How to Sort in photos?

I'm trying to sort my photos in Photo App in one of my libraries and the sort function is greyed out. Not allowing me to re-sort my photos. Any reason why and how can I change this?


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MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)

Posted on Sep 22, 2016 10:43 AM

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4 replies

Sep 22, 2016 12:48 PM in response to Jenniferwillow

You cannot sort the predefined "All Photos" album or the moments. But any album you create yourself.


Instead of offering sort options for the predefined albums Apple provided multiple library items that are sorted differently.

  • "All Photos" will show you the photos sorted by the date of import, ascending, so the most recent imports will always be found at the bottom of the album.
  • "Moments", "Collections", "Years" will be sorted by the capture date, ascending.
  • Your own albums and smart albums have several sort options.

I created my own "MyAllPhotos" album, that is all showing all photos I have not hidden:

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If you are seeing a greyed out sort option in a menu for a predefined album , this greyed out item is telling you how the album is sorted.

Sep 22, 2016 10:52 AM in response to léonie

Got it. So I'd have to create my own album to sort?


The only problem is that I want to delete some pictures and want it sorted first so that I can review all pictures in that date range. So there is no way to do this.

If I sort an then delete in my own album the original files remain?

The library has been created from a merge of various albums using PowerPhotos...

Sep 22, 2016 12:47 PM in response to Jenniferwillow

The only problem is that I want to delete some pictures and want it sorted first so that I can review all pictures in that date range.


That will take a second smart album:

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When you go to delete the photo from that album be sure to delete them according to the following:


Deleting Photos from a Photos 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.


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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.


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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.

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How to Sort in photos?

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