Memories is Apple’s auto-generated glimpse into your past. Since the process is completely algorithmic, there can be hits and misses. Why would I want to remember dimly lit pictures of food that don’t include people from Thanksgiving 12 years ago? But when it works, it’s a handy way to get a piece of an event, day, group of people, or topic (like a holiday).
However, there may be images and videos in a memory that you don’t want to see. To delete these images in iOS/iPadOS:
- Tap the memory.
- Tap the grid icon in the bottom right corner.
- This reveals a grid of images and videos used in memory. Press and hold an item, then tap Hide from memory.
You can also choose to tap To delete to delete it or Show in all photos to see it in context.
Photos for macOS does not allow you to delete media from Memories.
If you don’t mind or don’t like the Memories item at all:
- In iOS/iPadOS, tap the more button (…) overlaying the memory photos > For you > Memories and choose Function less or Clear memory.
- In macOS, right-click one or more Memories in the Memories view of Photos (click Memories in the sidebar) and choose Delete X memory(s).; with a single memory selected, you can choose Feature fewer reminders like this one.
You can disable Reminders from appearing, but apparently not from being generated. In iOS/iPadOS, go to Institutions > photos and switch off Show featured content. This also removes the For You album from showing, which is much better than Memories in my experience. In macOS, go to Photos > Preferences/Settings > General and remove the check mark Show reminder notification.
Apple lets you reset reminders – if only life were that easy! You can reset the suggested people in Memories from your People album or reset all reminders created for you. The controls are in the iOS, iPadOS, and macOS settings above. Tap or click Reset people suggestions to remove already suggested persons; tap or click Reset suggested reminders to start over with new observations by the algorithm.
You can also delete unwanted images and videos from two other popped up media locations: Featured Photos and Photo Shuffle. See “Remove unwanted images from Featured Photos and Photo Shuffle.” You can also completely remove people from your Photos library; see “Getting photos of specific people from your Photos library.”
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