, also have a bunch of empty albums that I can't delete. I'll try again
Is the library where you cannot delete albums your iCloud Photos Library? You mentioned earlier, that you have been running out of cloud storage. That is a very dangerous situation because the iCloud syncing does no longer work and organising the albums will also not work as expected, until you have managed your cloud storage. As long as you have not freed the cloud storage, any photo or video you are deleting in Photos will not be saved in Recently Deleted, but deleted instantly. All bets are off, and Photos will simply not work as expected for the iCloud Photos Library.
A second possible problem - have you used the "Optimise Mac Storage" with your iCloud Photos Library? if your Photos Library contains optimised versions, where the original is only in iCloud, you cannot rely on PowerPhotos for moving photos between your Photos Libraries. PowerPhotos is a great tool, ** it cannot move photos between libraries, where the original has not been downloaded from iCloud.
What is the current state of the library that you have been using with iCloud? Has the iCloud Storage problem been fixed?
If you still have your original iPhoto Library, and it is complete, I would start over with your iPhoto Library (without using iCloud Photos for this new Photos Library you are creating from the iPhoto Library.). Do you have any newer photos on your iPhone, that are not in your old iPhoto Library?
