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How can I delete photos from my phone but keep them in iCloud?

When I delete my pictures from my phone they get deleted from iCloud, how can I delete them from my phone and keep them on iCloud?

iPhone 6s, iOS 12

Posted on Oct 3, 2021 1:47 PM

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Posted on Oct 3, 2021 1:52 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.



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Question marked as Best reply

Oct 3, 2021 1:52 PM in response to KSalam

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.



How can I delete photos from my phone but keep them in iCloud?

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