"Delete From Disk" Bypasses Trash Now

[robertv86033157]

Hi, 

I recently upgraded my MacOS to Sonoma (23A344). My Lightroom Classic version is up to date, version 12.5.

Up until this point, my workflow for culling or deleting photos was to go through and reject the ones that I didn't want to keep. Next, I would select all rejected photos and "delete from disk," at which point the photos would appear in the trash. I could then recover any inadvertently deleted photos or empty the trash. 

However, I noticed today that when I am selecting the "delete from disk" option, the files disappear from lightroom and the folder (as expected) but they are NOT appearing in the trash. 

I tried restarting the computer and deleting other items, none of which have any issue, but those deleted files are not showing up in the trash. 

I am working directly from my computer and there is no shortage of free space. When I drag and drop files from the folders to the trash, they appear in the trash. The issue only occurs when deleting via Lightroom.

How do I get items deleted via Lightroom to show up in the Trash again before deleting permanently so I have the safety net of being able to recover them?

[christianb58582241]

No still the issue remains. As many here, I believe that it Adobe has not adapted LrC to a recent change in macos / icloud. I hope Adobe will fix it at the next update of LrC. Meanwhile I am more careful when I delete files.

[Lumigraphics]

Adobe has apparently made a business decision to not support third-party cloud services (Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud, Google Drive, Box.net, etc.) These services all publish compatibility APIs where an app can update and sync files that the user wants to work with. That way, the file is local and the most recent version. If these APIs are not used, files can be missing or the wrong version (for example, another device makes changes and uploads a newer version. My computer would still have the old version until it runs a sync operation.)

This is why we recommend NOT using Adobe apps with cloud services. They might work... until they don't.

On the Mac, any files on network drives are almost always immediately deleted. This is because trash folders can't be shared across client devices. Cloud services work the same way, because of the remote storage component.

[christianb58582241]

Please Johan report again the problem to the Lightroom team. In my case the problem occurs only for the photos synced with iCloud. When the photo is only on my computer and out of iCloud everything goes well. The helpdesk of apple spent a full hour on my computer in checking settings and permission and doing some other tests. For them no doubt that the problem comes from Lightroom.

[JohanElzenga]

There is no reason to report the same problem twice. If you only see this with images synced with iCloud, then this is an Apple issue rather than a Lightroom issue. I strongly advise against placing images on cloud synced services like that, for exactly this reason: they often cause problems in Lightroom.

[sylvainm73666243]

I have the same issue, just got new imac with macos Sonoma, it worked fine for the first 3 days, then all of a sudden got the msg when trying to delete pictures

[Tom341646227dkl]

I have the same problem - deleted photos from Ligthroom Classic won't end up in the trash on my Mac - using LrC 13.1 and Sonoma 14.3 - researched available settings and can't find a solution.

[Lumigraphics]

Are you syncing to a cloud service? If so, DO NOT use those synced folders with Adobe apps.

[christianb58582241]

I spend at lest 3 hours with the helpdesk but they could not fix it. As you i think it a bug of Lithroom, and BTW if it is a problem of setting or permission in Sonoma, then LRC should be at least

able to warn the user and indicate how to fix this issue.

[MBeckerAC]

Same with me: The disk is my MacBook's internal SSD.

[JohanElzenga]

Same with me: The disk is my MacBook's internal SSD.

By @MBeckerAC

Sorry, but a remark like that is totally useless if you do not confirm (or dey) that your images are in an iCloud synced location (like your 'Documents' folder).

[MBeckerAC]

Sorry for this lapsus: It's the local SSD, in folder Documents, which is sycned to iCloud Drive.

[JohanElzenga]

OK, thanks for the update. That makes it clearer and clearer that this is caused by iCloud sync, and so it's likely that only Apple can solve this. If having deleted files in the trash is important to you, then I think you should stop syncing your images in iCloud until this is resolved. It is interesting (and perhaps revealing) that Apple does sync the 'Documents' folder to iCloud, but not the 'Pictures' folder (which sounds to me like the more logical folder to store your pictures?).

[MBeckerAC]

Hi.

I seriously disagree.

1. For me, photos are documents, not "Apple pictures" - simply, because I do not want to use Apple's Photo app. So nothing "revealing" here - additionally, as the Pictures folder can also be synced, with iCloud Photos instead iCloud Drive.
2. The Apple system (Mac OS, iCloud Drive) does not care, whether a document has a DOCX file type, or HEIC or RAF. All (all!, all!!!) files in Documents are correctly handled. Be it by Finder, be for example by Microsoft Office ... all are functions working correctly. Including deleting into trash bin.
3. I use (and need) iCloud Drive as the 1st stage of backup: immediate, working independent from where I am.
4. You may find it strange, or inappropriate: But I am simply requesting that Adobe manages to implement such a basic (and logically trivial) function as deleting into trash bin.
5. It's Adobe Lightroom Classic not working: So Adobe, correct this! ASAP!
6. Not testing such a basic function ... I have no excuse for Adobe. 

[JohanElzenga]

You can disagree, but as long as we do not know what happens 'under the hood' in MacOS, your guess as to who needs to solve this is as good (probably as bad) as mine.

