Deleting referenced photo files

[nzh999]

Hi,

I'm tidying up my photo library and have a collection of approx. 25k files from various sources. I know there are duplicate and unneeded files within this set. I have imported them into the Photo app with the view to sort through and find the files that aren't needed. Then export the library again before importing into my iCloud Photo Library.

Is there anyway to remove the underlying referenced file when removing the (referenced) file from the Photo app? What seems to happen is that the photo is removed from the library but the original file persists. They are definitely imported as referenced files and the Copy items to Photo library is deselected.

If this isn't possible in Photos - I would appreciate any other apps suggestions that might suit.

Thanks.

Neil.

 

[chabig]

When you delete a photo in Photos, it's not immediately deleted. This lets you change your mind for a while. You'll find these deleted photos in sidebar > Recently deleted. If you right click on that you can delete those contents immediately. That will remove the original photo.

 

[nzh999]

When you delete a photo in Photos, it's not immediately deleted. This lets you change your mind for a while. You'll find these deleted photos in sidebar > Recently deleted. If you right click on that you can delete those contents immediately. That will remove the original photo.

Hi Chabig,

Thanks for your reply. I've just tried those steps and the source file remains even after deleting the recently deleted items in photos. Whatever I do in photos doesn't seem to affect the original file. This isn't how I thought referenced files would work.

 

[chabig]

I’m afraid then that I don’t understand what you mean by “referenced files”. If you mean photos that you imported into Photos, those aren’t referenced at all. Photos maintains its own copies in a database of its own. You can delete the originals by dragging them to the trash.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

As far as I know, Photos will not delete referenced files - it will only delete files stored within the Photos library.

There are photo duplicate-finding apps in Mac App Store that may be helpful for your goals.

My interpretation of Apple's design philosophy for this is that the Referenced Files feature is mostly intended for those who want (sometimes very passionately) to manage their image libraries "their" way, in Finder, rather than trust to the Photos app to manage image storage/organization (and this goes back to the days of iPhoto and Aperture as well, and is true for iTunes/Music when it comes to music files). Those users would most definitely revolt if Photos/iPhoto/Aperture/iTunes/Music did anything that could mess with those externally-curated folders and files. Those users prefer to see Photos as a viewing/editing utility, rather than the central focus of their image storage/organization/editing activity.