andajaco
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Old pictures won't upload to iCloud, takes up space on my phone

I ran out of space on iCloud so i purchased 50gb of storage so i can have more space on my phone and none of the pictures saved on my phone are uploading they are still taking up space in my phone even though i have iCloud photo library on. What do I do?

iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 9.2.1

Posted on Feb 13, 2016 9:39 PM

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andajaco

Q: Old pictures won't upload to iCloud, takes up space on my phone

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  • Helpful answers

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Feb 13, 2016 9:46 PM in response to andajaco
    Level 7 (26,875 points)
    iCloud
    Feb 13, 2016 9:46 PM in response to andajaco

    What makes you think they have not uploaded to the Library? Have you check by going to iCloud.com to see if they are showing up? When you upload the photos they are not removed from your device. See if these support links help:

     

    iCloud Photo Library FAQ - Apple Support

     

    iCloud Photo Library Help - Apple Support

     

    Cheers,

     

    GB

  • by LACAllen,

    LACAllen LACAllen Feb 13, 2016 9:57 PM in response to andajaco
    Level 5 (5,465 points)
    iCloud
    Feb 13, 2016 9:57 PM in response to andajaco

    iCloud storage is not a place to move your photos to and take them off your phone.

     

    It is a sync service that will keep the same photos on your phone as in the iCloud. Having 50GB of iCloud space does give you more space for your phone.

  • by andajaco,

    andajaco andajaco Feb 14, 2016 12:48 AM in response to LACAllen
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 14, 2016 12:48 AM in response to LACAllen

    How do I free up space i have the sync on but it's not  freeing up space from the recent pictures and videos. It was working fine until i ran out of the basic 5gb storage

  • by andajaco,

    andajaco andajaco Feb 14, 2016 12:50 AM in response to gail from maine
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 14, 2016 12:50 AM in response to gail from maine

    its not that's it's not uploading, it's just not freeing up space on my phone like it was when I had the 5gb plan

  • by LACAllen,

    LACAllen LACAllen Feb 14, 2016 12:11 PM in response to andajaco
    Level 5 (5,465 points)
    iCloud
    Feb 14, 2016 12:11 PM in response to andajaco

    I'm not understanding how you feel the cloud was helping you free up space on your phone when you synced.

     

    That's not how it works. If you synced and then removed photos from your phone, they were also removed from your cloud storage.

     

    If you sign in to icloud.com and look at the Photos icon online, are your photos there?

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Feb 14, 2016 1:52 PM in response to andajaco
    Level 9 (73,633 points)
    iTunes
    Feb 14, 2016 1:52 PM in response to andajaco

    Pictures uploaded to iCloud remain on your phone. It is a syncing service, not an on-line storage service. To increase space available, go Settings/iCloud/Photos and select Optimize iPhone/iPad Storage.

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Feb 14, 2016 2:47 PM in response to andajaco
    Level 7 (26,875 points)
    iCloud
    Feb 14, 2016 2:47 PM in response to andajaco

    Did you read the links I provided? Do you understand how iCloud Photo Library works? Do you have the settings on your device set so that you optimize the space taken up by the photos (in the section about how using iCloud Photo Library saves space on your device)? Not sure what you are doing differently, but the amount of iCloud storage you have does not change the way in which iCloud Photo Library works - only your settings can do that.

     

    Best of luck,

     

    GB