How do I quickly free up space from iCloud Photos after disabling sync on iPhone?

Even with "Optimize Storage" enabled, I couldn't easily free up the space to update to 18.5. So I disabled iCloud Photos. I don't really use photos on this device. The space dropped a few GB, but has been at 20GB for days now. Even tried rebooting. How do I get these photos to evaporate from this device?

And just checking, there still is no way to allocate say a 5GB max to iCloud Photos on a device? It's still update to Apple to determine what "optimize" means?

Thanks for any advice.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Need space, so I disabled iCloud Photos sync but there are still 20GB of photos days later

iPad, iPadOS 18

Posted on Jun 5, 2025 9:53 AM

Similar questions

19 replies

Jun 12, 2025 9:50 AM in response to JeffReynolds

JeffReynolds wrote: Hi Richard, I was referring to this:

*To mitigate markwmsn's concern about a period of time having only one copy of the pictures, I think I would open a new Apple Account and spend a couple of bucks for one month's storage.

Oops-- that only works without "Optimize" turned on. It shouldn't be a problem-- that's why I just stuck it in at the end. It shouldn't be a problem.

JeffReynolds Author

Level 1

14 points

Jun 5, 2025 10:51 AM in response to JeffReynolds

I don't think it matters, but this is for an iPad

JeffReynolds Author

Level 1

14 points

Jun 6, 2025 7:43 AM in response to muguy

Thanks for the info!

Wouldn't #3 be a great feature?

JeffReynolds Author

Level 1

14 points

Jun 13, 2025 11:57 AM in response to JeffReynolds

Thanks to everyone who offered help. I still have to deal with the images, but managed to update the iPad OS connected to my Mac. I forgot that it was still possible.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

How do I quickly free up space from iCloud Photos after disabling sync on iPhone?