# Answer to Deleting rejected photos from catalog and hard drive while in a collection



## John McKaigney (Nov 16, 2017)

Operating System:MAC
Exact Lightroom Version (Help menu > System Info):Classic CC

Have just spent days trying to find info on Help desks, forums and You Tube on how do this and avoid the awful "Cannot delete photos in a collection" message !!  
Found the simple answer already !   Adobe should long ago have put that into the error message box !
Just Scroll up in the Navigator panel to ALL PHOTOS and observe them in the grid panel.
Filter to show the Rejected photos only.   Go to the Tool Bar>Photos>Delete Rejected Photos
This works like a charm !  Dont forget to empty your trash bin to definitively delete your rejects !!


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## Johan Elzenga (Nov 16, 2017)

Yes, that menu is misleading. If you use it while in a normal collection, the images are only deleted from that collection, not from Lightroom. And if you try to use it while in a smart collection (which should not be possible; the menu should be dimmed), you'll get the error you mention.


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## Hal P Anderson (Nov 16, 2017)

Or go to All Photographs and hit Cmd-backspace (or Ctrl-backspace on Windows). No need to filter.


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## Roelof Moorlag (Nov 17, 2017)

John McKaigney said:


> Have just spent days trying to find info on Help desks, forums and You Tube on how do this and avoid the awful "Cannot delete photos in a collection" message !!
> Found the simple answer already !  Adobe should long ago have put that into the error message box !
> Just Scroll up in the Navigator panel to ALL PHOTOS and observe them in the grid panel.
> Filter to show the Rejected photos only. Go to the Tool Bar>Photos>Delete Rejected Photos
> This works like a charm ! Dont forget to empty your trash bin to definitively delete your rejects !!



I think you can leave the step "Filter to show the Rejected photos only'. When you are in ALL Photo's in the Grid panel you can direct go to Photo's> Delete Rejected Photos


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## Johan Elzenga (Nov 17, 2017)

Yep, that's the shortcut already mentioned by Hal. No need to filter, because that's what the menu/shortcut already does.


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