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How do I delete photos from my device and not from the iCloud?

How do I delete photos from my device and not from the iCloud?


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPhone 6s

Posted on Nov 28, 2019 6:08 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Nov 29, 2019 4:55 AM

You have to turn off iCloud Photos on the iPhone, before you delete the photos from your iPhone. Then the photos will remain in iCloud and you can see them on a computer using a web browser at www.icloud.com

Or on a Mac or other devices using iCloud Photos.


If you want to save storage on your iPhone, but still use iCloud Photos on the iPhone, do not delete photos in Photos, but enable "Optimize iPhone Storage". Photos will remove original image files and replace them by smaller , optimized versions on the iPhone. It is fully automatic. You cannot control, which photos will be optimized to save local storage on the iPhone.

2 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Nov 29, 2019 4:55 AM in response to Lsmhi

You have to turn off iCloud Photos on the iPhone, before you delete the photos from your iPhone. Then the photos will remain in iCloud and you can see them on a computer using a web browser at www.icloud.com

Or on a Mac or other devices using iCloud Photos.


If you want to save storage on your iPhone, but still use iCloud Photos on the iPhone, do not delete photos in Photos, but enable "Optimize iPhone Storage". Photos will remove original image files and replace them by smaller , optimized versions on the iPhone. It is fully automatic. You cannot control, which photos will be optimized to save local storage on the iPhone.

How do I delete photos from my device and not from the iCloud?

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