Delete or restore a photo

You can delete one or more photos from your library.

WARNING:  Deleting a photo from your library deletes that photo entirely from iPhoto. Deleting photos from the library also removes them from any album, slideshow, or project such as a book, card, or calendar, in which they appear.

If you change your mind about deleting a photo, you may be able to restore it.

To delete a photo from the library:

  1. Select the photo you want to delete.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • Press the Delete key.

    • Move your pointer over the photo and click the down arrow that appears in the bottom-right corner. Click the iPhoto Trash icon in the shortcut menu that appears.

    • Drag the selected photo to the Trash in the Source list.

  3. Choose iPhoto > Empty Trash. (If you are in full-screen view, move your pointer to the top of the screen to make the menu bar appear.)

    WARNING:  This permanently deletes the photo from your computer. You can’t restore the photo unless you are using Time Machine to back up your library, or you have saved a back-up copy of your library elsewhere, such as on a DVD.

To restore a deleted photo:

  • If you haven’t yet emptied the iPhoto Trash, do the following:

    1. Select Trash in the Source list.

      Image of Trash icon in Source list

    2. Select the photo you want to restore.

    3. Choose Photos > “Restore to Photo Library.”

      You can also drag the item out of the Trash into an empty part of the Source list.

  • If you use Time Machine to back up your computer, you can recover a photo, Event, folder, album, a project such as a book, card, or calendar, or a slideshow even if you deleted it from the library and emptied it from the Trash.

    If you use iPhoto 9.1.4 or later and Mac OS X v10.7 or later: To restore photos, quit iPhoto, open the folder containing your iPhoto library, and then open Time Machine.

    If you use earlier versions of iPhoto or Mac OS X: To restore specific photos or Events, open iPhoto and choose File > Browse Backups. To restore your entire iPhoto library, quit iPhoto, open the folder containing your iPhoto library, and then open Time Machine.

    To open Time Machine, click its icon in the Dock, or click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and choose Enter Time Machine.

    For more information on using Time Machine, see the topics in Mac Help. In the Finder, choose Help > Mac Help, and then search for “Time Machine.”