How do i delete photos from my library and just keep in my albums? I hate scrolling thru thousands of photos in my library and half are already in albums but the other half i want to keep but makes it difficult to find those that are not in albums
iPhone XR, iOS 17
If you move the pictures out of the Photo's app and into a set of Folders on your Mac's disc and then synch them with your iPhone they will appear in Photos on your phone as albums in a section called "From My Mac". This is what I do to keep my photos organized like I want them. The downside is that if you use your phone as your main camera (I don't) then you have to download pics into the folders on a regular basis.
iOS 18 changed the way the Photos library works so although this solution still puts your synched albums in the "From My Mac" section they will now also appear in the general library which is a pain for my use-case, but it looks like you're still on 17 so all should be good until you update. It'll still work but it's not as good in 18
If you're not sure that this might work for you why not try it with just a couple of folders. Create a folder called something like "iPhone Synched Photos" and put a couple of named folders into it with a few pics in them and synch them to your phone - you have to select "iPhone Synched Photos" in the Photos tab of the Finder Synch window. Once synched then in iPhotos they folders will appear in the "From My Mac" section.
If you move the pictures out of the Photo's app and into a set of Folders on your Mac's disc and then synch them with your iPhone they will appear in Photos on your phone as albums in a section called "From My Mac". This is what I do to keep my photos organized like I want them. The downside is that if you use your phone as your main camera (I don't) then you have to download pics into the folders on a regular basis.
iOS 18 changed the way the Photos library works so although this solution still puts your synched albums in the "From My Mac" section they will now also appear in the general library which is a pain for my use-case, but it looks like you're still on 17 so all should be good until you update. It'll still work but it's not as good in 18
If you're not sure that this might work for you why not try it with just a couple of folders. Create a folder called something like "iPhone Synched Photos" and put a couple of named folders into it with a few pics in them and synch them to your phone - you have to select "iPhone Synched Photos" in the Photos tab of the Finder Synch window. Once synched then in iPhotos they folders will appear in the "From My Mac" section.
It is not possible to delete photos from the library, but keep them in the albums. The library is the place where all photos are stored.
The albums are not storing your photos but are using the photo in the library. The albums are just an index to the library.
As a work-around: When you want to distribute your new photos too albums and easily see, which photos have not yet been added to albums, add all new photos to an album of your own. Name this album for example "My Recent Photos". Then distribute the photos to other albums starting from "My Recent Photos". Once you have added a photo to a different album, remove it from "My Recent Photos". It will stay in the other album. Proceed, until "My Recent Photos" is empty.
Or tag all photos you have added to albums with the favorite heart. Then you can see at a glance, which photos still need attention.
I am using the Shared iCloud Photos Library to to split my Photos Library in two separate sets of photos - the photos I have organized in albums, have been edited and are tagged with titles will be moved to the Shared iCloud Photos Library. They will remain in their albums, are no longer visible in the library, when I am viewing my personal library. The Personal Library is the construction site with the photos that still need attention, while the Shared iCloud Photos Library is the exhibition room with the finished photos, see: Using the Shared iCloud Photos Library to have two separate libraries on all devices - Apple Community
Delete Photos in library /keep in albums
