Storage still showing as full after deleting files in Lightroom (macOS)

Report · Jul 14, 2022

Hi, having issues with storage, syncing and Lighroom.

I had a notification in Lightroom that my Creative Cloud storage was full so I deleted half my Lightroom photos using the app. I then went onto lightroom.adobe.com to make sure they'd deleted there too. I also checked assets.adobe.com, which is empty. However, I'm still getting the notification that it's full whenever I use Lightroom. It won't sync because of this.

Do I just need to wait for it to sort itself out or is there anything I can do?

Thanks.

{Title edited by Moderator}

Report · Jul 14, 2022

Hi there,

We are sorry about the storage issue experienced.

Can you please help us with your registered e-mail ID? Would you mind re-login into the app? Is the app up to date? Which version of the application are you using?

Did you try deleting the files permanently? If not, try these steps: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/delete-files-permanently.html.

We're here to help, just need some info.

Thanks,

Ranjisha

Report · Jul 14, 2022

In looking at the account associated with your forum email, it appears the deletes have not yet synced from your app. Can you please re-open the app where you deleted the photos and make sure the Sync status is up to date. If necessary, you can delete the photos a second time if they are still showing in the app.

-Peter

Report · Jul 15, 2022

Hi Peter,

Both my phone app for Lightroom and Lightroom on my Mac will not sync as they still think it's full even after deleting. The photos are deleted in both apps.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

Report · Jul 15, 2022

My email address is my work email, <removed for privacy>

I deleted and reinstalled the app, logged in again. No change. Yes I followed those instructions to delete originally. The photos are definitely gone. But the app will not sync and is stuck thinking storage is full. Please let me know what to do. Thanks!

Report · Jul 17, 2022

Can anyone help with this, please? It's been several days now and I really need it to work. Thanks!

Report · Jul 17, 2022

Log into your account and Lightroom.adobe.com. Delete images from there. Then check the recently deleted collection and permanently delete them.

Report · Jul 18, 2022

Checking in here - sorry I was travelling yesterday. It looks like you were able to delete as needed, based on the server logs associated with your account. Please note that you need not remove items from trash in order to free up storage -- Lightroom does not count trash storage against quota. Let us know if there's any more follow up needed here.

-Peter

Report · Aug 15, 2024

Hello @peter-b @Ranjisha Sengupta – I am another user having this same issue.
Here's what I've tried:

Logged in/out on the application
Deleted thousands of photos
Permanently deleted thousands of photos from trash
Updated my Mac OS and Lightroom app
Tried to screenshare with support but it took too long, was glitchy, and I unfortunately had to drop for a conflict. The first thing the service rep told me to do was permanently delete more files from the trash.

No matter how many thousands of files I delete (Over 10,000 now) my cloud storage does not budge.

This appears to be a common issue based on other online forums. Can you please advise a solution?

Report · Aug 16, 2024

I have the same issue, also I cant seem to open local folder of Jpegs because theyre not "Editable files"... Lightroom is so buggy lately and I think it's the push for cloud subscriptions that result in a hard to use product locally.

Report · Aug 18, 2024

If your app is not syncing because the cloud storage is full also the delete commands do not sync. This is indeed an oversight in my opinion. The way around this is to instead delete images in the web app by pointing a web browser to https://lightroom.adobe.com . That will work to free up space and should at some point allow the desktop and mobile app to start syncing again.

Report · Aug 19, 2024

We are not able to reproduce this problem. Please be aware that Lightroom does NOT count items in your trash against your quota, so emptying the trash will not help. If you do see a problem of syncing not happening when trying to delete items, please include details on what you have tried, including screenshots.

-Peter

Report · Aug 20, 2024

Thank you @PeterB2. I've outlined the things I've tried below. I understand that Lightroom doesn't count deleted items against your storage, however the first thing the service rep asked me to do was empty my trash folder.

Here's what I've tried:

Logged in/out on the application
Deleted thousands of photos
Permanently deleted thousands of photos from trash
Updated my Mac OS and Lightroom app
Tried to screenshare with support but it took too long, was glitchy, and I unfortunately had to drop for a conflict. The first thing the service rep told me to do was permanently delete more files from the trash.
I have also accessed my Lightroom account from the website. I deleted the files within the desktop app.

