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OS 10.15.5
Photos Version 5.0 (151.19.150)
After deleting photos from the photos library, and deleting them from the recently deleted folder within photos, the file size of the library is not getting smaller. I am trying to delete photos to gain more space on my Mac but its not working.
MacBook Pro
The Finder in macOS 10.15 does not instantly update the file size for a Photos Library. It may take more than a month before you will see a change of the size. What does the "Date Modified" show for the library in the Finder? Is it older than the time you last used Photos? My library is showing "Last modified February 15, 2020", even if I have been importing photos to it every day.
If you deleted the photos in Photos and emptied the Recently Deleted album, and the status bar below "All Photos" is showing a smaller number of photos and videos than before, the library will be smaller than before. Look at the size shown in the Info for "All Photos". This size should have decreased by now. To see the Info select "All Photos" in the sidebar in Photos and enter the key combination ⌘I .
There is one exception. If you are using iCloud Photos and "Optimise Storage" you do not have much control over the size of the local copy of your Photos Library. Photos will download photos from iCloud, whenever you need to access a photo and purge photos you have not used in a long time, if you need to free storage. The size of the library will change dynamically, independent of the number of photos you are deleting.
The Finder in macOS 10.15 does not instantly update the file size for a Photos Library. It may take more than a month before you will see a change of the size. What does the "Date Modified" show for the library in the Finder? Is it older than the time you last used Photos? My library is showing "Last modified February 15, 2020", even if I have been importing photos to it every day.
If you deleted the photos in Photos and emptied the Recently Deleted album, and the status bar below "All Photos" is showing a smaller number of photos and videos than before, the library will be smaller than before. Look at the size shown in the Info for "All Photos". This size should have decreased by now. To see the Info select "All Photos" in the sidebar in Photos and enter the key combination ⌘I .
There is one exception. If you are using iCloud Photos and "Optimise Storage" you do not have much control over the size of the local copy of your Photos Library. Photos will download photos from iCloud, whenever you need to access a photo and purge photos you have not used in a long time, if you need to free storage. The size of the library will change dynamically, independent of the number of photos you are deleting.
You may want to send feedback to Apple and report the problem. I have done so already, but it may help, if more users report a concern about the confusing library size. Here is a link to the feedback form: Feedback - Photos - Apple
Thankyou Leonie, everything you have said is true. While the size of the photos library does not appear to change in finder, the number of photos does change when deleting them out of "photos"
If I had just clicked get info on my hard drive I would have seen the available size changing as the photos get deleted.
I will maintain that it is un-nerving and a bit confusing that the "photos library" size does not "appear" to change in size when right clicking it and selecting get info. Now I know I'll be fine. Just one of those things I guess.
File size of photos library not reducing after deleting photos
