Matchwell™
Photo DeduplicatorEvery duplicate found, nothing lost.
Years of imports, backups and shared albums leave the same photo three or four times over. Matchwell finds the copies, keeps the best one, and folds what the others know into it, so nothing you added is lost.
What Matchwell does
The same print scanned twice, a photo saved again as a smaller JPEG, a copy someone emailed back to you, an edited or black-and-white version: Matchwell groups them and shows you each group before anything changes.
In each group it keeps the copy with the most detail and merges the others' keywords, people, captions, titles, ratings, places and more into it. When two copies disagree, you choose. Nothing is ever deleted, and every run can be undone.
It comes two ways, with one license for both. The Windows & Mac app needs no Lightroom and moves the extra copies to a holding folder. The Lightroom Classic plug-in merges in the catalog and flags the extra copies as rejected.
Features
Five levels of alike
From exact copies, through the same picture saved again and lightly edited versions, to black-and-white and restored copies and very different versions of one shot. Start at 3 and adjust.
Sideways and mirrored copies
A scan saved the wrong way up still matches. Deep search also finds mirrored copies (a slide scanned from the wrong side) and copies cropped much tighter.
Keeps the best copy
The one with the most pixels, then camera raw over TIFF over PNG over HEIC or JPEG, then the larger file. Click Keep this one to choose another.
Merges what the others know
Keywords and people from every copy, plus any title, caption, rating, color label, GPS location or creator the kept copy lacks, and in Lightroom the other copies' collections.
You settle the conflicts
When two copies disagree, keep the kept copy's value, take another's, or combine them: captions joined, the highest rating, the earliest date.
Nothing is deleted
Extra copies go to a holding folder (app) or are flagged as rejected (Lightroom), for you to delete when you're sure. Undo puts everything back.
Spread a big review out
Your review is saved as you go. Close it part way and continue next time, with your choices kept.
Quick on big collections
Thousands of photos take a few minutes the first time, and what Matchwell learns about each photo is remembered, so the next search is much faster.
How it works
In the app
- Choose one or more folders, or paste their paths.
- Set How alike and click Find duplicates.
- Check each group: which copy is kept, which keywords and people come along, and how each conflict is settled.
- Click Merge and move. The extra copies go to a holding folder, with a report listing every group.
In Lightroom Classic
- Choose Library > Plug-in Extras > Find duplicate photos.
- Pick the selected photos, the folders or collections shown, or the whole catalog, and click Find duplicates.
- Check the groups and click Merge. The extra copies are flagged as rejected and gathered in a collection for you to look over.
Requirements
- Windows
- Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit). Nothing else to install: Python and the image libraries come with it.
- Mac
- A Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later) and macOS 13 or later: nothing else to install. An Intel Mac needs Python 3 from python.org with a few picture packages, which the installer names.
- Lightroom Classic
- For the plug-in only. The app needs no Lightroom, just a current web browser (Edge, Chrome, Safari or Firefox).
- Files
- JPEG, HEIC, TIFF, PNG, DNG and camera raw files. Camera raw files are never written to: their merged details go into an .xmp sidecar.
Price and free trial
- Every feature works free for 21 days on each computer, with no watermark and no account. After that, Matchwell keeps working for 7 more days with a reminder; then finding duplicates still works, and merging needs a license key.
- One license is for one person on up to 2 computers, covers both the app and the Lightroom Classic plug-in, and includes complimentary updates within the major version (a version 1 key works for every 1.x release).
- Your key arrives by email. It is checked on your computer: no account or internet connection is needed to use Matchwell.
- Moving to a new computer? Click “Remove license from this computer” on the old one and enter your key on the new one.
- Matchwell is sold on its own and is not part of The Well Tools Bundle.
Windows may show “Windows protected your PC” the first time: click More info, then Run anyway. The Mac download is signed and checked by Apple: open it and double-click the Install app.
Lost your key? · License terms · Refund policy · Questions: info@thepictureorg.com
Questions
Does Matchwell delete photos?
Never. The app moves extra copies to a holding folder and Lightroom flags them as rejected. You delete them yourself when you're sure, and until then Undo puts everything back.
How does it choose which copy to keep?
The copy with the most pixels; at the same size, a camera raw file over a TIFF, a TIFF over a PNG, and those over a HEIC or JPEG; then the larger file, then the older one. You can pick another copy in any group.
What happens to the keywords and captions on the other copies?
They are merged into the kept copy. Each keyword and person is listed with a tick, so you can leave any off, and where two captions or dates differ you choose which to keep or combine them.
Will it group photos taken a moment apart?
Not at the default level. Level 5, Same shot, any version, can group photos taken a moment apart, so check those groups before merging.
What about a camera's RAW and JPEG pair?
They are left alone by default: a raw file and the JPEG the camera saved beside it are not counted as duplicates unless you turn that on.
Is Matchwell in the bundle?
No. Matchwell is sold on its own and is not part of The Well Tools Bundle.
Is anything sent from my computer?
Only a once-a-day check for a newer version, which fetches a small version list and sends nothing about your computer, your photos or your license key. You can turn it off.
How do updates work?
Matchwell tells you when a new version is out. Install now downloads it, checks that it carries The Picture Org's signature, and installs it, putting everything back if anything goes wrong. Updates within the major version are complimentary.
What's new
Version 0.9.9 24 October 2026
- Lightroom: fixes an error when the review was saved ("attempt to call field 'rename'").
- Lightroom: "Matchwell: starting" shows at the top of Lightroom as soon as you choose Find duplicate photos, so you know it's on its way.