Te Return of Deleted RAW files after JPEG separation

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Te Return of Deleted RAW files after JPEG separation

I've been reading all of the other customers who have been searching for a way to delete only the RAW files from their paired JPEG+RAW photos. I have tried the process of exporting the pair to an external hard drive, then moving the JPGs to a separate file on my computer. Then I delete the "JPEG+RAW" file from my Photo library, and permanently delete the files from Photo's "recently deleted" bin. I make certain the files also disappear from my iPhone & iPad and on the iCloud storage webpage. Then I import the JPEGs into Photos. At first, it looks like only the JPGs have been imported, but then the photos show up on my iPad & iPhone as "JPEG+RAW" and after a couple of hours, they will show up as "JPEG+RAW" in the Photos of my computer.

So then I deleted some of the RAW+JPG photos from my Photos on my computer, then connected my camera that still has some of those paired photos and I downloaded the JPGs to a separate folder, then imported them into Photos. So far, these photos are only JPGs on my computer (but not much time has elapsed), but immediately they show up as "JPEG+RAW" on my iPhone & my iPad.

Does the fact that I have my iPhone & iPad synced to the iCloud have anything to do with this? I do have "Optimize Photo Storage" checked on both devices. Will I have to turn off iCloud from both devices? If so, at what stage? (ie turn off iCloud, then export and delete the paired files, then import the jpgs before turning iCloud on again?) Will I have to wait in between steps to ensure everything has synced up?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 15.4

Posted on Jul 30, 2025 09:10 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 31, 2025 06:24 AM in response to Toolgrrl

Toolgrrl wrote: I think what I may end up doing is just export each edited file at the highest quality & size of JPG.

I believe I suggested doing just that and adding those to your Library rather than the combos. In either Preview or Photos, you can select them all at once. To do it in Photos, the best plan would be to make a new Library just for doing the conversion.

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Answer 2

Jul 30, 2025 09:33 AM in response to Toolgrrl

Are you wanting to not have RAW image files, but to have only the jpgs generated by the camera? Are these compatible with Mac Sequoia? Can you import them into Photos and edit them?

If they're compatible (some camera RAWs are not,) then I think I would create a new, empty Photos Library (by closing Photos and then option-clicking on the Photos icon,) and import the "JPEG+RAW" combos to that Library. Then you could use File>Export nn Photos to export jpgs of high quality and full size, as you like, to a Finder folder. You could then import those to your System Library.

I may have gotten the problem wrong-- my camera already produces separate RAW and jpg formats. But I just tried doing this with RAW files using Preview rather than Photos, and it worked just fine. Preview might be easier, since you don't have to create a new Library.

Let us know how it goes…

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Answer 3

Toolgrrl Author

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Jul 30, 2025 10:51 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Thank you Richard Taylor, for your reply-

I apologize for not being clear: I am trying to free up space on my computer by deleting RAW files of images that I do not need immediate access to, but still keep the JPEGs. I have backed up my photos onto an external hard drive. I think creating a new library would just result in the same issue: not being able to separate the RAW file from the JPEG.

I think what I may end up doing is just export each edited file at the highest quality & size of JPG. If I have backed up copies of both the unedited RAW & JPGs, then I can delete them from my computer and keep only the edited JPGs to conserve space.

Unless you have another idea?

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Answer 4

Toolgrrl Author

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Jul 31, 2025 07:33 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Oh, I see! I'm a little slow on the uptake. I will give it a shot. Thanks!

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Answer 5

Jul 31, 2025 09:46 AM in response to Toolgrrl

Let us know how it goes…

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