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If my phone is backed up and I delete photos, videos etc. can I still access the deleted items on my cloud?

If my phone is backed up and I delete photos, videos etc. can I still access the deleted items on my cloud?

Posted on Nov 15, 2022 7:41 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 15, 2022 8:26 AM

If you erase the phone by using the following procedure, nothing is removed from iCloud. What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support


See the following for information regarding what happens if you delete photos and videos manually in the Photos app on the phone:


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 the following Apple article for more information: 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.



1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 15, 2022 8:26 AM in response to Bambam2316

If you erase the phone by using the following procedure, nothing is removed from iCloud. What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support


See the following for information regarding what happens if you delete photos and videos manually in the Photos app on the phone:


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 the following Apple article for more information: 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.



If my phone is backed up and I delete photos, videos etc. can I still access the deleted items on my cloud?

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