syncing mac, iCloud and iPad

thanks. however...

i synced my iPad to my Mac, and it backed up.

my my iPad is now not connected to my Mac.

i turned off iCloud Photos on my iPad.

I opened iPhotos on the iPad to delete the pictures, but it shows 25,109 photos and 705 videos! and there is a Recently Deleted folder showing 11,909 photos and 412 videos.

Do i have to delete all these manually (using "Select" and scrolling...?) it will take hours!!!

Would it be easier to just erase all content from my iPad?

yes. so presumably i have to delete the Recently Deleted items before i switch off iCloud.

once they're gone, i can switch off iCloud and delete everything on my iPad.

i can then start my iPad up as a new device (otherwise it will just reinstall all the items i just deleted..) and then switch on iCloud..?!

this is not easy!!

"If you delete Recently Deleted items, they will delete everywhere." - seems not to be the case.

Since Apple have unfortunately not added a Select All on iPhone or iPad, i thought the only way to delete large numbers of files would be on the Mac,.. so...

I backed up to an external drive, then, with iCloud turned on, i opened Photos on my iMac and deleted all files. Then opened the Recently Deleted files, and emptied it.

But my phone and iPad both still have Recently Deleted folders each with over 5000 items!

So Apple's failure to add a Select All button on phone and iPad doesn't have a work-around after all, and i now need to sit here for ages while my phone, and then separately my iPad, scroll up through 5000 items, just so i can hit delete!