How to delete pictures permanently from Photos app in my entire mac?

Here is my experience for what it's worth - pretty much the same as yours and not resolved. I exported all my photos from Photos to Lightroom (10,000 photos) with the intention of giving up Photos altogether. in the process many photos I had previously deleted were reinstated (to my great frustration). I then learnt about the relationship between my old iPhoto Library and my Photos Library so I deleted my iPhoto Library. Then with all my photos safely in Lightroom and backed up externally, I "permanently" deleted them all from inside Photos using the same process as you. My Photos Library went down in size from about 150GB to 50GB (about the size of my Lightroom library). The Photos app is showing no photos - it is empty (including in "recently deleted"). So why is the Library 50GB? I went into the "package" and found all my photos still in the Masters folder. I have no idea how to safely get rid of them.

if you are not going to use Photos then simply trash the Photos library and empty the trash

If tha tis not what you want then start a new thread with the specifies of y0our system and you exact question

LN

I am having the opposite problem. I know about going to the Photos library and showing package contents. I deleted the photos I don't want directly from there. And I emptied my trash. But every time I open the Photos app, they are still there. I went back and deleted the thumbnails of them and the previews, and trashed those, but the photos are still there, clickable, viewable, zoomable. How is this possible? They must be hiding somewhere else!

I know about going to the Photos library and showing package contents. I deleted the photos I don't want directly from there.

If you know about that then you must also know that you have destroyed your photos library beyond repair and will now have to start over with a new library - you must NEVER use the finder to make any changes inside the Photos library - with what you have done you do not have a working Photos library and will have to start over from scratch

LN

LN is right, as always! Don't delete anything from your Photo Library. In my above post, I was only illustrating proof that the photos are wiped from your computer, people. It doesn't mean you should go into the Photo Library and remove anything. The library is much more complex than just pictures in a folder. In my post above, I specifically say not to go poking around in there. Like Larry mentioned, if you've deleted anything from the Library, then you've probably corrupted your Photo Library and you'll need to start over from scratch.

I didn't know this, of course, or I wouldn't have done it. Thanks for the advice.

Choosing to immediately delete all via the button on that page does in fact permanently delete them all.

Where are you seeing the files still on the hard drive? I learned that photos imported into a Photos library have a copy added to my Users/Home/Library/Applications Support/iLifeAssetManagement/assets/sub folder. It does not get removed from there when the photo is deleted from the Photos library.

As a test I closed Photos, moved the contents of the iLifeAssetManagement folder to the Trash Bin in the dock and relaunched Photos. There appears to be no adverse affect on the library.

If you decide to cull out that folder be sure to have a current backup of the library just in case.

I have deleted from finder in iPhoto and it is screwed up as you and others said.... but I have no idea how to 'start over from scratch' I am on MacBook Pro late 2011 using Yosemite 10.10.4

Luckymick wrote:

I have deleted from finder in iPhoto and it is screwed up as you and others said.... but I have no idea how to 'start over from scratch' I am on MacBook Pro late 2011 using Yosemite 10.10.4

Best solution is to restore your backup from before you did this

other than that right click on the iPhoto library and show package contents - coy the masters folder to the desktop - hold down the option key while launching iPhoto and create a new library - drag each folder form the masters folder to the iphoto icon in the dock to import the photos

Once you have a working library and are pleased then you can trash the bad library and empty the trash

LN

Ive just deleted my Photos content using the advice posted here by sbunns, and it hasn't freed up any space on my HD.

I opened Photos, selected all 14,844 images and deleted them.

Went to Recently Deleted Photos and clicked on delete.

When going to About This Mac > Storage I don't have any more free space than when I started.

I opened Photos, selected all 14,844 images and deleted them.

If you're going to do that then just drag the Photos library package to the Trash bin in the Dock and empty it. It's the most effective way to do what you did.

And forget about the About This Mac ➙ Storage. It's notoriously inefficient and erroneous. The best indication is to Control (right) - click on your hard drive's icon on the Desktop and select Get Info from the contextual menu. In the Info window will be the amount of used and free space:

If that size doesn't jive with what you think it should be reindex the disk for Spotlight according to this Apple document: Spotlight: How to re-index folders or volumes - Apple Support

Rather than use Photos of delete since you want everything gone simply drag the Photos library to the trash and empty the trash - of course if the original iPhoto library is still there this will release very little space as they share the masters and previews and they will still be there - Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support

LN

Thanks for the reply.

I didn't realise that Photos & iPhoto images shared the same space. I only use iPhoto and regret upgrading to Photos, but of course you have to update the operating system eventually.

Did exactly as instructed here.

Deleted over 1000 pictures and 50 large movie files.

And actually lost available space on my hard drive.

So confused as to why this is so difficult.

Well you did something wrong - but threadJacking an existing thread with several different problems is not a good way to get help

Please start a new thread including all the specifics about you unique problem and exactly what you have done to resolve it in detail

see Writing an effective Apple Support Communities question for assistance in writing your question

LN