp]

Only thing that comes to my mind is checking "Delete items after import". Then you'll have to sync photos with iTunes to get them back on your iPhone, but they will be in "imported from Mac" folder rather than in Camera folder.
I think that Photos app imports only from Camera folder.

Do you have duplicates on your phone?

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Seems it's an issue many are having but hasn't been addressed by Apple at any point.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7022306?tstart=0

 

[highlystrange]

This is driving me crazy as well. If anyone has any ideas at all, I'd love to hear them.

 

[Partron22]

This is why I dumped my first gen iPad in 2012, and went with a Google Nexus 7 running android.
If Apple were going to fix the problem, you'd think they'd have done so by now.

 

[rickpdx]

Only thing that comes to my mind is checking "Delete items after import". Then you'll have to sync photos with iTunes to get them back on your iPhone, but they will be in "imported from Mac" folder rather than in Camera folder.
I think that Photos app imports only from Camera folder.

Do you have duplicates on your phone?

This problem has resurfaced in Photos in Big Sur and in that version of Photos, there is no longer an option to delete items after import. Consequently, every time I connect my iPhone to import photos, it reimports all the photos still on my phone as though they were new, giving me multiple duplicates. Any ideas on solving this?

 

[owbp]

This problem has resurfaced in Photos in Big Sur and in that version of Photos, there is no longer an option to delete items after import. Consequently, every time I connect my iPhone to import photos, it reimports all the photos still on my phone as though they were new, giving me multiple duplicates. Any ideas on solving this?

Sorry, i'm still on Mojave for work apps compatibility, but Apple Support page is stating the following

Import photos from a camera or phone using Photos on Mac

Use Photos on your Mac to import photos and videos from your camera, phone, or other mobile device.

support.apple.com

That's all i know, i'm flying blind here

 

[srbNYC]

Bumping this in case anyone has any new info with iOS 15 and Monterey. Same issue and it seems like it must have a solution.

 

[MilaM]

Unfortunately I can confirm, that this problem is still present in Monterey.

It's so frustrating. I had to buy a third party app to solve this because going through the whole library since 2017 to delete more than 900 duplicated photos is not fun. That third party app has no problems identifying the duplicates. Why is a 3 trillion dollar company like Apple not able to do what a one man software shop can do?