How to Delete Photos on Mac Individually
First, how to delete photos on Mac one by one? Removing individual pictures from your Mac is pretty straightforward. Here’s how to do it:
- Open up the Photos app on your computer and find the picture you want to delete.
- Right-click or control-click the selected image.
- A drop-down menu will appear with a few options. Click on “Delete Photo” to remove the picture.
- Confirm that you want to delete the photo and it will be sent to Trash. You can then empty the trash to permanently remove the photo from your computer.
A word of caution: if the pictures are synced with iCloud, removing them from your Mac will also make them disappear on other devices connected to the cloud. If you accidentally removed iCloud photos and videos, you can restore them within 30 days via the Recently Deleted album.
If you have multiple photos to remove, read on. We’ll explain how to select multiple pictures and how to clear your photo library in bulk.
Deleting Pictures in Bulk in the Photos App
Deleting several pictures at once is also possible with the Photos app. Once you’re in the library, press and hold the Command key on your keyboard. While holding this key, click on each photo you want to delete. Then, control-click on any of them and click “Delete X Photos” in the drop-down menu.
You’ll be asked to confirm that you want to delete the selected photos from your Mac. Click “Delete” and they’ll be sent to the Trash. Remember to empty the trash if you want to permanently delete them!
Deleting All Photos From the Photo Library
What if there are too many photos to select them with the Command key? If you want to delete all photos from the Photos app, it’s best to do it this way:
- Press Cmd + A to select all photos.
- Control-click on any of the selected pictures.
- Click on “Delete X Photos” in the drop-down menu.
- Confirm the action.
You can also click on the first photo in the library, press and hold Shift, then click on the last photo. This will select all pictures in between and you can delete them as explained in the above instructions on how to delete photos on Mac.
How to Delete an Entire Album on macOS
If you have albums in the Photos app, you can delete them too. Here’s how:
- Locate “Albums” on the sidebar on the left.
- Find the album you want to delete and right-click on it.
- A drop-down menu will appear with a few options. Click on “Delete Album” to remove the album from your Mac.
- Confirm that you want to delete the album and it will disappear from the list.
It won’t delete the photos inside the album – they’ll still be in your library. If you want to delete them as well, you can do so by selecting them and following the steps above.
How to Remove Pictures Outside the Photos App
If you have pictures outside the Photos app – for example, in the Downloads folder – you can delete them the same way you would any other file on your Mac. Open the Finder folder where the pictures are located, select the photos you want to delete and control-click on any of them.
A drop-down menu will appear with the option to “Move to Trash”. Click on it and the photos will be sent to the Trash. You can then empty the trash to permanently remove them from your computer.
Now you know how to delete photos on Mac both individually and in bulk! If you have any questions or tips, leave us a comment below. And don’t forget to empty the trash when you’re done if you want to free up disk space!
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