[GoldingD]

For MACOS photos deleted from/via LrC not showing up in Trash, is not unique to Sonoma, nor to LrC v12.5.And it is not unique to LrC. It is an issue in the users MACOS.

You might want to google on something like  "MACOS Deleted Files Do Not Go to Trash Bin", You should find some results like:

https://softwaretested.com/mac/deleted-files-do-not-go-to-trash-bin-get-deleted-instantly-what-shoul...

and

https://www.easeus.com/mac-file-recovery/how-can-i-stop-trash-deleting-files-immediately-on-mac.html

You might also what to search in this community for the same search text, I am fairly sure other postings exist going back years.

like:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/files-deleted-from-disk-not-in-recycle-...

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/deleting-files-issue/m-p/10429959

[robertv86033157]

@GoldingD thanks for the reply. However, this is not relevant as the suggestions in previous threads do not work. The files never appear, even after deleting other items or restarting the computer. There is no lack of storage that would cause the trash to need to be bypassed. I created this thread because I have not seen any suggestions from previous threads that worked. 

[MBeckerAC]

Thank you GoldingD.

Your first 2 links re Mac OS are covering issues, where the user was not aware that there are ways to delete directly, without moving to trash.

And definetely, it is an LrC 13 issue ... as all (I mean: all, really: all!) LrC versions prior to LrC 13 properly moved to trash. I use LrC since more than 10 years.

So my request goes to Adobe: Please correct this urgently. And please let me know, whether the files are really deleted, or still residing somewhere in temp/cache/other disk areas, LrC is using.

[neverds]

I have the same issue--LRC 13.01, Mac Sonoma 14.  No shortage of disk space.  Images on an external HD formatted as APFS.  Whenever I delete, I am told that images will not go to trash.  This is new in the last week or so.  Not sure if due to LR upgrade or mac upgrade.

[neverds]

I closed lightroom classic, rebooted my mac, opened and closed cloud-based apps, and now deleted files go to trash.  I don't know if it's something I did or the issue was fixed.  Maybe this will work for someone else.  

[MBeckerAC]

Hi neverds

which are the "cloud-based apps".
Other than iCloud I have Dropbox and (possibly) OneDrive, because Office365 is installed.

Do you mean to disconnect from iCloud? I do not want to disconnect from iCloud, as all my documents (which includes the Lightroom image folder) is in iCloud ... and I do not want to resync all this data.

What are the names of the apps you have "opened and closed" (--> I guess, you mean closed and re-opened again?)

Thank you.

[neverds]

I closed LR on android and iPad.  I closed Lightroom classic on Mac.  I rebooted my Mac.  I probably also rebooted or restarted my iPad and my android phone.  After that, everything worked fine with trash.  I did not disconnect any docs or photos from iCloud.

[MBeckerAC]

Hi neverds.
Thank you, I will try - with restarting iPad, iPhone. I think, the rest I have tried already.

But I can confirm, it's a problem of iCloud drive.
I created a new catalague and a new image folder, imported some pics and deleted.

• If the image folder is outside iCloud Drive (e.g. in Downloads)
  ---> Deleted images go to the trash bin
• If the image folder is in iCloud Drive (here: subfolder of Documents, I sync "Desktop and documents" to iCloud drive, as online backup
  --> Not going into trash bin.
• The catalogue location is irrelevant - I tested all 4 combinations.

Though narrowed down ...
... no solution for me, I do want to have an online backup into iCloud drive for both my documents and my (RAW) images
... and still "between the chairs" (as we say in German), Apple and Adobe.

[MBeckerAC]

Hi all.

Any idea, how to push this bug to higher higher attention at Adobe?

Especially since it can be reproduced easily:

• If the image folder is within "Documents"
• and "Documents" is synced with iCloud Drive
• Then LrC does not move to trash bin.

If not syncec ... LrC works as it should.

Any idea?

[JohanElzenga]

Do not assume that it is not high enough on Adobe's list, just because there is no fix yet. This is a problem that is clearly caused by syncing (like you just confirmed again), so this could mean that Apple needs to solve it, not Adobe. Most likely Lightroom is just reporting what MacOS is telling it, namely that it can't move the image to the trash and so it will be deleted right away.

[Jao vdL]

There are several different issues in this thread it appears but one of the issues discussed here is that Lightroom Classic (all versions) really does not work with originals stored in cloud synced folders. The reason for this is that most of these services dynamically offload the files to the cloud and replace them with empty (zero bytes) placeholders. This strategy does not work with programs that need direct access such as Classic (and classic is not the only one for which you don't want to do this). So you really should not put your Classic originals in a cloud synced folder as you will almost certainly get catalog corruption and other problems. There are many threads on this in the last many years. It is not specific to the last version. Some cloud services allow you to mark certain folders as always available offline (meaning they keep a full copy instead of offloading the files automatically) and that should help but I would still advice strongly against having your classic catalog(s) refer to files in these folders. It is asking for trouble.

The problem is that these cloud services (including iCloud and Microsoft's OneDrive) rely on a hack to make it appear that files are there when they really aren't. iCloud drive is the worst of the bunch since you can't specify by folder that it should keep the actual files locally. You can only do that globally. 

I actually think Adobe should be much clearer about this in its documentation. Many people are tempted by the ease of iCloud and OneDrive to put their images and catalogs there to have automatic backups and such but this is not a good idea.