Are photos from iPhone copied into Photos library if "copy items to the Photos Library" is unchecked?

That's weird, because I decided to test it after I posted on the forum. I unchecked the "copy items to the Photos library" box, then imported pictures from my iPhone, then disconnected my phone. The pictures are there and editable.

Then I imported a picture with Image Capture into a Pictures folder and from there into Photos, then deleted it from the Pictures folder. Photos showed a thumbnail but said that the picture was missing, and I couldn't edit it.

So it seems that when pictures were imported from the phone, it copied them into Photos, but not when imported from a file. Is that true, or is referenced referenced, regardless of the source??

Good point, Rich, but yes, I thought of that! I should have mentioned that here on the forum as well, but I was trying to keep it short.

I actually deleted the photos from my phone (and deleted from Recently Deleted as well, so they're not on the phone at all, nor are they in My Photo Stream) -- and I did that and disconnected the phone and quit and restarted Photos before checking it. (And I checked it again just now.) The photos are still there (not missing) in Photos and are editable.

So again, I don't know if pictures are *copied* into the Photos library when imported from an iPhone but not when imported from a file *if* "copy items to the Photos library" is unchecked. But yes, Terence Devlin, I would not trust it either. Even if it's that way now, the design could change in the future.

Wow, thank you so much, léonie! That is extremely helpful. I think it works the same with digital cameras as with iPhones. If not, people would be (or are) in real danger of deleting their pictures from their camera or phone when they need space and think the pictures are safely in Photos when they aren't! Still, it would also make sense that if the "copy" option is disabled, it won't copy -- and that's what very knowledgeable people think, and it could be that way in the future as well.

Really, Apple should make it more clear what's going on. I tried extensively to find something about this online and was not able to.

Another good point, Rich! I signed in at icloud.com and my test photos are not there -- not in Recently Deleted, either.

Also, it's possible that this behavior has changed over the years. I don't know if it was the same in iPhoto or previously in Photos -- or that it will stay the same in the future.