How can I free up space on my device? I purchased 2 terabytes of cloud space, and I selected optimize in settings but I am afraid if I delete the photos on my device they will delete in my iCloud as well. Please advise
iPhone 7, iOS 12
You can't delete photos from the phone and still have them on iCloud. If you don't have Optimize Storage turned on for iCloud Photos on your phone, turning that on can free up storage. Another option would be to transfer photos to a computer.
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.
You can't delete photos from the phone and still have them on iCloud. If you don't have Optimize Storage turned on for iCloud Photos on your phone, turning that on can free up storage. Another option would be to transfer photos to a computer.
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.
I need more space on my phone. I pay for 2 terabytes of storage in iCloud that is hardly full. Can I delete photos from my iPhone but still have them in the cloud?
