How do I delete photos from iPhone 5 and not all devices after importing?

Question

How do I delete photos from iPhone 5 and not all devices after importing?

I was told by Genius Bar to free up space on my iPhone 5, that I should delete the photos from the phone. So I went to import the pictures to my MacBook Pro but overlooked checking the box to delete after the import. So I tried to go into the phone and delete the pictures from the phone manually, but I sometimes would get message saying they would be deleted from all devices or that would be deleted from PhotoStream on all devices. I only want to remove them from my iPhone 5, not my MacBook Pro.

Thank you for your suggestions and solutions in advance.

iPhone 5, iOS 8.4.1

Posted on Apr 12, 2016 6:43 PM

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Answer 1

Nubz N.

Community Moderator

Apr 14, 2016 6:47 AM in response to laurafromwesterville

Hello laurafromwesterville,

I understand you have Photo Stream shared pictures and would like to delete some off your iPhone but keep them on your Mac. As you have seen, with a share like Photo Stream the default is to have the photos universal, i.e. add or delete one place affects all.

But then check out

Delete photos from My Photo Stream - Apple Support

When you delete a photo from My Photo Stream on an iOS device, Mac, or PC, that photo will be deleted from the My Photo Stream view on all your devices after you connect each device to Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Each device must use the required software and have My Photo Stream turned on.

The following photos won't be deleted when you delete photos from My Photo Stream:

Photos that you copied to the Photos tab or Camera Roll on your iOS device

Photos that you imported into your iPhoto or Aperture library

Photos that you copied into a folder on your PC that aren't part of My Photo Stream

So the solution is to import a "local copy" to your MacBook Pro.

Take care.

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