Confirmation button changed, doesn't delete photos

[justinlulejian]

google-photos-delete-tool/delete_photos.js

Line 12 in 39d9535

confirmationButton: '#yDmH0d > div.llhEMd.iWO5td > div > div.g3VIld.V639qd.bvQPzd.oEOLpc.Up8vH.J9Nfi.A9Uzve.iWO5td > div.XfpsVe.J9fJmf > button.VfPpkd-LgbsSe.VfPpkd-LgbsSe-OWXEXe-k8QpJ.nCP5yc.kHssdc.HvOprf'

This line doesn't appear to find the confirmation anymore, perhaps the text has changed? This means that the photos are checked, the trash icon is clicked, but then the photos are never moved to the trash. Sadly I don't know enough JS to adjust to the new value.

[medjit]

I make local change to this:
confirmationButton: '#yDmH0d > div.llhEMd.iWO5td > div > div.g3VIld.V639qd.bvQPzd.oEOLpc.Up8vH.J9Nfi.A9Uzve.iWO5td > div.XfpsVe.J9fJmf > button.VfPpkd-LgbsSe.VfPpkd-LgbsSe-OWXEXe-k8QpJ.nCP5yc.AjY5Oe.LQeN7.kHssdc.HvOprf'
And work ok for now.

I can confirm the above comment from @medjit still holds true.

[kiwijunglist]

It's changed again.

This is working for me - https://pastebin.com/gemQ7wnX

[mrishab]

AI-Generated Summary & Implementation Plan

Issue Overview

The CSS selector for the Google Photos delete confirmation button has become outdated and needs to be updated to make the tool functional again.

Current Status

• Opened: Oct 25, 2021 by justinlulejian
• Status: Open - This is an ongoing maintenance issue
• Type: Bug - Requires code updates to selectors

Problem Description

Google Photos changes their UI/CSS selectors periodically. When selectors change, the delete automation fails at the confirmation step:

1. ✓ Photos are selected
2. ✓ Trash icon is clicked
3. ✗ Confirmation button is NOT found (selector no longer matches)
4. ✗ Photos are NOT moved to trash

Solution Timeline & Tracking

This is a recurring maintenance task. Users have provided updated selectors:

Date	Status	Selector Update	User	Link
Oct 2021	Initial Report	Original broken	justinlulejian	Issue
Aug 2022	✓ Working	Updated selector	medjit	Comment
Mar 2023	✓ Confirmed	Still works	tyzen9	Comment
Apr 2024	Changed	New selector needed	kiwijunglist	pastebin.com/gemQ7wnX

Implementation Steps

For the maintainer:

1. Retrieve the latest working selector from kiwijunglist's pastebin link or inspect the current Google Photos DOM
2. Update line 12 in delete_photos.js with the new confirmation button selector
3. Test the fix with a small batch of photos to confirm deletion works
4. Create a PR and merge the fix
5. Consider automation for future updates (optional) - Perhaps add monitoring or a note in README about how users can report selector changes

Recommended Code Change

Update the confirmationButton selector in delete_photos.js to the latest working value from kiwijunglist's recent comment.

Long-term Considerations

Maintenance Challenge: Google Photos UI changes unpredictably. The tool will likely need periodic updates to CSS selectors.

Potential Solutions:

• Add visual/text-based element identification instead of CSS selectors (more resilient)
• Add logging to help users debug when selectors break
• Document in README how to report selector changes with screenshots
• Create a maintenance tracking issue or checklist

This is an AI-generated summary and implementation plan provided as guidance.