Is there a way to safely remove the Imports album from Photos?

[s2mike]

DISCLAIMER: This isn’t really a big deal at all...it’s mainly just an OCD thing.

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Alright, so I currently have two devices: my iPhone and my iMac (which I never really use).

I’ve got iCloud Photos turned ON for both devices.

I recently noticed that my iPhone has an album called “Imports,” even though I don’t think I’ve physically connected my iPhone to my iMac in god knows how long. Anyway, this Imports album appears to contain all of my photos and videos up through September of 2019. After that, nothing has been “imported.”

Is it possible to somehow remove this album without losing all of my photos and videos? When attempting to delete something from this album, iOS tells me that it’ll delete that content from all of my devices, so clearly that won’t work.

What if, for example, I downloaded all of the original photos to my iPhone (I currently have “Optimize iPhone Storage” selected, so I would turn this off in order to download the originals to my iPhone), then turned iCloud Photos OFF on both my iPhone and iMac...then turned iCloud Photos back ON on the iPhone, and then eventually turned it back ON on the iMac...would that upload everything from my iPhone to iCloud, and then the iMac would be able to access my photos via iCloud Photos?

Not sure if that makes sense, but I guess I’m just looking for a safe way to eliminate the “Imports” album without losing any photos/videos.

Like I said - not a big deal in any way, shape, or form...just something that’s oddly annoying me.

Thanks in advance

 

[0128672]

No, it's not possible to delete that built-in album. Remember that albums are just views of photos from your Photos tab, which is the master library. You can have a photo in multiple albums. Albums don't take extra storage space because they're not duplicates of photos and videos in your master Photos library. Albums are simply sub-views or sub-collections of photos from your master library.

You can delete a photo from an album, which gives you an option to also delete it from the library, in which case it remains in the Recently Deleted album for 30 days. After that, it's gone for good.

View photos and videos on iPhone

In Photos on your iPhone, view photos and videos and browse through your photos and videos in the library.

support.apple.com

 

[s2mike]

Thanks for the reply. And you’re right, the “Imports” album cannot be removed...but I am still wondering how to empty the contents of it without losing anything.

I guess there are a few things that I’m confused about:

1) Since both my iPhone and iMac use the iCloud Photo Library, I don’t really know if the Imports album (which show up on both devices) refers to photos imported FROM the iPhone TO the iMac, or photos imported FROM the iMac TO the iPhone.

2) If I downloaded the original iCloud photos to my iPhone, then deleted all photos from the iMac and turned OFF iCloud Photo Library on the iMac, then turned it back ON on the iMac...

...would my iCloud Library reappear on the iMac?

I guess I just don’t understand why I have a folder filled with “imported” photos with no clue how or where they were imported from.

 

[0128672]

Thanks for the reply. And you’re right, the “Imports” album cannot be removed...but I am still wondering how to empty the contents of it without losing anything.

I guess there are a few things that I’m confused about:

1) Since both my iPhone and iMac use the iCloud Photo Library, I don’t really know if the Imports album (which show up on both devices) refers to photos imported FROM the iPhone TO the iMac, or photos imported FROM the iMac TO the iPhone.

2) If I downloaded the original iCloud photos to my iPhone, then deleted all photos from the iMac and turned OFF iCloud Photo Library on the iMac, then turned it back ON on the iMac...

...would my iCloud Library reappear on the iMac?

1- I have no idea how to determine the source of your imported photos. You can try right clicking on them and selecting Info to see what the metadata might show about the date and device on which the photos were shot.

2 - If you disable iCloud Photos on your Mac, the photos in the Photos app will be deleted from your Mac. If you re-enable it, the photos will be available on your Mac again in the Photos app. The version of the photos, whether the full resolution version or the smaller version depends on the settings on your Mac (download originals versus optimized).

In the meantime your Photos app photos are stored in iCloud Photos as long as you have one device with iCloud Photos enabled. You don't need to delete them manually from your Mac as you suggested or download the originals to your phone.

Regardless, I'm not sure why you would want to do this, and I wouldn't recommend messing around with the settings until you are very comfortable with the way things work. Hopefully you've got all of your photos backed up as well.

I also hope you will have a chance to read through the Photos User Guide, and feel free to ask questions here as well.

 

[s2mike]

Thanks for the detailed reply!

I may do some more research but it seems best not to mess with anything and take unnecessary risks for the sake of calming my OCD. I’m just gonna let this one go.

Thanks again!

 

[0128672]

Thanks for the detailed reply!

I may do some more research but it seems best not to mess with anything and take unnecessary risks for the sake of calming my OCD. I’m just gonna let this one go.

Thanks again!

As a friend of mine with OCD said his therapist advised him: "obsess about learning, not about things you can't control." Lots to learn about Apple stuff, and the support site is a great resource ... as is MacRumors.

 

[dahauss]

Anyone notice on beta 5 of iOS 14 there is no longer a call blocking app setting in the phone settings? I only noticed because one of my apps told me it was off and there is no setting to turn back on.

 

[C DM]

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