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Icloud doesn't save my pictures after i delete them on my phone to create space

Icloud confuses me, I recently screenshot a bunch of recipes on my phone and then backed it up on icloud. I did this so I could have these photos on icloud and free the space on my iphone. (I have a 64gb)



I pay an extra 2.99 for 200 gb for icloud because the only other option is 5gb. I barely use 200gb. Does icloud just mirror the photos and videos i have on my phone? Is icloud only purpose to backup these things in the even of getting a new phone or hard restore of the phone?

If that is case why isn't there an option inbetween 5gb and 200gb. The entire things makes no sense to me


iPhone 8 Plus, iOS 13

Posted on Jul 10, 2020 10:37 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 10, 2020 10:49 AM

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


Apple does not currently offer cloud-only storage for photos. If that is what you want or need, you may want to explore 3rd party options such as Google Photos or Dropbox.


Another way that photos may be on iCloud (if you don’t have iCloud Photos turned on) is via a backup of an iOS device. The only thing you can do with a backup is use it to restore a device or set up a new device. The contents of backups are not viewable at iCloud.com and if you delete a photo from a device it will not be included in future backups and will be lost.

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 10, 2020 10:49 AM in response to Elizabeth7981

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


Apple does not currently offer cloud-only storage for photos. If that is what you want or need, you may want to explore 3rd party options such as Google Photos or Dropbox.


Another way that photos may be on iCloud (if you don’t have iCloud Photos turned on) is via a backup of an iOS device. The only thing you can do with a backup is use it to restore a device or set up a new device. The contents of backups are not viewable at iCloud.com and if you delete a photo from a device it will not be included in future backups and will be lost.

Icloud doesn't save my pictures after i delete them on my phone to create space

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