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User profile for user: nupur47
nupur47 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

How to delete photos from iPhone without deleting them from iCloud backup.

Hello,

I recently bought 200gb iCloud storage as my iPhone 11 ran out of space.

I was expecting, what any sensible person would , that all my iPhone data will shift to the cloud n Stay there so that I’ll b able to free up my phone memory. And all the new data will automatically get uploaded on the cloud n not eat up my phone memory. But I have read on Google that this is not the case.

plz help me in doing the following:-

  1. free up my iPhone memory without loosing a single photo (Preferably get stored on the cloud)
  2. how will the new photos n videos b uploaded on The cloud automatically?

iPhone 11 Pro, iOS 14

Posted on Jul 27, 2021 4:54 PM

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User profile for user: FoxFifth
FoxFifth
User level: Level 10
472,671 points

Posted on Jul 27, 2021 4:58 PM

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.

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User profile for user: FoxFifth
FoxFifth
User level: Level 10
472,671 points

Jul 27, 2021 4:58 PM in response to nupur47

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.

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How to delete photos from iPhone without deleting them from iCloud backup.

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