Help! Suddenly iCloud Photos has turned on

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Level 4

1,220 points

Help! Suddenly iCloud Photos has turned on

This truly annoys me. Without my doing anything at all the switch iCloud Photos has turned on on my iPhone X running 13.6.0, result being that iCloud has now become filled to the brim and my backups don't work.

I'm trying to understand how turning this function off works. When I flick the switch to Off the following message appears:

This seems to suggest that turning on this function has resulted in the removal of the photos stored locally on my phone.

Is this correct, I mean, why would it otherwise ask me to download the photos?

Note that I do not have this function turned on on any of my Macs and also that the amount of photos is far more than the 50GB size of my iCloud, so I don't see how it can even offer to store all my photos in iCloud.

Bottom line – What should I do to get things back to the way they were with my photos only residing on my phone?

Thanks in advance

Philip

iPhone X, iOS 13

Posted on Sep 1, 2020 12:44 AM

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Answer 1

Siabh

Level 5

7,326 points

Sep 1, 2020 1:31 AM in response to pullman

I would first, turn off the option to Optimize iPhone Storage under iCloud Photos Settings.

Then wait awhile to have all the photos that were minimized (to low resolution) on your iPhone, re-download to full/original resolution from iCloud.

Then, verify that you indeed have all the photos in original resolution, like before.

And only then, turn OFF iCloud Photos.

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Answer 2

Siabh

Level 5

7,326 points

Sep 1, 2020 1:22 PM in response to pullman

Actually, Apple doesn't specify a time duration this action will take, probably because it is subjective to your battery status, local activity on your phone, internet connectivity and cloud hive activity, etc.

Also, even if you turned OFF iCloud Photos your original-resolution photos will be available on iCloud and should be downloaded on your iPhone when it has been set to Download and Keep Originals. I was being cautious when I asked you to wait and watch, and then toggle it OFF. (I am assuming that you already have a backup of your photos before doing any of this.)

See this article: Get help with iCloud Photos - Apple Support and especially read sections: How do I turn off iCloud Photos on only one device? and How do I remove all iCloud Photos content from iCloud and my devices?

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Answer 3

Siabh

Level 5

7,326 points

Sep 4, 2020 1:36 AM in response to pullman

Great, Philip :)

I'm happy it all worked out for you!

Perhaps, what was needed was the phone (and you) to simply "sleep" over it and let it do its thing, in the same way that iCloud Backups function, viz. Keep the phone, charged, locked (sleep mode) and connected to Wi-Fi.

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Answer 4

pullman Author

Level 4

1,220 points

Sep 1, 2020 12:44 PM in response to Siabh

Thank you very much for the reply.

Is there a way to check which or how many of the photos have been "optimised"? I'm trying to figure out how long I need to wait before turning iCloud Photos off.

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Answer 5

pullman Author

Level 4

1,220 points

Sep 4, 2020 1:27 AM in response to Siabh

Hi again and thank you very much for your continued help and linking to that article.

Yesterday morning I switched the phone to Download and Keep Originals and left it for a day and a half. The last 39 photos took remarkably long to download, probably close to a full day. Every time I tried to turn iCloud Photos off, the phone warned that those 39 were still pending. But this morning it worked.

Cheers

Philip

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Help! Suddenly iCloud Photos has turned on

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