Can't delete any photos with Photo App

Question

Herbie_Potts Author

Level 1

4 points

Can't delete any photos with Photo App

I've been trying to solve this for some weeks.

I can't delete any photos using the photo app. I'm using a 2019 Macbook Pro running Ventura 13.0.1

I've tried (not in order..)

Backing up, repairing and restoring Photos (took about 2 days to complete with a couple of fails along the way)

Trying to Delete from Days, moths etc

Trying to delete from basically every angle - album, library etc.

Turning off any apps that could be accessing the photos

I hope it is something obvious but can't find anything that jumps out at me.

I have a 90GB photo library.

I also have a newer iMac with a separate 150Gb library and have none of these problems. I've crossed checked all settings.

Any ideas?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Nov 19, 2022 9:45 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Richard.Taylor

Level 5

7,578 points

Nov 19, 2022 9:57 AM in response to Herbie_Potts

Just checking:

To remove a picture from an Album you select it and hit delete. The picture remains in other albums and in the Library

To remove a picture from the entire Library you hit command-delete. The picture then appears in "Recently Deleted" where it hangs around for a month and then gets erased.

If that's what you've done, then try these things:

Restart the computer (of course)
Rebuild your Photos Library by closing Photos and re-launching by option-command-clicking the app icon. ✔️
Make a new user and see if the same problem recurs with it
Use another library if you have one, or make a small test Library with a few pictures in it and see if the same thing happens. (Close Photos, option click Photos icon to make new library or choose another)
Start in Safe Mode (different for different computers)

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

Let us know what happens...