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IrishOatmeal

Q: Can I delete photos on my iPhone 5s if I have already transferred them to my iCloud without losing them forever?

I'm a newbie to photos on the iCloud so please explain answers please!

 

I have just downloaded/uploaded photos onto my iCloud. I have waaaay too many photos on my phone taking so much space. If I delete them off of my phone after I've backed them up to the cloud will I still lose them? I'm ultra paranoid since I lost all my little one's baby pictures on my corrupted HTC phone. I don't want to lose another picture!

 

Thank you in advance for any and all help!

Posted on Jul 21, 2015 7:32 AM

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Q: Can I delete photos on my iPhone 5s if I have already transferred them to my iCloud without losing them forever?

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  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Jul 22, 2015 12:27 PM in response to IrishOatmeal
    Level 5 (7,689 points)
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    Jul 22, 2015 12:27 PM in response to IrishOatmeal

    IrishOatmeal wrote:

     

    I'm a newbie to photos on the iCloud so please explain answers please!

     

    I have just downloaded/uploaded photos onto my iCloud. I have waaaay too many photos on my phone taking so much space. If I delete them off of my phone after I've backed them up to the cloud will I still lose them? I'm ultra paranoid since I lost all my little one's baby pictures on my corrupted HTC phone. I don't want to lose another picture!

     

    Thank you in advance for any and all help!

    You don't have any ability to lose pictures if you back them up first! Use Time Machine or make a full clone of your Mac with apps like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper!

    iCloud is not a backup despite what some people say - make your own backups or you will make mistakes & lose files eventually.

     

    This is one of the better explanations I have seen for how iCloud & Photos works…

    http://www.imore.com/how-use-icloud-photo-library-ultimate-guide

     

    If you use the 'optimise storage' feature on an iOS device you still need to keep the full copies synced on a Mac, but that should reduce the size of storage on iOS. Just bear in mind deleting images means 'delete from everywhere' when it is in iCloud.

     

    This may also help…

    http://www.imore.com/how-delete-pictures-and-videos-icloud-photo-library