How to remove photos from iPhone 5s

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Level 1

6 points

How to remove photos from iPhone 5s

I am new to smart phone/iPhone usage. Recently I purchased an iPhone 5s. Somehow all of the photos from my PC have been imported to the iPhone. Or they appear to be -- perhaps they are actually in iCloud. I do not fully understand this aspect; e.g., how I manage iCloud content. In any case, I do not want the photos to be located anywhere other than on my PC. Can someone tell me how I can remove this content from device and/or iCloud. Thank you.

Bill

iPhone 5s, iOS 7.1.2

Posted on Sep 22, 2014 1:49 PM

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Answer 1

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,371 points

Sep 22, 2014 1:50 PM in response to iGowanus68

See this support document regarding syncing photos with iTunes. iTunes: Syncing photos

See the part about deleting photos. You have to do this with a sync.

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Answer 2

iGowanus68 Author

Level 1

6 points

Sep 22, 2014 2:15 PM in response to iGowanus68

I wanted to edit my discussion question but could not find a way to do it. Therefore, I am using the Reply function.

I have found explanations online of how to remove photos from the camera roll. But these photos do not appear to be on the camera roll. I do not find them under the Camera App, rather under the Photo App. Also, I did not find the photos in Windows Explorer after plugging in the device and following the instructions for navigating to them. So, the photos could not be deleted from Windows Explorer. Just wanted to make this clear. Thanks again.

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Answer 3

iGowanus68 Author

Level 1

6 points

Sep 22, 2014 2:17 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

Thank you Chris. I will follow your suggestion.

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Answer 4

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,371 points

Sep 22, 2014 5:25 PM in response to iGowanus68

The information that I provided will take care of removing photos that are synced. They cannot be seen in Windows Explorer, only the Camera Roll can be seen there. Good luck.

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Answer 5

iGowanus68 Author

Level 1

6 points

Sep 23, 2014 2:53 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

As you suggested, I followed the instructions under the heading, "iTunes: Syncing photos." However, I did not find them to be altogether clear. Since I reinstalled iTunes last week, I am pretty certain that I have the latest version. As an example of the opacity, the instructions say: "3. Click the device button in the upper right corner." Upper right corner of what? So, I fumbled around until I opened the "iPhone sync photos" screen. I then went to the instructions under the heading, "To delete synced photos and videos from your device." In order to "delete all synced photos," I selected & then deselected "Sync Photos from." & when the Sync Photos prompt appeared, I clicked the highlighted "Remove photos" button. Although an "Apply" button is not now appearing as I replicate the process, I do recall clicking on an "Apply" button.

Some of the photos may have been removed, but when I open the Photos app on the phone, hundreds remain & when I hover my cursor above the Photos segment of the colored bar at the bottom of the screen, the popup indicates that there are 5500 photos or 5.03 GB. 16.52 GB remain free on a 32 GB phone that I have only been using for a couple of months.

So, it appears that something did not work. I welcome your feedback.

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Answer 6

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,371 points

Sep 23, 2014 2:57 PM in response to iGowanus68

If the photos that are synced to your device did not come from your computer, it is possible then that you do not have a folder of those pictures on the computer. If that is the case, you will not be able to just uncheck the folder and sync again to remove them. Create an empty folder in your Pictures library on the computer. Connect the phone again and navigate to the photos tab. Now, select the empty folder to sync to the phone. This will remove all of the other photos from the sync and just sync the empty folder, which will give you no pictures on the phone, except your Camera Roll. After that, you can go back into the Photo tab in iTunes, remove the checkmark by the empty folder, click Apply, and that will remove that empty folder from the phone, therefore you have nothing synced. You only have the photos in your camera roll.

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