Dennis Hagen
Level 1 (34 points)
iPhone

Q: How can I delete a photo from the Selfies album?

How can I delete a photo from the Selfies album in iOS 9 Photos on iPhone 6s?

I understand that you cannot get rid of the Selfies album (bummer), but I'm very frustrated that you can't even delete a single image from the folder!

iPhone 6s, iOS 9.0.2

Posted on Nov 27, 2015 5:34 PM

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Dennis Hagen

Q: How can I delete a photo from the Selfies album?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Old Toad,Helpful

    Old Toad Old Toad Dec 3, 2015 1:38 PM in response to Dennis Hagen
    Level 10 (141,773 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Dec 3, 2015 1:38 PM in response to Dennis Hagen

    Delete it from its Moment.  That will get it out of the Selfie album.

    OTsig.png

  • by Dennis Hagen,

    Dennis Hagen Dennis Hagen Dec 3, 2015 1:37 PM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (34 points)
    iPhone
    Dec 3, 2015 1:37 PM in response to Old Toad

    Thanks Old Toad, but deleting the photo from Moments will also delete the photo from any other album where the photo appears.

    I want to delete the photo from JUST the Selfies album.

    Something I noticed while exploring your suggestion, is that I can only delete a photo from Moments from Photos on my iMac; I cannot delete a photo from Moments from one of my iOS 9.1 devices.

  • by léonie,Helpful

    léonie léonie Dec 3, 2015 3:56 PM in response to Dennis Hagen
    Level 10 (109,052 points)
    iCloud
    Dec 3, 2015 3:56 PM in response to Dennis Hagen

    The Selfie album is a smart album. It essentially is holding all photos that have been taken with a front camera of your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch.  My Photos library is showings all the photos I took of the ceilings of a church with the iPhone lying flat on the ground as "Selfie" just because they are front camera photos, rather silly.

     

    To remove a photo from the Selfie album you have to remove the EXIF  lens tag. That would require brute force.  Export the photo from Photos, then edit in an external editor that removes the EXIF data and reimport it.  I noticed on my iPhone that editing a photo in Pixelmator removed it from the Selfie album.

  • by Dennis Hagen,

    Dennis Hagen Dennis Hagen Dec 3, 2015 3:58 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (34 points)
    iPhone
    Dec 3, 2015 3:58 PM in response to léonie

    Wow, I was hoping to perform this task without using "brute force"!

    But thank you for clarifying that you can't delete a photo from JUST the Selfie folder without going outside the Apple environment to edit the file.

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Dec 4, 2015 8:26 AM in response to Dennis Hagen
    Level 10 (141,773 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Dec 4, 2015 8:26 AM in response to Dennis Hagen

    Why not just ignore the Selfies smart album. 

  • by Alvin Kimball,

    Alvin Kimball Alvin Kimball Jul 1, 2016 10:02 AM in response to Dennis Hagen
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Jul 1, 2016 10:02 AM in response to Dennis Hagen

    You think you have it bad!?  This is a picture I took of my left breast after I had a mole removed 4 days ago.  This photo is now permanently stuck in my "Selfie" album, thanks to Apple not allowing us to remove images.  Just call me nipple man.  Can you tell which one is the real nipple????

     

    Apple, I have legitimate medical reasons for not wanting to delete this image.  Why do you not allow selfies photos to be removed?  I tried hiding the photo... that doesn't work.

     

    <Edited by Host>

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Jul 1, 2016 9:29 AM in response to Alvin Kimball
    Level 10 (141,773 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jul 1, 2016 9:29 AM in response to Alvin Kimball

    A possible workaround is to get the photo to your Mac, open it with another app like Preview or an image editor and take a screenshot of it.  Put the screenshot on your iPhone and delete the selfie.

     

    Or take another photo of the mole but not with the selfie lens. Use the lens that will force you into a trial and error mode.  Might take a couple of tries to get a good one.  Then delete the selfie.

  • by Alvin Kimball,

    Alvin Kimball Alvin Kimball Jul 1, 2016 9:37 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Jul 1, 2016 9:37 AM in response to Old Toad

    Thanks for the suggestion and definitely I'll give that a shot... I had just noticed this issue this morning while at the office showing a picture to a co-worker of all things.  You can't imagine the embarrassment I felt as I opened my 'selfie' album right in front of him.  I would never have guessed that Apple would automatically include images taken by the front camera in this album...

     

    I use the front camera all the time and not usually for selfies, including looking into wall cavities or other places where I can't see.  Those images I can (and do) delete, but not this one.  This photo is unique as it is a photo the day the bandage came off.

     

    Appreciate the reply.

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Jul 1, 2016 9:41 AM in response to Alvin Kimball
    Level 10 (141,773 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jul 1, 2016 9:41 AM in response to Alvin Kimball
    would never have guessed that Apple would automatically include images taken by the front camera in this album...

    Don't blame Apple.  Blame the Kardashians.

  • by Alvin Kimball,

    Alvin Kimball Alvin Kimball Jul 1, 2016 9:43 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Jul 1, 2016 9:43 AM in response to Old Toad

    ... me bad ... lol