Q: I tried deleting photos from iCloud to make more room and they also got deleted from my Macbook Pro. How can I delete from iCloud without deleting from my Mac?

The way that iCloud Photo Library works is that all of the photos are on iCloud and on the device(s) connected to that iCloud Photo Library. If you delete from anywhere they are deleted from everywhere.

Yes. You can turn off iCloud Photo Library, do some other things to reduce your storage on iCloud and downgrade your storage to the 5GB free level. See the following links:

Get help with your iCloud Photo Library - Apple Support

Manage your iCloud storage - Apple Support

iCloud storage upgrades and downgrades - Apple Support

If your Mac was the only place where you had iCloud Photo Library turned on, see the following from Get help with your iCloud Photo Library - Apple Support

How do I remove all iCloud Photo Library content from iCloud and my devices?

To turn off your iCloud Photo Library, follow these steps:

• On your iOS device, go to Settings > iCloud > Storage > Manage Storage > iCloud Photo Library, then select Disable and Delete.
• On your Mac, go to Apple menu > System Preferences > iCloud. Click Manage, select Photo Library, then select Disable and delete.

Photos and videos will be stored in your account for 30 days. To download your photos and videos on your iOS device, go to Settings > iCloud > Photos and select Download and Keep Originals. On your Mac, open Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then select Download Originals to this Mac. You can also select the photos and videos that you want to download from iCloud.com.

Chandra25 wrote:

 

Also, this statement makes me nervous:

 

"To use iCloud after exceeding your available storage, remove backups, photos, documents, or email messages you don’t need. You can access photos, videos, and documents for 30 days after you delete or disable iCloud Photo Library and iCloud Drive."

 

I am worried that photos will be deleted from my Mac after 30 days of disabling iCloud Photo Library. I want the photos to stay on my Mac!!!!

If the originals are already on your Mac and you have turned off iCloud Photo Library on your Mac, they will not be deleted from your Mac. The reason that you might need that 30 days is if you had Photos Preferences on your Mac set to "Optimize Mac Storage" and that resulted in the original full size images being removed.

But -- and I cannot emphasize this strongly enough -- you should have a backup plan in place for your Mac. The fact that you are worried makes me worry that you do not. If you don't and anything goes wrong (hardware failure, software glitch, theft, fire, etc, etc, etc) your pictures and everything else would be gone. At a minimum you should be backing up the Mac to an external USB hard drive via Time Machine. The possibility of fire or theft also destroying the external hard drive makes some kind of offsite backup very desirable also.

Chandra25 wrote:

 

This is so confusing. The "download originals to this Mac" option is only available when the iCloud Photo Library box is checked. When I had iCloud Photo Library turned on, I did have the "download originals" button selected. So you'd think the originals would just stay put on my Mac. But yesterday, when I still had the iCloud Photo Library turned on, I tried deleting photos from iCloud and they also deleted on my Mac!

 

Now, I have the iCloud Photo Library box unchecked and the "download originals" is grayed out.

 

Sorry to be so dense but I can't be the only one who doesn't understand this! What happened to Apple being so user friendly and intuitive?

If you did not have "Optimize Mac Storage" selected you are OK.

If you delete a photo from iCloud it will be deleted from any device where iCloud Photo Library is turned on regardless of any other setting.

The "Optimize Mac Storage" and the "Download Originals" settings are only applicable if iCloud photo Library is on for that device and only affect whether the full size original is maintained or if a smaller version is kept when space is low on the mac.

Chandra25 wrote:

 

Yes, you are right. I do back up to an external drive but in the event of hardware failure or fire, I would be very upset to lose my photos. So, I will just keep paying them. But, I still don't get why photos disappeared from my Mac when I deleted them from iCloud. I had the iCloud Photo Library selected, AND I had the "download originals to my Mac" selected so I would think they would have stayed on my Mac.

That is how iCloud Photo Library works. If it is turned on then everything on iCloud is also on the device and vice versa. Delete from anywhere and it deletes from everywhere.

Chandra25 wrote:

 

So, please tell me if it is possible to do the following, and, if so, how to do it:

 

1. Have iCloud Photo library on

2. Have originals on my Mac, always and forever

3. Be able to delete 'non-essential" photos from iCloud Photo library, to free up space, but not lose them from my Mac

 

And thank you for all your time and expertise! If I still don't understand after you next reply, I think I will give up for now!

That is NOT possible. The entire concept of iCloud Photo Library is to sync all of your photos to all of your devices. If you add from anywhere they are added everywhere and if you delete from anywhere they are deleted everywhere. The anywhere and everywhere in that means iCloud and the devices where you have iCloud Photo Library turned on.

There are some workarounds but they are likely more trouble than they are worth. You could move a photo out of the Photos application on your Mac and then if you deleted it from iCloud it would remain on your Mac. The other option would be to have two Photos libraries on your Mac. Only one would be connected to iCloud Photo Library.