# Delete memory card files (or folders) from within Lightroom?



## RowdyRed94 (Feb 14, 2008)

I prefer to format and manage my cards in Windows rather than in-camera. Yes, I'm well aware that this is a controversial subject, but I prefer to have my cards named as drives, and in-camera formatting ruins that. Anyway, I have to open Windows Explorer to delete the folders of the imported photos. Can I do that in LR? I'd want to make it optional, of course. 

I searched but came up empty. Thanks!


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## DonRicklin (Feb 14, 2008)

No, and it is highly unlikely to be added. From the earliest days of the Betas, 2 years ago this has been requested and the answer has always been the same. The safest thing for your images and stability of your cards is in camera formating.

Sorry. 

Don


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## RowdyRed94 (Feb 14, 2008)

Thanks, Don. My apologies if this is a frequent question.


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## rcannonp (Feb 14, 2008)

I created an Automator action to do that and then run it from a key command with Quicksilver. I would share it, but it won't work on Windows.


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## Juergen (Feb 15, 2008)

It's possible, if you select "Import from Disk" and not "Import from Device".
Then you can navigate to your Cardreader and move the files to your harddisk but you can't delete the folders.

Juergen


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## SloYerRoll (Feb 16, 2008)

You can create a script or have a coder create a script on a freelance site like Get a Freelancer. It would only cost you about 3'-4' bucks. Be careful on these sites though. You can find great coders but there are also allot of BS'ers  in there.


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## crystal (Mar 17, 2012)

*deleting memory cards*



SloYerRoll said:


> You can create a script or have a coder create a script on a freelance site like Get a Freelancer. It would only cost you about 3'-4' bucks. Be careful on these sites though. You can find great coders but there are also allot of BS'ers  in there.



I understand LR does not allow deleting images on a memory card and has no intention of including that feature. 
Earlier posts suggested ways to do so and they all seem complicated. 
Before I switched to MAC, the software that came with my camera (and which is not MAC compatible) offered that option when downloading images to computer.

Is there an easy way to delete images on a memory card apart from doing so in the camera?


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## DonRicklin (Mar 17, 2012)

DonRicklin said:


> No, and it is highly unlikely to be added. From the earliest days of the Betas, 2 years ago this has been requested and the answer has always been the same. The safest thing for your images and stability of your cards is in camera formating.
> 
> Sorry.
> 
> Don


Four years later I still hold to this statement. It is not recommended to do what you are asking!

Don


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## Jim Wilde (Mar 17, 2012)

crystal said:


> Is there an easy way to delete images on a memory card apart from doing so in the camera?



Hi crystal, welcome to the forum.

There's no way to easily delete images on a memory card *as part of the downloading process* that I am aware of.

On a Mac I would think that Finder has the capability to delete images from a memory card as a stand-alone option (i.e. not during download) though I would strongly recommend that you don't use this facility *at least until the images on it have been imported and then backed up (which is what Lightroom's 'Make Second Copy' import option is for). *In fact it is generally recommended that memory cards should only be formatted in camera.

Is there a particular reason why you want this capability?


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## crystal (Mar 18, 2012)

TNG said:


> Hi crystal, welcome to the forum.
> 
> There's no way to easily delete images on a memory card *as part of the downloading process* that I am aware of.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the welcome and the quick reply.
First, I had been told when i got my digital camera that it was not advisable to delete a memory card in camera. I would love to know why in-camera formatting IS recommended.  
And second, this is what I have been doing as the software that comes with my camera (and which I had been using until very recently) allowed the memory card to be deleted after importing images, so I assumed this was a standard feature. I'm open to changing my ways.


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## Jim Wilde (Mar 18, 2012)

Have a read of this...not definitive by any means, but there are plenty of other articles if you have a google around, most saying the same thing.

Personally, I have had no problem deleting files off a memory card (I back them up on import, so no risk, right?), but I format in camera.


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## RikkFlohr (Mar 18, 2012)

Formatting cleans the card and makes a large contiguous block of memory into which your camera can write very quickly.

Deleting files-especially piecemeal- creates non-contiguous blocks of small parcels of memory which may or may not have room for the next capture to be stored. File system artifacts can be left in a 'delete' process that accumulate overtime, potentially degrading performance. Formatting is the easiest way to clean and accumulate space.


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## uzboxberg (Mar 19, 2012)

Exactly.
One should never "delete" a memory card but always format it, because formatting does almost no writing on the card (it takes 1 sec at most), it simply allows for overwriting of existing data.

On the Mac, both iPhoto and ImageCapture allow for deleting images on the card at the end of the transfer. But see above.


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## crystal (Mar 20, 2012)

RowdyRed94 said:


> I prefer to format and manage my cards in Windows rather than in-camera. Yes, I'm well aware that this is a controversial subject, but I prefer to have my cards named as drives, and in-camera formatting ruins that. Anyway, I have to open Windows Explorer to delete the folders of the imported photos. Can I do that in LR? I'd want to make it optional, of course.
> 
> I searched but came up empty. Thanks!




Thank you to all for your info and suggestions. 
It pays to reread one's camera manual, where lo and behold, i discovered how to format the memory card. Too bad it doesn't explain the difference bewteen this and deleting.


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