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iPhone storage and iCloud storage

Hello,

my iPhone is currently at storage capacity; if I’ve already performed an iCloud backup, can I then delete photos and videos from my iPhone, but still have access to the photos and videos that should then be stored in iCloud, from my iPhone, if I want to view them later?

iPhone 13 Pro Max

Posted on Aug 6, 2022 10:14 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 6, 2022 10:37 AM

No.

But you may be able to reduce the space needed on the phone by turning on the Optimize Storage option for iCloud Photos.


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: Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support


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.


2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 6, 2022 10:37 AM in response to MatthewP75

No.

But you may be able to reduce the space needed on the phone by turning on the Optimize Storage option for iCloud Photos.


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: Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support


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.


iPhone storage and iCloud storage

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