Level 1

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How to Delete Apple Photos images from a Library (on an external drive)?

Is there a way to have Apple Photos actually delete 'deleted' photos from an attached external drive when they are deleted from the Library. The dialogue asks if you are sure you want to delete the selected photos from 'this Mac'. To my irritation, after using this app for maybe 6 months now to organise a huge library, I've discovered that the images are not in fact deleted at all. How now to work out which of the many thousands of images in various folders are ones I decided to keep and which are the ones I thought I'd deleted? If Apple were trying to make this confusing, and annoying, they couldn't have done a better job!

How does anyone else deal with this ridiculous 'feature'? Can it be possible that Apple requires us to 'cull' our photos in yet another application before importing them to Photos? This gets crazier and crazier? Why is Apple hobbling what is otherwise a decent if basic application with in so many ways? Surely almost everyone who buys a Mac now has the challenge of organising photos? Why purposely omit obvious necessities, such as camera profiles, for instance? And why allow users to host libraries on external drives only to deny them basic organising features? Argh! Such a mess.

Posted on Dec 6, 2025 8:36 AM

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Old Toad

Level 10

215,238 points

Posted on Dec 6, 2025 11:31 AM

A big

on not using a "referenced" library.

baldoyler: If you open the library without the referenced originals mounted or relocate the referenced originals the link between them is lost and must be relinked one by one. Without the link there can be no edits or projects created.

And no, there's no way to automatically delete the reference original file if the photo is deleted from the library. In selecting "referenced" you're electing to managing the files yourself. The now defunct Apple Aperture was designed to handle referenced files but it was a pay for app.

If you want an app that' powerful and designed to use referenced originals took at Adobe Lightroom Classic, Capture One, digiKam, Mylio Photos, and Adobe Bridge.

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22 replies

Dec 7, 2025 6:34 AM in response to baldoyler

baldoyler wrote: …But aren't the photos then visible only via the Photos app,

That's a good point. And I've thought about that a bit. It's not too different from "What if the floppy disk with all my stuff gets eaten by my dog?" or "What happens if DVD drives aren't included in computers, anymore?" It's always the same, really. The answer is that you back up as best you can. While originals are not altered in the Photos Library, I have all the originals as jpgs (or whatever) on archive drives. (OMG, what if jpeg becomes obsolete??) Also, all of the editing and commenting data can be saved with exports, though maybe not some of the Apple exclusive stuff, like faces. And there are other apps (for instance, PowerPhotos and Photometor) that can retrieve, display, and export all the data, as well. But I'm not sure if there are any Windows apps that have that much control over a Photos Library.

Anyway, I've decided that's really no bigger problem than those others.

baldoyler Author

Level 1

44 points

Dec 8, 2025 7:46 AM in response to Old Toad

Thanks, Old Toad, for that app suggestion. I hadn't heard of it. I'm beginning to think the solution to my issue (at least until I give in to managed libraries!) might be a culling application, so I'm going to explore in that direction (though it doesn't help with what I think may be thousands of photos I thought I'd deleted but are still taking up space in my file structure, argh). But PowerPhotos definitely looks interesting. Thanks again

Yer_Man

Level 10

165,840 points

Dec 6, 2025 11:49 AM in response to baldoyler

All the way back in Lightroom Classic 6 this was possible

Cost of LR6? About $200. Cost of Photos? $0

See the issue?

Dec 6, 2025 12:31 PM in response to baldoyler

Or you just unplug the drive from one computer and plug it in to the other. Double click on the Library. No iCloud involved.

Old Toad

Level 10

215,238 points

Dec 8, 2025 9:16 AM in response to baldoyler

You're welcome. 👍

Dec 6, 2025 10:46 AM in response to baldoyler

baldoyler wrote: I'm not sure what you mean by 'recommended' or what the recommendation is based on. But clearly Photos allows users to have a 'referenced' Library on an external drive (SSD, in my case).

It means that it doesn't work without a great deal of trouble. In spite of the option, a Referenced Library just isn't supported. This User Tip is from several years ago-- we don't run into people purposely using Referenced Files very often:

Disadvantages of a Referenced Library in … - Apple Community

You say, "How does anyone else deal with this ridiculous 'feature'?" but essentially no one else does. A Managed Library works perfectly well on an external Library. I don't really understand why you need the Referenced Library, but Lightroom may work better for you. I use Lightroom Classic as an editor, but not so much as a Library.

Dec 6, 2025 11:55 AM in response to Yer_Man

Yer_Man wrote: … See the issue?

I think that the issue is that very few people have anything to gain from a Referenced Library, so there would be way more stuff to keep up with for rather little value. Saving the originals inside the Photos Library completely solves the problem of keeping up with them. That, in fact, explains a lot about the nature of the Photos app. I find it remarkable, and while I can add helper apps, I see no need to replace it.

How to Delete Apple Photos images from a Library (on an external drive)?