I do have a support ticket up for this but based on how cumbersome the screenshare process was, I need to find a block of time in my work week where I can resume a convo with support.

Report · Aug 20, 2024

Sorry this has been such a difficult experience for you. It is true that for other Creative Cloud products, files in the trash count against your quota, but Lr is an exception. Support was possibly just being thorough since they are puzzled as to what your issue is, as am I.

I will private message you to try to understand this issue better.

-Peter

Report · Aug 25, 2024

Was there a resolution to this issue? I have the same one now (two years later). Did the same things as the original poster.

Report · Aug 26, 2024

We haven't heard back from @maureenchunta on this but I will suggest the same to you -- Can you try deleting some more photos via lightroom.adobe.com? You need only put them in the trash, no need to delete further. I want to confirm that you are able to do that, and also see if that changes anything else associated with syncing your account.

Let us know after you've tried that. We are not aware of any issues with deleting data, so would like to understand this better.

Thanks,

Peter

Report · Aug 26, 2024

Hi Peter. This is what I see when I log into Lightroom.Adobe.com.

0 images in Deleted Folder and it says I'm using 92 GB out of 20? How is this possible? Where even are those photos?

I have never felt so confused by the UI of any software application. 😞

Report · Aug 26, 2024

I would like to add that I have already deleted thousands of photos via Lightroom CC on the desktop application (and permanently deleted them from there as well).

Would it be possible to extend some GB for free so I can sync my photos? I was hoping to be able to sync and edit from my Lightroom mobile app (while on this vacation), but I can't now due to this deletion/GB issue.

Report · Aug 26, 2024

Correct, you don't have any deleted photos, but you have many Gb of non-deleted photos on our servers. Can you please review the non-deleted ones instead? That should show you what is in the cloud. It is possible that the deletions that you did on the desktop did not sync so if you can also retry and let me know, that would be helpful. Right now, we don't have enough info to diagnose this issue.

I will set you up with some temporarly Lr storage, but if you use other Creative Cloud storage, you will still be in a over-quota state there.

Report · Aug 26, 2024

Thank you - I’ll go back and look at those non-deleted ones.

Report · Sep 05, 2024

Hello @PeterB2 thank you for continuing to look into this issue. I'm on vacation until mid September and will get back to you asap when I'm back with my computer.

Report · Aug 31, 2024

Hi I am having the same issue. I have deleted thousands of photos from my Lightroom (both on PC and double checked on mobile app) and also cleared them from the deleted folder. I also made sure they were gone from the website. My storage has not even budged by a fraction of a gigabyte. this is impossible given the amount of photos I deleted and the sizes they were. I am wondering if because it is too full to sync, it's not even syncing the fact that there are now less photos. I tried everything, logging out and in again, restarting the app on my phone and laptop, updating the app, etc. Please help me. Thank you

Report · Sep 02, 2024

I too am having this same problem currently - I have deleted over 4k images and the available storage says the same as it did before mass deletion. I have checked on my online server and the images have deleted from there, too. I've synced the app across devices and they all say the same amount of photos (which was after deletion, so they've definitely gone). The remaining storage total says the same.

I'm finding this app to be increasingly frustrating and glitchy - it can't seem to keep up with my workflow as a professional photographer. Please can someone advise here on why this is happening on multiple accounts to multiple customers and what the solution / offer from Adobe is here.

Thank you.

Report · Sep 03, 2024

We are not able to reproduce this problem and will need more info. If you can share the storage amount you are seeing, we will check if it matches what we see on our servers.

Thanks,

Peter

Report · Sep 03, 2024

In investigating this issue, we are seeing that some folks here are adding new photos at the same time that photos are being deleted. If you are in a state where you are over quota and have tried to add more photos, when you delete enough to get under the quota, Lightroom is likely automatically adding photos that have previously failed to sync.

Also note that we don't count Lightroom Classic smart previews against quota, so in cases where those are deleted, you will not see a change in quota.

What would best help us here is to

- turn off sync

- go to lightroom.adobe.com and take a screenshot of the storage used

- delete some photos (no need to delete them from trash)

- wait a few minutes (in case of slow sync)

- refresh view (important) and take a new screenshot of the storage used

- contact us

We would really like to get to understand this issue, so your help here is most appreciated.

-Peter