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Clearing local storage to iCloud

Hi,

I am currently having some storage issues with my iPhone. I would like to delete my older photos for them to be only accessible through iCloud. But, I want the iCloud not to sync to my phone as this will delete them in iCloud as well.


I also want the benefit of being able to sync future photos directly to iCloud without it automatically downloading or deleting older photos.


Is there a way past this? If I restart my phone to factory settings, will I be able to select what iCloud Photos I want to have on my phone without it syncing?


Absolutely horrible design by Apple.

iPhone 14 Pro Max, iOS 17

Posted on Apr 3, 2024 3:50 AM

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1 reply

Apr 3, 2024 8:31 AM in response to mattstaddiz

mattstaddiz wrote:

...

Is there a way past this? If I restart my phone to factory settings, will I be able to select what iCloud Photos I want to have on my phone without it syncing?

..


No.

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.




Clearing local storage to iCloud

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