I have an iPhone 12 using iOS 16.6 and a Microsoft Windows 11 PC.
Can I take photos using my iPhone and store them on my iPhone without downloading them to my PC via iCloud?
Or is there a way to download the photos via iCloud to my PC and then save them to a directory on my PC, delete them from my PC and the iCloud and store them only on my iPhone? Thanks.
iPhone 12
Hi SehlMan,
Thanks for those additional details. If iCloud Photos is enabled for both your PC and iPhone, then the photos or videos you move/delete on your PC will continue to delete from iCloud and your iPhone.
If you want, you can disable iCloud Photos to remove those from iCloud, then switch to manually transferring your photos and videos from your iPhone to your PC as seen in this article: Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC From there, you can manually manage your photo library on both devices without worrying about deleting photos or videos off of the other.
Best wishes.
Hi SehlMan,
Thanks for those additional details. If iCloud Photos is enabled for both your PC and iPhone, then the photos or videos you move/delete on your PC will continue to delete from iCloud and your iPhone.
If you want, you can disable iCloud Photos to remove those from iCloud, then switch to manually transferring your photos and videos from your iPhone to your PC as seen in this article: Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC From there, you can manually manage your photo library on both devices without worrying about deleting photos or videos off of the other.
Best wishes.
Hey there SehlMan,
Whenever you use iCloud Photos, you're able to access all of your photos and videos in iCloud on your other devices. You can choose to download copies to the local storage on your PC, or only view them in iCloud.
If you want to download a copy of your photos and videos, the steps in these resources will show you how:
Download iCloud photos and videos - Apple Support
Download and view iCloud Photos on your Windows computer - Apple Support
Another option is downloading iCloud for Windows, which will give you access to iCloud content: Download iCloud for Windows - Apple Support
If you need help with something else, feel free to reply with more details.
Take care!
Hi hc111,
Thanks for the response.
To clarify, I know how to download iCloud photos and videos and know how to view them on my Windows computer. I also have the latest version of iCloud for Windows on my computer.
All of my photos on my iPhone have downloaded to my computer via iCloud. Therefore they are in 3 places. My iPhone, iCloud and my computer.
After they downloaded to my PC, I copied them and pasted them into a new folder on my PC. I had to copy and paste them because if I move them to the new folder they will delete off the iCloud and then also off of my iPhone.
I do not care if they delete off of iCloud but I want to keep them on my iPhone.
Thus I would have them stored on my computer by year and my iPhone but not on the iCloud which is not supposed to be used as a storage area.
Is this possible?
Thanks
Storing photos on iphone only
