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

Thank you so much for the detailed reply. Unfortunately, this is not a good scenario for mr as I use LightRoom to edit my pics. So I definitely prefer having the master files in a separate file structure instead of Photos own library. I think I will keep looking for a solution or just give up on using Photos for good. Again, thanks.

Thanks for the help.

However, following the first steps, yes it removes the photo on my mac air.

Then moving to File, there is no text , mentioning " Show Recently Deleted " or any reference to " delete ", in the drop down File menu.

Is that because deleting the photo, got fixed in an update ?

Thanks in advance.

Ah OK, something has changed, cos its not under File, I had to click on the Sidebar button, that opened up the show recently deleted thing.

Right thanks , now ill give it a go

Thanks

Yes - that is one (one of the less important ones) reason that referenced photos (unchecking the copy to library preference) is not recommended in Photos (or iPhoto for that matter) - when you state you want to manage your original photos you are allowed (and required) to do that

Photos (nor iPhoto) will ever do anything with any photos that its outside it's database - with a referenced library adding and deleting photos is a two step process - and relocating masters is virtually impossible making replacing defective hardware difficult to impossible as are hardware upgrades

a referenced library in Photos will not work the way you want and is simply a bad idea that is strongly not recommended

If that does not work for you then you need to use software that will work the way you want - Photos is not the one

LN

i've read through this entire thread on this subject & I can understand why some have become frustrated.

following all the proper steps (deleting old iphotos libraries so one only has the photos library, using command-delete to remove photos, also opening the 'recently deleted' folder & selecting to delete all from there, rebooting the mac) DOES NOT free up space on the hard drive.

if anyone reading this thread actually know how to fully delete images & free up hard drive space with photos / el captain then please reply - please don't do so if you simply repeat that the steps mentioned already do it - it doesn't !

As to why Apple released an app that can't even do something so simple, one has to ask what their motivation was.

Photos does delete correctly and does release space when done correct - if you are having a problem ten you have a local problem with with your system or your workflow - when you you post a meaningless and incorrect RANT in a long, confusing and convoluted thread no one can help you - if you want help then start a new thread and include details about what you have and h=what you are doing and help is available - Writing an effective Apple Support Communities question

LN

there is no rant !

look, its simple - if you search these forums & elsewhere you will see that lots of users are having the same issue with photos. I have indeed another thread on the forum about this issue. As mentioned I followed every possible way to delete images from photos on a macbook pro with el captain & with the old iphotos library deleted. The images were removed but the size of the photo app did not change. The deletion was done correctly - totally correctly.

What I discovered (sometimes after posting the message above) was that there is a bug (for want of a better word). When a user deletes their old iphotos library (another part of the process to reclaim space on ones hard drive with deletion of photos) all the iphoto folders in its location are removed except one obscure on that is hidden in package contents. It shows up in finder as only being small. For example I had deleted 50gb of photos but did not regain any space. This iphoto sub-folder appeared to be 10mb. I deleted it to trash & then when I emptied the trash it showed 13,000 items to delete & once emptied the 50gb space appeared. I've searched online & have found other references to this. It appears that the correctly deleted images from photos cannot be removed from photos until this obscure folder is removed, Until then they hang in 'other' space and are somehow linked to this iphoto folder. The iphoto folder is not searchable & can only be found by digging around inside various sub folders.

It is a RANT since it only presents an abstract problem and lots of editorial content what no (absolutely none) details that anyone can use to help you

once again to get help start a new thread including details

Photos does delete correctly and does release space when done correctly - if you are having a problem then you have a local problem with with your system or your workflow - when you you post a meaningless and incorrect RANT in a long, confusing and convoluted thread no one can help you - if you want help then start a new thread and include details about what you have and what you are doing and help is available - Writing an effective Apple Support Communities question

LN

sorry, but you're behaving incorrectly - my 'rant' as you put it was in response to the various messages posted by others that have only resulted in the same answers being given that do not work for lots of users. All the 'facts' can easily be found in the various explanations given in the thread.

enough of this.

Deleting Photos from a Photos 1.5 Library

1 - regardless of where you are in the library, i.e. Moments, Collections, albums, smart albums or projects, select the photo(s) you want to delete and use the key combination of Command+Delete to move the photos to the Recently Deleted smart album.

2 - click on the Recently Deleted smart albums in the sidebar.

NOTE 1: If you're using Photos 1.2 or earlier use the File ➙ Show Recently Deleted menu option.

3 - in the Recently Deleted album you can opt to let the photo automatically delete after the 30 day waiting period is up, delete them immediately or restore them to the library.

NOTE 2: deleting a photo from an album, slideshow, book, etc., with the Delete key only deletes the photo from that item. There is no key combination that will delete a photo from a project and move it directly to the Recently Deleted smart album.

NOTE 3: Deleting a photo from a Moment or Collection (the Photos window) or the All Photos window deletes ALL occurences of that photo in the library.

thanks for taking the time to reply to the previous poster - however, this is the same method that lots of folks have already mentioned & for a large number of users it does not work. It appears to delete the photos but the size of the photo library remains the same. My earlier post mentions the bug that is causing this.

i'll try again, but please understand that I really have deleted photos from the photo app correctly - command-delete & then delete all from the recently deleted folder. Earlier I found the rogue iphotos sub folder that seemed to free up some space (reminded: I had already deleted iphoto some time ago - this odd iphoto sub folder was not in any iphoto folder & appeared only to have 10mb of data in it - but when deleting from trash it suddenly said it has 13,000 files in it & then the free space appeared). However:

i've now spent some more hours deleting all the photos from my photos library & then from the 'recently deleted' folder, but the photos are still there in the 'all photos' folder in photo & indeed in the 'masters' folder. So, with all the photos deleted from albums etc. there is still 100gb of data in the photo library. I did read on one thread that one has to also delete them from the 'all photos' folder but then also saw that some folks said either not to do that or that doing so would not free up the space either. There has to be a solution to this !

Run this test:

1 - get a test jpeg file and name it something really unique like "photosdeletetestfile.jpg".

2 - import the file into your Photos library from the Desktop

3 - verify the photo is in the library and then delete the file from the Desktop.

4 - delete the file from the library as I've posted and empty the Recently Deleted album.

5 - download and run Find Any File to search for the file with the file name "photosdeletetestfile.jpg". FAF can search areas that Spotlight can't like invisible folders, system folders and packages.

6 - look in the search results window and see if there's a file with that name that's been found. Check where it is and its size.

If you do find a file then create a new, empty test library and run the same test. Do you get the same results?

thanks for the reply.

so, I tried what you suggested & find my file didn't locate the test image. So, even though I found various references online yesterday telling folks NOT to delete images from the 'all photos' folder in photo I can only assume that info was incorrect & that is where they should be deleted from & not, as mentioned elsewhere, 'only from albums you have created'.

To be extra sure: when deleting images from photo you should delete them from any albums one has created with them in & also from the 'all photos' folder & doing so will prevent one from re-importing the same images that one has stored on an external hard drive (I have them stored there in standard folders - not in a photo app library) - yes ?

thanks

Does this procedure delete photos that have been transferred to iCloud Photos?