Photos for OS X: Delete photos and video

Delete photos and video

You can delete selected photos and video from your library.

Delete photos and videos

Do one of the following:

  • Delete a photo from an album, but not from your library: Select the items you want to delete, then press Delete.

  • Delete a photo from a moment (placing it in the Recently Deleted album): Select the items you want to delete, press Delete, then click Delete.

  • Delete a photo from a moment or album (placing it in the Recently Deleted album): Select the items you want to delete, then press Command-Delete.

Deleted photos and video aren’t immediately removed from your library; they’re placed in the Recently Deleted album, where they remain for the number of days shown, and then are deleted. You can recover the items before that period of time (see the next task). If you have iCloud Photo Library turned on, the photos may remain in iCloud up to 40 days and then are removed from all your devices that use iCloud Photo Library. If you’re not using iCloud Photo Library, your deleted photos are removed from your Mac only.

Restore recently deleted items

Deleted items remain in the Recently Deleted album for the number of days shown, and then are deleted permanently. You can view recently deleted items and restore them back into your Photos library.

  1. Choose File > Show Recently Deleted.

  2. Select the photos you want to restore.

  3. Click Recover.

    To delete recently deleted items immediately, select the items, then click Delete.

If you use Time Machine to back up your computer, you may be able to recover items after they are deleted permanently from your Mac or iCloud.

For more information on using Time Machine, see Restore a Photos library from a Time Machine backup.

Last Modified: Sep 1, 2016
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