# Delete from disk...where do they go (not in trash) Mac



## tsinsf (Oct 29, 2017)

Operating System:Mac 10.12.6
Exact Lightroom Version (Help menu > System Info): Lightroom Classic 7.0

Simple question. When you choose Remove/Delete from disk, where do the photos go? They are not in the trash. Does Lightroom somehow manage to move them to the trash and empty the trash all in one fell swooP?


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## clee01l (Oct 29, 2017)

tsinsf said:


> When you choose Remove/Delete from disk, where do the photos go? They are not in the trash.


The images that I deleted yesterday are still in the trash.  The only time that MacOS  will delete files from the trash is when there is not enough free space on the Primary drive for working storage.  If such a deletion happens via Finder, I believe Finder posts a warning message.  Lightroom if my memory serves, receives the same alert that finder gets but does not pass the message along to the user.

I do not understand the purpose of your non related screen shots.


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 29, 2017)

Where are the images located? On your internal disk or on an external? If they are on an external disk, and that disk is formatted in a non-Macintosh native format, then this can happen.


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## tsinsf (Oct 30, 2017)

JohanElzenga said:


> Where are the images located? On your internal disk or on an external? If they are on an external disk, and that disk is formatted in a non-Macintosh native format, then this can happen.



The images are indeed on an external disk, but they are formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled).


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 30, 2017)

It also depends on how you delete them. If you press the Delete key and you get the dialog asking you if you want to delete them from disk, then they _should_ end up in the trash. If you use Cmd-Option-Shift-Delete the images are deleted from the catalog and from the disk without any warning and without going to the trash, so Lightroom can indeed delete images directly.


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## tsinsf (Oct 30, 2017)

Here is what I have discovered. LR is on my SSD boot drive but most of my photos are on an external drive. When I Remove/Delete, the deleted photos go to limbo: they disappear from the external drive, but do not appear in the trash. If I restart the computer, the photos appear in the trash. If I Remove/Delete photos on my boot drive, they go to the trash. The external drive is properly formatted for Mac: Mac OS Extended Journaled. So be it.


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 30, 2017)

Probably a problem of the Finder not updating correctly. If you force quit the Finder and start it again, you will see the images in the trash, just like after a restart.


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## tsinsf (Oct 31, 2017)

JohanElzenga said:


> Probably a problem of the Finder not updating correctly. If you force quit the Finder and start it again, you will see the images in the trash, just like after a restart.


Bingo! Thanks for helping me understand....


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