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Removing photos to save device storage

I’m out of storage space on my iPad. If I delete photos on iPad to save storage, will they still be on iCloud or other devices?

iPad, iOS 12

Posted on May 9, 2019 7:21 AM

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9 replies

May 9, 2019 7:28 AM in response to Michele Irwin

Do you have iCloud Photos turned on in your iPad? Note that iCloud Photos is a syncing service. Any photo you delete from a device where iCloud Photos is turned on will also be deleted from iCloud and from any other device connected to iCloud Photos. You can potentially reduce the storage space required on a device by turning on Optimize Storage. See: Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support





May 9, 2019 7:55 AM in response to FoxFifth

Thank you for guidance. One more question. I have checked those articles but what I am not clear about is if I download or already have pictures on my Mac computer photo library, and then Delete some from my iCloud photos, will they stay in my computer photo library? Or do I need to put them on another drive to save them. I have thousands of older photos in my computers photo library that I don’t need shared across devices.

May 9, 2019 8:05 AM in response to Michele Irwin

It depends on whether or not you have iCloud Photos turned on in your Mac. iCloud Photos syncs with all devices where it is turned on; if you delete a photo from iCloud or from any device where it is turned on, it will also be deleted from iCloud and from all of the other devices.


You can check Apple menu > System Preferences > iCloud > Photos on your Mac to see if it is on.

Removing photos to save device storage

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