How to Delete Photos on Mac
When you delete photos on Mac (and videos), they’re placed in the Recently Deleted album in the native Photos app. They’ll stay there for 30 days before being automatically removed from iCloud and your devices, including Mac. Beneath each photo is information on when the photo will get deleted.
Some important points to consider:
If you aren’t using iCloud Photos, any deleted photos and videos in the Photos app on Mac are only removed from that device.You can restore files from the Recently Deleted album at any time within 30 days.Deleting photos and videos from the Photos app won’t save storage on your computer. That only happens when you permanently delete the items from the Recently Deleted album.
Deleting Photos
There are various options you can take to begin deleting images and videos from the Photos app. The path you take will determine whether the items are sent to the Recently Deleted album or immediately deleted from the app. As Apple explains, your choices are to:
Delete selected photos and videos in Days view: Press Delete, then click Delete. The selected items are deleted from your library and placed in the Recently Deleted album.Delete photos and videos from an album, but not from your library: Press Delete. The selected items are deleted from the album only and remain in your library.Delete photos and videos from a Smart Album (for example, Last Import, Favorites, or Videos): Press Command-Delete. The selected items are deleted from your library and placed in the Recently Deleted album.Delete photos and videos and permanently remove them from the Recently Deleted album: Press Command-Delete, then open the Recently Deleted album. Select the items you want to delete permanently, click Delete, then click OK.
Restoring Photos
If you can find your content in the Recently Deleted folder in the Photos app, you can restore it. To do so:
Using Time Machine
If you back up your files using the macOS Time Machine, you can restore images and videos that are no longer available in the Recently Deleted folder — assuming they were backed up, of course. Apple explains: To do this:
In most cases, deleting photos and videos on Mac isn’t the final step. You can restore those files (if you made a mistake) in 30 days. You can also take advantage of your Time Machine backups when applicable. Comment Name * Email *
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