HT204570: Get help with your iCloud Photo Library

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sdlevy13
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Delete on Photos, not iCloud?

Can I free up hard drive space by deleting photos on Photos without deleting on iCloud?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Feb 8, 2016 2:53 PM

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sdlevy13

Q: Delete on Photos, not iCloud?

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  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Feb 8, 2016 3:28 PM in response to sdlevy13
    Level 10 (106,936 points)
    iLife
    Feb 8, 2016 3:28 PM in response to sdlevy13

    sdlevy13 wrote:

     

    Can I free up hard drive space by deleting photos on Photos without deleting on iCloud?

    Not, if you are syncing your Photos Library with iCloud and want to access your photos in iCloud from your Photos Library. Then deleting from the Mac will also delete from iCloud.

     

    You can free storage by using the "Optimize Mac Storage" option.  Then iCloud will delete original image files from your Mac, but keep them in iCloud.  When you want to edit a photo, the original will be downloaded from iCloud.