Q: Why Do I Have HEIC And JPG Versions Of Every Photo?

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Go back to my question Applications and Services Photos User profile for user: Tom H. Tom H. Author User level: Level 2 192 points Why do I have HEIC and JPG versions of every photo?

Hi, my Photos app is SO SLOW and painful to use even though I have a brand new iMac M1. I do have lots of photos, but, the problem is likely compounded by the fact that Photos has two versions of every photo, one that has an .heic extension and the other a .jpg extension.

Why is Photos storing two versions of every photo, and how do I get rid of them? Also, which one do I keep, .heic or .jpg? I don't use iCloud Photos, I store all my photos on my desktop computer only.

Posted on Jan 8, 2022 12:49 PM

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4 replies

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User profile for user: TonyCollinet TonyCollinet User level: Level 7 24,056 points

Jan 8, 2022 1:45 PM in response to Tom H.

This normally happens when your phone is taking HEIC format pictures, but converting them on download to your mac to JPG Then when you connect your phone again, they are different filenames, so not recognised as already downloaded.

To fix this you need to change the iphone photos transfer setting to "keep original" from "automatic"

Then delete the jpg versions of the photos from your mac.

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User profile for user: TonyCollinet TonyCollinet User level: Level 7 24,056 points

Jan 8, 2022 11:51 PM in response to Tom H.

You can select them first with a smart album to make them easier to delete, but before we do that we should try to understand why it has happened, or it may just happen again.

This can also happen if you are mixing transfer methods - for example iCloud and USB. or USB and Air drop.

The fact your app is so slow on a very fast machine may indicate that the library is damaged, or is stored in an incompatible location.

How are you transferring photos from your phone?

Are all photos duplicated, or just some?

Where is your library stored? In your pictures folder, or somewhere else. If on an external drive, what is the format?

Have you used any speed up or clean up apps, or duplicate removal apps?

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User profile for user: Tom H. Tom H. Author User level: Level 2 192 points

Jan 8, 2022 4:01 PM in response to TonyCollinet

I checked my Photos settings on my iPhone and it's already set to Keep Original, but every photo is duplicated in those two different formats on my desktop computer.

So I have to manually delete thousands of photos that are duplicated? OMG I hate Apple 😡

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User profile for user: léonie léonie User level: Level 10 200,669 points

Jan 9, 2022 2:19 AM in response to Tom H.

Are you using iCloud Photos or My PhotonStream and are manually importing the photos from the iPhone as well? Do the HEIC file and the JPEG file have the same pixel size (width and height), or is the jpeg smaller?

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