Trying to delete 'synced' pictures in Photoshop Elements 2024

[bstonehouse]

I have a strange problem using that has come to light.

I have started an exercise to reduce the number of photos I have in Photoshop Elements and have noticed that out of 49,000 photos that about 1400 of them have the blue tick in the top right corner of the thumbnail that says 'synced. I have never knowingly synced anything in PSE as I don't have the need to use Creative Cloud as I only use my Mac for anything Photo related. These 1400 photos are spread randomly over 20 years worth of photos with no pattern to why they have been synced at all.

I have logged onto Adobe and found my Creative Cloud but the Files section is empty so I cannot see how these photos are marked as synced,  I have no clue how or when this has happened.

My problem is that I cannot delete any of them - instead of the normal delete box I get one that says

I hit OK but the files does not delete from the Catalog.

I wonder how it will be possible for me to ever Delete any of these synced photos ?.

All I need is some way to remove the Tick from the photos in the Catalog then I can delete them normally.

If anyone has any suggestions as to how these photos got synced or how I can remove this tick I'd appreciate it.

[Glenn 8675309]

Thiis should splain everything:

https://helpx.adobe.com/elements-organizer/using/autosync.html

[bstonehouse]

Thanks Glenn

My problem is that I have no photos showing in Creative Cloud but PSE thinks I have 1400 photos synced that I have never knowingly synced.

These photos have the synced tick on them and I have no way of deleting them as although it says they are being deleted from the cloud they are not there to delete ??

All I want is a way of getting the tick marker removed so I can delete them normally.

[Glenn 8675309]

Adobe express can hog storage space.   

Elements web?  You ever use it?   I've uploaded lots of photos there to play with- pluse some videos- which all add up in spae reeally quick.

GO HERE:  Look around- I'm willing to bet that is where you will find your cloud stuff.

https://assets.adobe.com/cloud-documents

Be sure you navigate to the elements folder- which I just did, I'm deleting everything there- about 4GB of stuff.  I don't care about deleting important things, I have backups of backups.

[Glenn 8675309]

As I dig around my cloud documentds some more I came across this folder of stuff I had no idea that was being synced. 

[bstonehouse]

No, I have never used Elements Web. I tried the link and that is the same as what I see in Creative Cloud - it is empty.

[Greg_S.]

@bstonehouse, you have to uncheck the box shown in your screenshot.  Otherwise, the image will only be deleted from the Cloud. 

[bstonehouse]

I have tried both with and without the tick and nothing happens - Elements thinks they are synced but the cloud is empty so Elements cannot delte them with deleting from the cloud ? I don't understand how the synced marker has got on to the photos when there is nothing in the cloud. 

These photos could have been marked for years without me knowing, it is only because I am trying to delete some of them that I have noticed it.

I am now looking for a way to remove the markers from the affected photos but am getting nowhere with that.

[Greg_S.]

To see the files that are synched from Elements to the Cloud, click on the Elements Web icon in the lower panel of the Organizer, and then click on the Media tab.  This is not the same as the Creative Cloud media panel that you may have if you subscribe to the Adobe Cloud.  (That's where Glenn's link will take you.)

It is easy to unintentionally synch your catalog with the Elements Web (Beta).  You are given a choice when you create a new catalog (or when converting a catalog, I believe).  To turn this feature off, go to Edit>Preferences>Auto-synch and uncheck the boxes.

[bstonehouse]

Thank You Greg S.

I have tried that and it is empty - somehow Elements thinks I have 1371 photos that are synced but they are not ?

Do you know how I can take the markers off these photos, otherwise I can never delete them.

[Greg_S.]

The operation to delete from the Cloud has to go through the synch process.  So, it may take a little while before the image is deleted from the Cloud.  Have you reviewed my last post?  It sounds to me like you may be looking in the wrong place for your Cloud photos.  The Elements Web and the Creative Cloud display the images in different Cloud folders.

[Greg_S.]

Can you show us a screenshot of a sample file.  Also check that the file is stored on your local hard drive in the place that you expect it to be.  (Click on the Location link in the Information panel on the right of the screen.)  Try deleting a file in the Windows Explorer window that opens when you click on the Location link.  The file will then display as missing in the Organizer grid.  See if you can right-click and delete it from the grid.

Other ideas would be to Repair and Optimize the catalog from the File>Manage Catalogs dialog.

[bstonehouse]

I deleted one of the files from it location library and then tried to open it from the organiser grid - it then tried to recover it from the cloud and didn't show it as a missing photo. It could not recover it from the cloud as the cloud is empty and just at there doing nothing.

I have already tried a repair of the catalog which did not change anything.

I have been on a chat call with Adobe and the guy I chatted with thought the same as me that I cannot delete because it cannot delete the photo from the cloud so the delete fails. He is invesigating if there is a way to remove the synced markers.

Thank you for your help with this.

[bstonehouse · Accepted solution]

Update : Adobe Support called me this afternoon to try some more things without success, they then said try de and reinstalling photoshop elements which I did and I was then able to delete the first one of 1371 photos and ticked the box to keep a local copy and it worked ok  and the markers dropped off the other 1370 photos.

So all is OK now I don't have any photos with the synced tick on them. Don't know why that worked but it did.