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Can't figure out iCloud photos

Hi. I haven't been using iCloud to back up my photos for very long, but I'm trying to get into it. How can I delete photos off of my phone, but keep them, say...on my MacBook Pro and in iCloud?

When I go to delete a photo off my phone there seems to be a warning that they will be deleted everywhere.

Thanks for any help.

iPhone 11 Pro

Posted on Apr 30, 2020 6:22 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 30, 2020 7:08 PM


If I delete a photo on my phone, it will delete it from iCloud, which is fine, but will it delete the copy stored on my laptop?

No. Deleting a photo from ANY one device, deletes it from ALL devices and iCloud.


“When you edit photos on any device with iCPL enabled, the same edits (including deletions, additions, etc) are synced to ALL other iCPL-enabled devices, including iCloud itself. So, NO, you will not be able to delete the local copies.”


The best strategy to adopt is to:

  • Enable iCPL on all your devices; this means everything is always synced and accessible everywhere;
  • Set Photos on iPhone to keep an “optimized” library; this setting will reduce local storage space required on the phone;
  • Set Photos on MacBook to copy all originals; this gives you quick access to all files and acts as a backup of what’s in iCloud;


Think of iCPL as the “master” library that has everything you want to keep, everything is at its full resolution, and acts to sync everything to everything.

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 30, 2020 7:08 PM in response to iinami


If I delete a photo on my phone, it will delete it from iCloud, which is fine, but will it delete the copy stored on my laptop?

No. Deleting a photo from ANY one device, deletes it from ALL devices and iCloud.


“When you edit photos on any device with iCPL enabled, the same edits (including deletions, additions, etc) are synced to ALL other iCPL-enabled devices, including iCloud itself. So, NO, you will not be able to delete the local copies.”


The best strategy to adopt is to:

  • Enable iCPL on all your devices; this means everything is always synced and accessible everywhere;
  • Set Photos on iPhone to keep an “optimized” library; this setting will reduce local storage space required on the phone;
  • Set Photos on MacBook to copy all originals; this gives you quick access to all files and acts as a backup of what’s in iCloud;


Think of iCPL as the “master” library that has everything you want to keep, everything is at its full resolution, and acts to sync everything to everything.

Apr 30, 2020 6:27 PM in response to iinami

iCloud Photo Library (iCPL) is a syncing service, not a backup, or a cloud storage service.


When you edit photos on any device with iCPL enabled, the same edits (including deletions, additions, etc) are synced to all other iCPL-enabled devices, including iCloud itself. So, NO, you will not be able to delete the local copies.


If you are concerned about the amount of storage used by Photos on your device, change iCPL to keep an Optimized local library.


Set up and use iCloud Photos (Apple overview):

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204264

Apr 30, 2020 6:49 PM in response to Rysz

You've been a great help to me, and I really appreciate it. I read your helpful link, but still can't figure out the part about keeping the pictures on my MacBook Pro. If I delete a photo on my phone, it will delete it from iCloud, which is fine, but will it delete the copy stored on my laptop? Thanks.

Apr 30, 2020 9:03 PM in response to Rysz

No. Deleting a photo from ANY one device, deletes it from ALL devices and iCloud.

Made a mistake!

That answer should have said:

YES. Deleting from ANY one device, deletes it from ALL devices and iCloud.


I must have gotten lost in all the edits and forgot the wording of your question. Sorry! The full sentence is correct.

Can't figure out iCloud photos

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