Merge or Duplicate People in iOS 12 Photos

While Apple’s iOS 12 does not offer a native feature to duplicate an existing person entry in the Photos app, it does fully support merging multiple entries for the same individual. If your device's facial recognition creates several separate profiles for one person, you can combine them into a single, organized profile. This guide explains the limitations around duplicating person profiles and details the step-by-step methods to merge them.

Duplicating Person Entries in iOS 12

You cannot duplicate a profile within the People album in iOS 12. The People feature is driven by an automated facial recognition database rather than manual contact folders. A single face cannot belong to two separate "People" profiles simultaneously.

If you need a secondary group of photos featuring a specific individual without altering their People profile, create a standard photo album instead:

  1. Open the person’s profile in the People album.
  2. Tap Select in the top-right corner.
  3. Tap Select All (or choose specific photos).
  4. Tap the Share button and select Add to Album to create a duplicate grouping elsewhere in the Photos app.

Merging Multiple Person Entries

If iOS 12 mistakenly splits one person across multiple entries, you can combine them using any of the following methods.

Method 1: Use the "Merge" Command

  1. Open the Photos app and tap the Albums tab.
  2. Tap the People album.
  3. Tap Select in the top-right corner.
  4. Tap the profiles of the person you want to combine. A blue checkmark will appear on each selected entry.
  5. Tap Merge in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
  6. A confirmation prompt will ask if these are the same person. Tap Yes to complete the merge.

Method 2: Drag and Drop

  1. Open the People album.
  2. Tap, hold, and drag one person’s thumbnail.
  3. Drag it directly over the thumbnail of the profile you want to merge it with.
  4. Release your finger and tap Yes when the confirmation dialog appears.

Method 3: Rename to an Existing Name

  1. Open the profile you want to merge into another.
  2. Tap Add Name at the top of the screen (or tap the existing name to edit it).
  3. Type the exact name of the existing profile you want to merge it with.
  4. Select the matching contact or name suggested by iOS.
  5. Tap Done. An alert will ask if you want to merge the people. Tap Merge.