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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
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
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 recently deleted a handful of important pics and videos from my iPhone & iCloud by accident. I don’t know what to do to try and find them. I know once they’re erased and 30 days have passed, there’s no way to get them back. I have multiple iPads and old iPhone. I was wondering if I erased all content and started over, does it give me an option to use an old backup that may potentially have them? And how many backups are stored before they become erased? I’m just trying to find a way to get these back. I do have Time Machine on an external HD. Would the backups be saved there ? I haven’t backed up on it in months. Please help!! Thanks !
If you deleted the files in photos, they are moved into the Recently Deleted album for up to 30 days (30 days unless you act upon them earlier). You can navigate. to that album and restore any image you would like.
If you do not sync with iCloud (use iCloud Photos), any photo may be in your backup provided you have not made a new backup between. You can factory reset your device and restore it using the backup.
If you use iCloud Photos and sync your Mac, and download originals to the Mac, your photos may be in the Time Machine backup of your photos library.
Can I delete photos from my iPhone without losing them in iCloud?
