Multiple Delete Pics

OK, here we go.
With windows, I could multiple delete pics by selecting a pic, then go down the list / hold shift / select and it would highlight the whole series. I guess to make it short, how do I dispose of the 500 duplicate images in my pics folder? I wonder why it did that to start with.

Ok Montana, what have you gone and done now? lol

Ok, so part 1 of 2.

With windows, I could multiple delete pics by selecting a pic, then go down the list / hold shift / select and it would highlight the whole series.

Click to expand...

With OS X, you can still click an item, scroll down, hold shift and select another item which will highlight everything inbetween, and then contral + click (right click), etc.

You can also select multiple individual items by holding command and clicking.

How you ended up with duplicates I don't know, as I don't know what you have been doing or how you have been doing it.

Are they in your iPhoto library or in your pictures folder?

Yes, that's how I did it in Windows, but it doesn't do that for me in HD/all photos. It just changes from the first pic being highlighted to the second pic highlighted. None in between. I'm a mess.

First screen shot, I clicked on the top file, and held shift while clicking on the last file.



Second screenshot, I clicked on the first file, and then held command while I clicked on every other file.




Is this not working for you?

The only difference is I was in the icon view instead of the list. The pics are in HD / all images.

Ok, that works when I change to the list view. The only problem is, I can't tell what the pic is in the list view. I guess I'll just have to look for duplicate names.

All images in the finder sidebar is more of a history item!
DON'T TRY DELETING ANYTHING IN THERE!

Are there duplicates in your user picture folder?

I deleted all 3,155 items in my images

OOOOOps, I didn't see your post till after I deleted them. Also, there were hundreds and hundreds of things that I didn't put there, kinda like spam.

Another thought....

Go to Finder in the menu bar>Preferences>Sidebar and under Search, uncheck "all images", and while you are at it, uncheck "all movies" and "all documents."

These are smart search folders, that don't take up any space on your heard drive, but work in a similar fashion to spotlight searches.

What you will have deleted is system images and files which are crucial to the normal operation of OS X, and many of the applications in it.


I hope you have a time machine backup from before you started deleting things willy nilly.
If you do, I would restore your system from the time machine backup now.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427

Montana, the All Images sidebar item will show you just that... ALL images. Not just the ones you've imported, but any images that are used by OSX. If you've deleted every picture in there, you'll probably have to reinstall OSX, unless you had the foresight to connect a backup drive to use with Time Machine.

If you want to just see the pictures you've imported and organized, use the Pictures folder within your home folder.

Also, the shift-click way of selecting files should work in icon view as well.

Oh no, looks like I really screwed up. Can I get them back from trash?

How hard is it to reinstall using the os x disc?

As long as you didn't empty it yet. Just select all the items, right-click on one of them and select "Put Back". If that option isn't available, you can still salvage the images, but since you don't know where they all belong, I can't think of what else you can do except reinstall OSX, unless someone else has another idea.

Many times, Command-Z will undo the last operation you performed. If you haven't done too many other things since this happened, you may be able to simply undo the move to the trash. You could try making the Finder the active application and pressing Command-Z.

It's not that hard to reinstall, you just have to re-create all your information again. Your home folder, your Airport password, etc. First see if you can get the photos back some other way. If that doesn't work, we'll help you through the installation procedure. It's pretty straightforward.

However, I suggest that you get an external backup drive to use with Time Machine. Backing up is absolutely crucial, and it's a shame not enough people think to do it. It can solve so many problems. In the future, if you need to reinstall OSX for some reason, or if your computer is stolen or damaged, you can easily restore your computer (or a totally new one) to exactly the state it was in before, with all your documents, settings and preferences in tact.

OK, I highlighted everything in my trash, and right clicked. This is what I got.

I clicked on finder / and all the items in trash came up. I hit command / Z but all it does is makes a ding tone.

Well, anyone have any other ideas to unscrew this?

Good, I didn't realize you could reinstall and keep all your own files.

The directions are pretty simple, it's just a shame you had to learn the hard way that you should never delete that many items if you're not sure what they are.

Remember that the bottom section of the Finder is all smart searches. When you use the "Search for..." All Images, All Music, etc, it's finding all those files no matter where they are on your hard drive, whether they are your own photos or not.

Also remember to back up your hard drive with Time Machine. It's super easy and actually kind of fun to use.

As for why you had all those duplicates to begin with, I have no idea. What were you doing? Where were you dragging them from, and to where? Do you use iPhoto? If you have photos in your own Pictures folder and drag them into iPhoto, a separate copy of the photo is created specifically for iPhoto to use. So if you use the Search for All Images, it will show you both the original photo and the one that iPhoto uses.

Tell me about Time Machine. Is it an internet site? I'm so green I don't even know how to back up my hard drive.