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Mokey D Luffy
Mokey D Luffy
Known Participant
June 11, 2018
Answered

How do I permanently delete photos from Lightroom Classic?

  • June 11, 2018
  • 4 replies
  • 48458 views

I swear that I have followed all of the different methods, tutorials, videos, and threads.  Yet, every time that I delete a photo from Lightroom Classic, it remains on my Hard Drive.  Sometimes, even when it specifically asks me if I want to delete it from the disk, it is still there.  This ends up with me doing a tedious cross referencing to figure out which photos need to be deleted from my Hard Drive, and which ones need to stay.

Please, if someone knows exactly how to make Lightroom delete photos from all parts of Lightroom, and my hard drive, please explain it to me as if I have no intelligence at all.  I appreciate your help.  Thank you.

    Correct answer Rob_Cullen

    how to make Lightroom delete photos from all parts of Lightroom

    In the LIBRARY GRID view- Select file/s in the Grid you want to delete, Press Keyboard [Delete], click [Delete from Disk  {D} ].

    Note: You cannot delete files from the Hard Drive if you are viewing photos in a Collection. (Delete here only removes them from the Collection. They remain in the Library catalog and on the hard-drive)

    delete it from the disk, it is still there.

    Possibly you have Imported the photo from the hard-drive using "Copy". And the file that remains on the Hard-drive is not the same one you deleted with Lightroom.

    4 replies

    R
    Renold24207841m60q
    Participant
    April 26, 2022

    LR has become a time consuming road map for non-pro's who don't have the time for this pile of useless whatever this is. Buy a Mac and use the built in OS. We are cancelling and outta here. Rediculous.

     

      jonw77
      jonw77
      Participant
      September 13, 2020

      Shift+Option+Command+Delete (Mac) will send it to Trash even in Collection....

        Rob_Cullen
        Community Expert
        Rob_CullenCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        September 14, 2020

        This keyboard shortcut works, but not recommended for 'beginners'. Be aware- It would be possible to not knowingly have many photos (even the whole library) selected and this shortcut will 'wipe' them out - no questions asked, no dialog "are you sure?".

         

         

        Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .
          Rob_Cullen
          Community Expert
          Rob_CullenCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
          Community Expert
          June 11, 2018

          how to make Lightroom delete photos from all parts of Lightroom

          In the LIBRARY GRID view- Select file/s in the Grid you want to delete, Press Keyboard [Delete], click [Delete from Disk  {D} ].

          Note: You cannot delete files from the Hard Drive if you are viewing photos in a Collection. (Delete here only removes them from the Collection. They remain in the Library catalog and on the hard-drive)

          delete it from the disk, it is still there.

          Possibly you have Imported the photo from the hard-drive using "Copy". And the file that remains on the Hard-drive is not the same one you deleted with Lightroom.

          Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .
          LiquidFractal
          LiquidFractal
          Known Participant
          May 31, 2023

          Dear GOD why can't Adobe make ONE SIMPLE command marked PERMANENTLY DELETE THIS PHOTO or whatever, accessible from a collection or outside collections or whatever?  WHY does this simple thing have to be so complicated and difficult?

            DdeGannes
            Community Expert
            DdeGannesCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            May 31, 2023

            @LiquidFractal ,

            Lightroom Classic is unique and does not function like a file editing program or like explorer on windows or finder on mac.

            Original images are not actually in Lightroom and , when imported to the Lightroom Catalog, which is a data file, and only contains info about your images.

            Collections in Lightroom Classic are just info about your images assigned to a particular collection or multiple collections for that matter.

            If you delete an original image from within Lightroom Classic from the disk it resides on the image will be sent to the bin/trash and will be removed from Lightroom.

            T wit this is a very old thread and has been correctly answered by Rob Cullen in 2018 and the thread has been so marked. To repeat there are no photos within Lightroom Classic the photos (image files) are in disks attached (internal/ external/ NAS) to your Computer.

             

            Regards, Denis: iMac 27” mid-2015, macOS 11.7.10 Big Sur; 2TB SSD, 24 GB Ram, GPU 2 GB; LrC 12.5,; Lr 6.5, PS 24.7,; ACR 15.5,; (also Laptop Win 11, ver 24H2, LrC 15.0.1, PS 27.0; ) Camera Oly OM-D E-M1.
            Mohit Goyal
            Community Manager
            Mohit GoyalCommunity Manager
            Community Manager
            June 11, 2018

            Hi MokeyDLuffy,

            We're really sorry for all the hassle. Please refer the below video tutorial which can help you removing images from Lightroom catalog only Or deleting the images from the hard disk using Lightroom.

            Deleting Photographs in Lightroom - YouTube

            Let's us know if that helps.

            Regards,

            Mohit

            Mokey D Luffy
            Mokey D LuffyAuthor
            Known Participant
            June 12, 2018

            I watched that video before, and I am certain that I followed the instructions. 

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