Can't delete 'from my Mac' photos on iPhone 14

Hi.


For a long time I've been having very old pictures on my iPhone, and I've been trying to delete them. I've found multiple users with the same issue, but I can't find a way to delete them at all, it's getting a bit frustrating now...


I've deleted the images on iCloud, but they're still on my iPhone; I've connected my iPhone to my Macbook, but they're also not there. These pictures were from my old Macbook Air, that I no longer use, nor have access to, and I feel like this might be the issue. How can I delete these pictures for good?


Thank you in advance :)

iPhone 14, iOS 17

Posted on Jan 25, 2024 12:02 PM

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Posted on Jan 27, 2024 12:39 AM

Have you tried to sync your iPhone with your new Mac to replace the old synced photos with new synced photos, but with an empty selection? Try it as described here: Sync your photos using the Finder - Apple Support

But use the option "selected albums" and select no album, so the new syncing will just erase the previous sync.


You could also use brute force - I can't test this right now, because my iPhone is already syncing with iCloud. But previously all synced photos in "From my Mac" would be erased, when we tuned on iCloud Photos on the iPhone. You would just have to enable iCloud Photos temporarily.


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3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 27, 2024 12:39 AM in response to flipptrs

Have you tried to sync your iPhone with your new Mac to replace the old synced photos with new synced photos, but with an empty selection? Try it as described here: Sync your photos using the Finder - Apple Support

But use the option "selected albums" and select no album, so the new syncing will just erase the previous sync.


You could also use brute force - I can't test this right now, because my iPhone is already syncing with iCloud. But previously all synced photos in "From my Mac" would be erased, when we tuned on iCloud Photos on the iPhone. You would just have to enable iCloud Photos temporarily.


Jan 26, 2024 7:57 AM in response to flipptrs

If the pictures are in the "From My Mac" album, then, while they are shown by Photos, they weren't loaded through the Photos app, and they aren't controlled by Photos. You can't use Photos to delete them.


But you can use your Mac. If you connect the phone to your Mac with a cable, then you can replace the "From My Mac" pictures with new ones, or none at all. You may want to use the app Image Capture to help deal with the phone-Mac connection.

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Can't delete 'from my Mac' photos on iPhone 14

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