What happens to my data if I stop paying for the iCloud service?

After wondering the same thing and reading this thread I think the best way to find out is to call Apple and ask. I don't have the time to call right now. In the next few days I will. I'll come back and let you know what they say for anyone else wondering. It's hard to believe that there isn't a much clearer answer that is not so transparent.

That page also says 'If you cancel your plan or you don't renew it, you'll automatically go back to 5GB of free storage.'

Let's say you were paying for 50GB of storage and had filled it, and then you revert to the free 5GB. True, they don't specifically say the extra data will actually be deleted, though I would say that the line quoted above implies that. I can believe that they might allow a short grace period so that if you have a payment issue which you clear up reasonably quickly you won't lose any data, but do you think they are really going to go on hosting 45GB of data indefinitely without your paying for it? Or 1TB if that was what you had?

So, you think that iCloud will keep your data for free?

Try it out, let us know how it goes.

That's fair enough - it's my assertion versus your assertion 🙂

However, let's just examine a possible scenario. We can agree that Apple is in business to make money: indeed their shareholders require it.

So: let's suppose you wish to store 1TB of data online for a year and then retrieve it. In the normal scenario you would pay your $9.99 a month for the year - $119.88. This isn't a bad price - the same as Google Drive and considerably cheaper than Amazon S3, for example.

Now let's suppose you pay for one month, upload your data, then cancel the subscription. A year later you pay for one month again and, under your assumption, your data is there and you are able to download it. So the exercise has cost you $19.98 instead of $119.88. The logical question arising out of that is, why would Apple permit that?

But as you say, all this is deductive reasoning. Perhaps one day we'll hear from someone who has tried it. I would hope they had a backup elsewhere before starting, though.

I'm happy to keep you happy by rewording my previous post:

'It's reasonable to assume that data occupying storage above the 5GB will be deleted - it's not possible to predict exactly what data would be removed. It's not been stated whether there is a 'grace period' - most likely there is a short one but I wouldn't rely on there being one if I were you.'

I respectfully disagree, the quote above clearly states that given the event you're describing, your account would simply be frozen - ie. no further backups, uploads, iCloud sync, file modification or iCloud email. There is no suggestion or implication of data removal.

Roger, I do not believe this is correct. What is the source of your information?

From Apple's page: iCloud storage upgrades and downgrades - Apple Support

If you downgrade your storage plan and your content exceeds the storage you have available, new photos and videos won't upload to iCloud Photo Library and your devices stop backing up to iCloud. iCloud Drive and the other apps that you use with iCloud won’t update across your devices. You can't send or receive messages with your iCloud email address. Learn how to manage your storage by deleting backups, documents, photos, and email messages that you don't need anymore.

I'm prepared to believe they might delete your data, but you have not provided any evidence to support this claim.

PS. I realise this thread is old, however since it is the number one result on Google I feel your point needs to be challenged.

The iCloud Drive is itself free; having more than 5GB of storage on Apple’s iCloud isn’t.

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Data occupying storage above the 5GB will be deleted - it's not possible to predict exactly what data will be removed. It's not been stated whether there is a 'grace period' - most likely there is a shot one but I wouldn't rely on there being one if I were you.

What I "think" will happen is less relevant than what is written in the Terms & Conditions. At least now people researching this issue can make up their own minds, rather than accepting Roger's initial unsubstantiated assertions.

errade wrote:

What I "think" will happen is less relevant than what is written in the Terms & Conditions. At least now people researching this issue can make up their own minds, rather than accepting Roger's initial unsubstantiated assertions.

It is your data to lose, go ahead.