My iPhone storage is full and so is my iCloud so I signed up for iCloud , does this free up space on my iPhone? If so, how does it do that, and will I be able to access my photos and videos that are already backed up?

Hi NoraAlnezari

welcome to the Apple (user-to-user Community.

Am no expert on iCloud, yet your question surely deserves a response.

iCloud seems to be mainly a service that can sync your data across various devices.

With your data in sync, if you delete something from a device it also deletes from iCloud., and if you delete something from iCloud it also deletes from all devices in sync.

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Re: does this free up space on my iPhone?

iCloud storage and iPhone storage are quite separate:

See Apple support's article: What's the difference between device storage and iCloud storage? - Apple Support

How to check the storage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

iPhone can generally only have the storage space you bought when iPhone was new.

You can free up space by storing your data somewhere safe, (like a Mac, PC, or external storage drive etc) where you will have access to it, and deleting items you don't need from your phone.

NB: You can see how to: "Manage space on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch" in the article below:

If you need more space for an update on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

The only way iCloud could clear a little space on your iPhone would be to have your full-resolution photos in iCloud and leave low-resolution copies on your iPhone.

(see the "Related Article" above your question for complete info.)

Really, you would also need to back-up your photos to external storage or a Mac or PC for safe-keeping if you do that.

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Re: Will I be able to access my photos and videos that are already backed up?

What does iCloud back up? - Apple Support

says:

"When your device is backed up in iCloud, you can easily set up a new device or restore information on one you already have".

and

If you "turn on iCloud Photos, your content is automatically stored in iCloud. That means that they're not included in your iCloud Backup".

So it is up to you ... you can sync your Photos & videos or back them up.

When backed-up, my understanding is that you would need to restore the whole back-up to your phone in order to retrieve items, retrieve what you need, then restore all your current data from it's own back-up that you would need to have made.

Hope this info. will be helpful to you, in keeping all your data safe and accessible.

All the best :-)