110 Macworld • August 2019HELP DESK
out the actual media files from all the containers
and organizing structures it makes available.
When you delete any album you’ve created,
whether it’s smart or static, Photos only deletes
the organizing framework. The original media
remains in the library untouched.
Apple even makes an effort to reassure you.
When you Control-click (or right-click on a two-
button mouse) any album in the My Albums list in
the sidebar and choose Delete Album or Delete
Smart Album, Photos brings up a prompt that
explicitly tells you what’s going to happen. The
wording is a little quirky, saying that “items in this
album will still be visible in your photo library,”
but I assume Apple decided on that language to
be clearest to the least-sophisticated users, who
don’t necessary understand file management
and storage.
You can delete albums with great aplomb
without worrying about the original media being
deleted when you do. If you actually want to
delete an image or video:- In the main Photos view, select the image or video
and choose Image > Delete Photo/Delete Video
orpresstheDeletekeyonyourkeyboard. - In other views, those options aren’t available.
Instead, right-click an image or video in any view
and choose the Delete option.
If you have iCloud Photos enabled, Photos warns
you that a deleted image or video will be removed