Q: I tried deleting photos from iCloud to make more room and they also got deleted from my Macbook Pro. How can I delete from iCloud without deleting from my Mac?

They stayed on your Mac because you turned off iCloud Photo Library on your Mac.

Then give it some time. Your Mac and iCloud will eventually match. There is NO way to have iCloud Photo Library turned on in a device and not have the contents of the iCloud Photo Library on the device not match what is at iCloud.com. That is the whole design and intent of iCloud Photo Library.

The minor exception to that is that the device (e.g., your Mac) can have lower resolution versions of the photo than iCloud does if you have Optimize Storage turned on. The number of photos will eventually match.

Chandra25 wrote:

 

Thanks. I will give it some time and I will let you know. Yesterday, it immediately synced. Today, it's not happening at all, but I will check later to see the status of it.

 

By the way, I never had the "optimize storage" turned on.

You don't need to let me know. This question comes up all of the time here although it is usually in the reverse -- i.e, someone wanting to keep a photo only on iCloud and delete it from their device. That isn't possible either.

This is a reply to Apple. That is a ridiculous method! It seems like a ploy to get us to buy more iCloud storage.

I need to delete photos from icloud to free up space in my storage.  How do I do this?

Stop syncing your device/computer with iCloud photo library.

No, you're not the only one who doesn't understand this whole process--which is why I'm reading about everyone else's woes at the moment!  I think I'm going to make an appointment at the Apple store and let them walk me through some of this--every time I try to change something, there's an "intimidating" message that all photos and videos will be removed. . .I have no idea what to do, but my phone is so darned full, I've got to figure this out.

My head's about to burst from so much reading on this topic.  I have exactly the question you mention:  Wanting to keep photos in iCloud but delete from (my iPhone).  I recently updated to ElCapitan, and with it, Photos.  Now, when I plug in my iPhone to upload photos, it doesn't prompt me like iPhoto did to either delete or save photos on iPhone.  So at this point, my phone is SWIMMING with photos that I'm afraid to delete for fear they'll also delete from iCloud and my Macbook Pro.

I'm new at managing this stuff on my own, and just want to be sure I don't lose my photos.  I DO back up on an external hard-drive, but how in the world do I delete photos from my iPhone now?  And if I do, are they still on my Macbook?

Stop syncing with iCloud.

iCloud is a syncing system, not an external 'hard drive'. If you delete them on your device, they will delete from iCloud. To increase space available, go Settings/iCloud/Photos and select Optimize iPhone/iPad Storage. That will reduce the space required by about 90% when fully effective.

how do I delete all of my photos from the icloud?

Stop syncing with iCloud and then go to iCloud.com/Photos, click Select, and then select the 1st photo. While holding down the shift key, select the last photo and click the Trashcan.