If I am storing photos in iCloud, may I delete photos from my devices without losing them in iCloud?

When iPhone and Mac are signed in with same Apple ID and password on the same network and photo library is setup Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support

When photos are deleted from iPhone Delete photos on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

Before you delete

Make sure that you back up the photos and videos that you still want. When you use iCloud Photos and delete a photo or video on one device, it gets deleted on all other devices where you're signed in with the same Apple ID.

Read Delete photos or recover deleted ones in Photos on Mac - Apple Support (IN)

Any external volume you are using for your photos should be prepared as described here: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

The important things to consider are:

• The file system format should be MacOS Extended (Journaled) or APFS.
• The external drive needs a wired connection, not a NAS.
• The external drive should not have been used for Time Machine backups.
• If the drive does not allow you to set the "Ignore Ownership" flag, something is wrong.

Any small, portable volume that can be connected to USB and does not need an own power supply will do. I am using a Lacie Mobile Drive USB3 5TB. There is enough free storage for many years of shooting photos. If you will be rarely working with the photos on this archive drive, it does not need to be the fastest device. I am using small, portable devices, so I can carry them with me to use with my MacBook Pro. But if you are using a Desktop Mac, not a portable Mac, you could also consider a larger stack, that will stay on your desktop.

To archive all photos on the external disk, you can drag the Photos Library from your Mac to the external drive. This will work, if the Photos Library is complete, meaning, you have not been using "Optimise Mac Storage" for your iCloud Photos Library and all originals have been downloaded to the Mac.

PenelopeKG wrote:

If I am storing photos in iCloud, may I delete photos from my devices (both iPhone and MACbook PRO without losing them in iCloud?

In no account delete photos from your devices, while the devices are still syncing with iCloud Photos or the photos will be deleted from iCloud and all other devices syncing with iCloud Photos.

If you a re using iCloud Photos you will always be seeing the same photos on all devices, as the purpose of iCloud Photos is to keep all the photo libraries on all devices identical and in sync.

You can only delete photos from any of your devices without losing them in iCloud or on other devices, if you disable iCloud Photos on your device. This will have many draw-backs. You can no longer use the local Photos.app on the device to work with the photos. The very limited web interface at www.icloud.com will be the only way to access your photos.

It would be more convenient to reduce the size of your iCloud Photos Library. Keep only your most important favourite photos in iCloud Photos, that you want to see on all your devices at all times. And archive all your photos on an external volume on your Mac, so you can always access all your photos from your Mac, including the ones that you do not need on all your devices.