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Is there any way to delete photos from the main Photos library without deleting them from any or all of the albums and/or folders?

Is there any way to delete photos from the main Photos library without deleting them from any or all of the albums and/or folders?

iMac 27", macOS 10.13

Posted on Jan 23, 2020 12:45 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 23, 2020 4:26 PM

On macOS 10.13 you can hide photos. Then they will not be visible in the Photos view, but still be visible in the albums.


  1. Select the photo or photos, choose Image > Hide [number] Photos, then click Hide Photos.
  2. The selected photos disappear from your moments but are not deleted. 

To show hidden photos, choose View > Show Hidden Photo Album. The Hidden album appears among your other albums. To unhide photos in it, select them, then choose Image > Unhide [number] Photos.

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 23, 2020 4:26 PM in response to Budabelly

On macOS 10.13 you can hide photos. Then they will not be visible in the Photos view, but still be visible in the albums.


  1. Select the photo or photos, choose Image > Hide [number] Photos, then click Hide Photos.
  2. The selected photos disappear from your moments but are not deleted. 

To show hidden photos, choose View > Show Hidden Photo Album. The Hidden album appears among your other albums. To unhide photos in it, select them, then choose Image > Unhide [number] Photos.

Is there any way to delete photos from the main Photos library without deleting them from any or all of the albums and/or folders?

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