Deleting photos in Photos app

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Level 1

20 points

Deleting photos in Photos app

I am having difficulty deleting photos in the Photos app.

Mac OS 13.2.1 (22D68)
Photos Version 8.0 (531.0.100)

I select the photos to delete in the Library and then either hit the delete key (back arrow) or I use the right click and delete function. I get a pop-up asking me to confirm, which I do. Then I get a pop-up indicating "Deleting photos" which spins for ages. When it stops spinning the photos are still in my Library although they are also in the Recently deleted album.

my Photos library is pretty big (29,000 photos and videos). Does Photos have difficulty managing the Library if it gets too big?

Also my Photos library is on an external hard drive...

Any help appreciated!

iMac 24″, macOS 13.2

Posted on Mar 22, 2023 4:44 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

léonie

Level 10

203,475 points

Mar 22, 2023 5:39 AM in response to pjbfeuilla

My library is twice as large and it is still possible to delete photos. Are you using a shared iCloud Photos Library? Then you may not be able to delete photos that someone else has shared to the shared iCloud Photos Library.

Also, you may want to check your external volume, if it is compatible with Photos. Photos may have problems to delete a photo, if the library is on an external voulme with an incompatible file system format, or if the volume is mounted as a network volume, not with a wired connection. Or, if the volume has been used for Time Machine backups or has other backup software installed. This can cause problems with the file ownership.

See: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support Has your external volume been prepared as described here?

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Answer 2

Mar 22, 2023 8:42 AM in response to pjbfeuilla

All that sounds good. What happens if you delete the from "Recently Deleted?" How about if you use command-delete?

I'd try using another library if you have one, or you can make a small test Library with a few pictures in it and see if the same thing happens. (To make a new library, close Photos, then option-click the Photos icon.)

Also, double check the disk permissions in the volume's info window to be sure that "Ignore ownership" is checked. Rare not to, but it happens.

You could also try re-starting in Safe Mode--this bypasses certain potentially disruptive processes. Safe Mode is different for different computers, so see this:

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

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Answer 3

pjbfeuilla Author

Level 1

20 points

Mar 22, 2023 6:48 AM in response to léonie

Thank you so much for your help!

I'm not using a shared iCould Photos Library and the photos I want to delete are ones I have taken and are not shared.

The external hard drive is partitioned and the volume used to store the Photos library is only used for data storage. The other two volumes are used for back-ups. The hard drive was formatted from the beginning for Mac and Photos was working fine until recently. It is connected to my Mac directly via a wired connection.

I wish I could work out what the problem was! Photos does seem to quit rather often but I'm glad it's not because of too big a library! I would move my Photos library to my internal hard drive but don't think there is enough space! Which is why I moved it onto an external hard drive in the first place. I might try resetting which library the Photos app uses, switching back to the one on my internal hard drive and then back to the external hard drive...

Any other ideas are welcome! Thank you :-)

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Deleting photos in Photos app

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