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Q: Reclaim disk space after deleting photos library

I have deleted photos library, but there was ~70 Gb worth of pictures and videos in "Recently deleted" album. Is there a way to clear that up now or will it clear itself in 30 days?

 

Now that I don't have access to that library I can't control that album...

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013), OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Aug 25, 2016 3:17 PM

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Q: Reclaim disk space after deleting photos library

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  • by Rysz,

    Rysz Rysz Aug 25, 2016 4:00 PM in response to vfspb
    Level 7 (20,230 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 25, 2016 4:00 PM in response to vfspb

    Why don't you have access to that album? Just launch Photos.

     

    If you still have the Photos app, and you have not fooled around with Photos Library file directly, the images will be deleted in approximately 30 days. You can also expedite the deletion by opening the Recently Deleted album and clicking on the a Delete All button (upper right corner).

  • by vfspb,

    vfspb vfspb Aug 25, 2016 4:25 PM in response to Rysz
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 25, 2016 4:25 PM in response to Rysz

    That is what I said - I deleted the Photos Library file from my hard drive.

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Aug 25, 2016 4:29 PM in response to vfspb
    Level 10 (84,170 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 25, 2016 4:29 PM in response to vfspb

    Your question is not clear - what exactly did you delete and how exactly did you delete it?

     

    To delete Photos from the Photos library you select them and press the command and delete keys then go to the recently deleted album and delete from there

     

    If you really deleted the Photos library then when you emptied the trash everything was gone including the recently deleted album

     

    What did you actually do and what exactly is the issue you are having?

     

    From Photos Help

     

    Delete photos and video

    You can delete selected photos and videos from your library.

    Open Photos for me

    When you delete items, they’re placed in the Recently Deleted album, where they remain for the number of days shown, and then are permanently deleted. You can restore items before that period of time. If you have iCloud Photo Library turned on, you can restore photos and videos from iCloud for 30 days before they’re removed from iCloud and your Mac. If you’re not using iCloud Photo Library, your deleted photos are removed from your Mac only. You can also manually delete photos from the Recently Deleted album to remove them immediately from your computer and iCloud Photo Library.

    Delete photos and videos

    Do one of the following:

    • Delete a photo from an album, but not from your library: Select the items you want to delete, then press Delete.
    • Delete a photo from a Smart album (for example, Last Import, Favorites, or Videos): Select the items you want to delete, then press Command-Delete.
    • Delete a photo from a moment (placing it in the Recently Deleted album): Select the items you want to delete, press Delete, then click Delete.
    • Delete a photo from a moment or album (placing it in the Recently Deleted album): Select the items you want to delete, then press Command-Delete.
    • Delete a photo and immediately remove it from the Recently Deleted album: Select the items you want to delete, then press Command-Delete. Click Albums in the toolbar, then double-click the Recently Deleted album. Select the items you want to delete permanently, click Delete, then click OK.

     

     

     

    LN

  • by Rysz,

    Rysz Rysz Aug 25, 2016 4:30 PM in response to vfspb
    Level 7 (20,230 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 25, 2016 4:30 PM in response to vfspb

    If you still have the iPhotos library that you migrated to Photos somewhere, the images will not be deleted until you also delete that library file.

     

    If you did not use a "managed" library for either app, the images are spread out all over your hard drive and you'll have to locate them.

  • by vfspb,

    vfspb vfspb Aug 25, 2016 4:40 PM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 25, 2016 4:40 PM in response to LarryHN

    I deleted the whole library file: Users/User/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary

     

    Before deleting when I browsed that file in Finder it showed 114 Gb in size. I was hoping to reclaim that many space on my hard drive when I deleted that library file. And by the way I deleted a lot of videos from this library through the Photos app, prior to deleting the library file altogether.

     

    Now I see that I only got ~30 Gb free after that operation so I assumed it was the "Recently Deleted" that didn't get deleted.

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Aug 25, 2016 6:22 PM in response to vfspb
    Level 10 (84,170 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 25, 2016 6:22 PM in response to vfspb

    As usual assumptions are usually wrong - the recently deleted album is not a physical [lace but like everything in Photos an album defined by database entries in the Photos library - if yo trashed the Photos library and emptied the trash then the Photos library is totally and completely gone

     

    Do you have an iPhoto library on the disk too? If so that is where your photos are - if not then this have nothing to do with Photos (or IPhoto) for Mac - you may want to download Grand Perspective and use it to see where you disk usage is

     

    LN

  • by vfspb,

    vfspb vfspb Aug 26, 2016 3:52 PM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 26, 2016 3:52 PM in response to LarryHN

    No I deleted iPhoto library long time ago.

     

    I did download Grand Perspective and checked - there is nothing hidden anywhere a per this tool. So right now I am puzzled as to why such a drastic difference: library file was 114 GB, and only 30Gb was freed up on hard drive when I deleted it.

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Aug 26, 2016 5:10 PM in response to vfspb
    Level 10 (84,170 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 26, 2016 5:10 PM in response to vfspb

    Ok - this has nothing to do with Photos for Mac - try the OS forum for your OS

     

    LN