You can delete or archive projects in Narrative to tidy up your Projects screen. Deleting a project removes it from Narrative, but your photos and their XMP files stay on your drive.
What happens when I delete a project?
When you delete a project, Narrative removes it from the app. It doesn't delete your photos, your folders or your XMP files (small sidecar files that hold your ratings).
Important: Deleting a project also deletes its Scenes and AI assessments. If you import the same folder again later, Narrative has to work them out again. Your ratings come back, because they're saved in the XMP files.
If you just want finished projects out of the way, archive them instead.
How do I delete a project?
To delete a project, use the Projects screen.
Click the Narrative logo in the top-left corner to open the Projects screen.
Right-click the project and choose Delete.
Check the confirmation, then click Yes, Delete.
Narrative removes the project straight away.
How do I archive a project?
Archiving moves a project off your main Projects screen. It doesn't move or delete your photos or XMP files.
Open the Projects screen.
Right-click the project and choose Archive.
To find an archived project, click the Archived tab at the top of the Projects screen. To bring it back, right-click it and choose Restore.
Restoring scans the project again. Narrative reads your ratings, color labels, tags and crops back from your files, and works out Scenes and AI assessments again, so give it time to finish before you cull.
Narrative can also archive projects for you. Go to Preferences → General → Archive and check Automatically archive projects that have not been interacted with in over 40 days. Uncheck it to turn automatic archiving off.
How do I delete or archive several projects at once?
You can select several projects and delete or archive them together.
Open the Projects screen.
Hold ⌘ on Mac and click each project you want. On Mac or Windows, you can also click the first project, then hold Shift and click the last one to select a run of projects.
Check you've selected the right projects.
Click Delete or Archive in the toolbar.
If you're deleting, check the confirmation, then click Yes, Delete.
To open a project instead of selecting it, double-click it.
Can I get a deleted project back?
You can't get a deleted project back, but your photos are still on your drive. To work on them again, create a new project from the same folder. Your ratings and other changes come back from the XMP files, and Narrative works out the Scenes and AI assessments again.
Is deleting a project the same as deleting photos?
Deleting a project is different from deleting photos. Deleting a project only removes it from Narrative. To delete the photo files themselves, see Can I delete images in Narrative?