ctstudio
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: losing photos! help!

Please help me.

 

I have somewhat figured out the new PHOTOS, yet preferred iPhoto...or was at least used to it. 

 

What is frustrating is that the program will permanently delete photos/images when Im deleting from an album or photo stream!  A window always warns me that the photos will be deleted from my photo stream, but it deletes them permanently from my ALL PHOTOS.   I used to be so organized and now everything is a mess, because I am afraid of what will delete next. 

 

The last straw, and the reason I'm finally seeking assistance today, is I had duplicate photos in two albums completely unrelated to each other.  I deleted the photos from one album.  I was warned they would be deleted from my PHOTOSTREAM, and I clicked OK.  The photos are now missing from both albums, and the ALL PHOTOS.

iMac

Posted on Jan 28, 2016 10:20 AM

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ctstudio

Q: losing photos! help!

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Pmintz25,Helpful

    Pmintz25 Pmintz25 Jan 28, 2016 11:06 AM in response to ctstudio
    Level 4 (1,634 points)
    Jan 28, 2016 11:06 AM in response to ctstudio

    I haven't used Photostream since it first came out so this may be far off what you are experiencing, but I think you may be missing one or two steps.

     

    Here's what I mean: Photos in your Photostream will show up in Albums and in All Photos, but they are not physically stored on your computer/phone. So when you delete it from the stream, it deletes from all devices. If you can import or make a copy of the photo, and put it into your Photos library, it will still be there if you delete the image from the stream. Even if you are organizing images into albums, and can see the photo in multiple albums, it is not "physically" in those albums. Say you have 3 albums all with the same image, you don't have 3 copies of said image. They are all drawn from the photostream. So by deleting the image from the stream, it is removed from all devices/albums that are drawing from the stream.

     

    So they are deleting from everywhere because the only version of the image is in the photostream. If you save a copy to the Photos library, you can delete it from the stream and it will stay on your computer.

     

    Best of luck and I hope that helps/makes sense

     

     

    EDIT: Take a look at this: Archive or make copies of your iCloud data - Apple Support

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Jan 28, 2016 10:48 AM in response to ctstudio
    Level 10 (84,632 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jan 28, 2016 10:48 AM in response to ctstudio

    We need details - What OS version and version of Photos are you using? What are your iCloud settings in the System preferences, Photos preferences adn on each IOS device. What is your exact detailed workflow?

     

    LN

  • by ctstudio,

    ctstudio ctstudio Jan 28, 2016 11:07 AM in response to Pmintz25
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2016 11:07 AM in response to Pmintz25

    Great! that made sense!   now where do I save to library?

  • by ctstudio,

    ctstudio ctstudio Jan 28, 2016 11:13 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2016 11:13 AM in response to LarryHN

    I think I'm on El Capitan for OS but it has been doing this since the iPhoto -> PHOTOS change.  if theres more, Im not sure.

     

    version of photos, again, not sure.

     

    I have photostream checked for iCloud settings, but the other two options are unchecked.  I don't need to subscribe to someone else's albums. the other mentioned library, but I'm not interested in storing in the cloud, just on my mac.

    \

  • by Pmintz25,

    Pmintz25 Pmintz25 Jan 28, 2016 11:38 AM in response to ctstudio
    Level 4 (1,634 points)
    Jan 28, 2016 11:38 AM in response to ctstudio

    To check Version numbers:

    Mac:  > About This Mac (will show a version number)

    Photos: Photos > About Photos

    iPhone: Settings > General > About: look for version again.

     

    First enable the option to keep originals on the Mac

    In Photos:

    Photos > Preferences > iCloud > make sure "Download originals to this Mac" is selected

    Also: Photos > Preferences > General > Impoting: check "Copy items to the Photos library"

    Per THIS article:

    • If you want to download a few photos or videos, you can use iCloud.com to download the most recent version of photos and videos to your computer.

     

    Note that Photostream only stores photos for 30 days. You can also save images from Photostream to your iPhone's Camera Roll. Then plug into your computer and upload them using Photos or Image Capture

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Jan 28, 2016 12:29 PM in response to ctstudio
    Level 10 (84,632 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jan 28, 2016 12:29 PM in response to ctstudio

    and

     

    What is your exact detailed workflow?

     

    specifically

     

    I deleted the photos from one album.  I was warned they would be deleted from my PHOTOSTREAM, and I clicked OK.  The photos are now missing from both albums, and the ALL PHOTOS.

     

    how exactly did you delete from the album

     

    LN

  • by ctstudio,

    ctstudio ctstudio Jan 28, 2016 11:36 PM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2016 11:36 PM in response to LarryHN

    I selected them all. right clicked and chose Delete. then clicked ok at the warning.

  • by ctstudio,

    ctstudio ctstudio Jan 28, 2016 11:46 PM in response to Pmintz25
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2016 11:46 PM in response to Pmintz25

    Pmintz25,

     

    I want to avoid storing in iCloud, so I didn't have that box checked in your first train of steps. Is this the only way to solve my issue? I feel it would be forcing the use of iCloud.

     

    The second train under the general tab...I did have "copy items to the photo library " checked.

     

    I would also like to know how to access my photo library.  I thought  I was accessing it all along!

  • by ctstudio,

    ctstudio ctstudio Jan 28, 2016 11:50 PM in response to ctstudio
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2016 11:50 PM in response to ctstudio

    my mac OS is Yosemite 10.10.5, but i think i see an update notice

     

    my photos 1.0.1 

  • by Pmintz25,

    Pmintz25 Pmintz25 Jan 29, 2016 9:53 AM in response to ctstudio
    Level 4 (1,634 points)
    Jan 29, 2016 9:53 AM in response to ctstudio

    Then you are correct; do not enable iCloud Library. But if you have the option checked to Copy items to the Photos Library, the only way to test if they are actually storing the photos is to turn off Photo Stream, and see if they are still on your computer. Don't worry, Photo Stream stores your photos for 30 days so you will not lose those photos if you turn Photo Stream off temporarily.

     

    This is the only thing I could find from Apple on saving photos from Photostream, aside from "Copy items to the Photos Library":

    Screen Shot 2016-01-29 at 9.43.14 AM.png

    This makes it seem like you HAVE to save the images to your iOS device first, and then import them into either Photos or Image Capture. I would try turning Photo Stream off and check to see if the images are still there, then turn it back on. It seems that deleting once version of the image deletes all instances, Photo Stream and Photos Library. This may be expected behavior.