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How can I delete photos off my Mac but not delete them from my iPhones? (I use iCloud)

Hi everyone,

I bought a new iPhone SE recently, and before transferring data from my old phone (iPhone 6) to my new phone (iPhone SE), I backed up my old phone to my computer (a MacBook Air, bought 5 years ago).

I thought it would just create a backup file, which it did, but it also downloaded all of my iPhone photos to my Mac and now they are using up way too much storage on my Mac. How can I delete the photos off my Mac but not delete them from my iPhones? I use iCloud, and from reading I see that if I delete them from one device they delete from all devices.

Thanks very much,

Leslie

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 10, 2021 12:49 PM

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Question marked as Best answer
WORKG4HP wrote:

Hi everyone,
I bought a new iPhone SE recently, and before transferring data from my old phone (iPhone 6) to my new phone (iPhone SE), I backed up my old phone to my computer (a MacBook Air, bought 5 years ago).
I thought it would just create a backup file, which it did, but it also downloaded all of my iPhone photos to my Mac and now they are using up way too much storage on my Mac. How can I delete the photos off my Mac but not delete them from my iPhones? I use iCloud, and from reading I see that if I delete them from one device they delete from all devices.
Thanks very much,
Leslie

that is how it works, Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support stop syncing to icloud.

Posted on Mar 10, 2021 2:49 PM

1 reply
Question marked as Best answer

Mar 10, 2021 2:49 PM in response to WORKG4HP

WORKG4HP wrote:

Hi everyone,
I bought a new iPhone SE recently, and before transferring data from my old phone (iPhone 6) to my new phone (iPhone SE), I backed up my old phone to my computer (a MacBook Air, bought 5 years ago).
I thought it would just create a backup file, which it did, but it also downloaded all of my iPhone photos to my Mac and now they are using up way too much storage on my Mac. How can I delete the photos off my Mac but not delete them from my iPhones? I use iCloud, and from reading I see that if I delete them from one device they delete from all devices.
Thanks very much,
Leslie

that is how it works, Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support stop syncing to icloud.

How can I delete photos off my Mac but not delete them from my iPhones? (I use iCloud)

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