Deleting duplicate photos in DeDup 1.5.3 on Android: what actually happens
When you select duplicate photos in DeDup 1.5.3 and delete them, Android shows its own confirmation before anything is removed. If you approve, the files are deleted permanently. In 1.5.3 they don't go to DeDup's Trash screen first.
Selecting what to delete
Each duplicate group is a card with its photos in a row. Tap a photo, or its checkbox, to select it. A selected photo gets a highlighted border. Nothing is selected for you.
The first photo in each group carries a label: KEEP, or BEST SHOT or ML BEST CHOICE when DeDup has a suggestion. The label is only a hint. It doesn't stop you selecting that photo.
Once at least one photo is selected, a button appears labelled "Delete" followed by the count and the combined size of the selected files. Each photo also has a small trash icon in its corner, which starts the same flow for that one photo.
If you're browsing as a guest, both buttons open a "Sign in required" dialog instead. It offers "Sign in with Google" or "Not now".
What happens when you confirm
- DeDup checks that every selected photo still exists in your media library. Photos that no longer exist are dropped from the list and aren't treated as a cleanup.
- DeDup passes the remaining photos to Android, which shows its own delete confirmation. DeDup doesn't draw that screen, so its wording depends on your phone.
- If you approve, the photos are removed. If you dismiss it, nothing is deleted and your selection stays as it was.
That is the path on Android 11 and newer. The code branches at that version.
On Android 10 and older, this screen doesn't raise a prompt of its own. It asks Android to delete each file directly. A photo Android refuses to delete stays in the list, still selected, so you can try again. The manifest requests the old storage-write permission only on Android 9 and older.
Deleting is permanent. DeDup does have a Trash screen, but nothing in the photo scanner sends files to it in 1.5.3.
Auto Clear
The "Auto Clear" button shows the space it expects to free. Tapping it opens a warning titled "Auto Clear": it keeps one copy from each group, deletes the rest, and says that visual similarity detection can occasionally make mistakes. Confirm with "Yes, Auto Clear" and the files go through the same Android confirmation.
It keeps the first photo in every group, the one with the label. It works on every group from the scan, including groups you've hidden with the sort and filter menu.
What the screen shows afterwards
Deleted photos leave the list and the saved results. A group with fewer than two photos left disappears, and the heading's group count drops. When no groups remain, the list area says that no duplicates were found and that your gallery is clean.
Scope of this post
Checked against: DeDup 1.5.3 source code (Android).
Not tested on a device: the Android confirmation screen, including what it shows and how it's worded; behaviour on Android 10 and older; and what Android does when it refuses a direct delete. I read the code for those paths but didn't run them.