If your file was stored on a USB flash drive or external hard drive, those have their own Trash you can check for deleted files. They’re hidden by default, though, so you have to do a little digging. Whenever you use an external drive, your Mac creates a bunch of hidden folders starting with a period to help the drive work better with macOS. In this way, you could also use the third-party software to recover photos on Mac. Part 2: Can I Delete the Migrated iPhoto Library. After you have migrated iPhoto pictures to Photos app, you can delete an old iPhoto library on Mac directly. There is no need to create a backup before deleting iPhoto library pictures. There are actually three Library folders on the Mac. The Library folder you can see contains files that are accessible to all users but only changeable by administrators. Then there is the. To delete a folder, press ctrl+click on the folder you wish to delete and then select Delete Mailbox Fig 1.
Prepare your drive
You can store your library on an external storage device, such as a USB or Thunderbolt drive formatted as APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). However, you can't move your library to a disk that's used for Time Machine backups. Find out how to check the format of your external storage device.
To prevent data loss, Apple doesn't recommend storing photo libraries on external storage devices like SD cards and USB flash drives, or drives that are shared on a network.
Move your Photos library to an external storage device
- Quit Photos.
- In the Finder, go to the external drive where you want to store your library.
- In another Finder window, find your library. The default location is Users > [username] > Pictures, and it's named Photos Library.
- Drag your library to its new location on the external drive. If you see an error, select your external drive's icon in the Finder, then choose File > Get Info. If the information under Sharing & Permissions isn't visible, click the triangle button , then make sure the 'Ignore ownership on this volume' checkbox is selected. If it's not selected, click the lock button to unlock it, enter an administrator name and password, then select the checkbox.*
- After the move is finished, double-click Photos Library in its new location to open it.
- If you use iCloud Photo Library, designate this library as the System Photo Library.
Delete original library to save space
After you open your library from its new location and make sure that it works as expected, you can delete the library from its original location.
In a Finder window, go back to your Pictures folder (or whichever folder you copied your library from) and move Photos Library to the trash. Then choose Finder > Empty Trash to delete the library and reclaim disk space.
Recover Permanently Deleted Folder
Open another Photos library
If you have multiple libraries, here's how to open a different one:
- Quit Photos.
- Press and hold the Option key while you open Photos.
- Select the library that you want to open, then click Choose Library.
Photos uses this library until you open a different one.
Recover Deleted Folders Windows 10
Learn more
If you have a permissions issue with your library, you might be able to resolve the issue by using the Photos library repair tool.
Recover Mac Deleted Files
* If the volume isn't formatted APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled), or has been used for Time Machine backups but hasn't been erased, this checkbox will either not be present, or won't be selectable after unlocking. Erase and reformat the drive for this option to be available.