Julievite

Q: Delete photos on iPhone, keep on mac using ICloud?

Hello! How can I delete photos from my iPhone and still keep them on my mac? I use iCloud and have about 50GB of Photos on my phone. My plan is bigger than that but I still don't want to have that many pictures on my iPhone (but keep them on my mac) . Is that possible? I tried importing them to my Mac but it won't show me all the pictures have on my phone. It shows me about 3000 instead of 11000...TIA

iPhone 6, iOS 9.3.2, Also Mac

Posted on Jun 7, 2016 9:12 AM

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Q: Delete photos on iPhone, keep on mac using ICloud?

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  • by Joseph_S.,

    Joseph_S. Joseph_S. Jun 8, 2016 12:04 PM in response to Julievite
    Community Specialists
    Jun 8, 2016 12:04 PM in response to Julievite

    G'day Julievite,

     

    Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

     

    I see that you'd like to delete photos from your iPhone, but still keep the photos on your Mac. Use the article Import photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to import all photos from your iPhone to your Mac, specifically, this section:

     

    Import to your Mac

    You can use Photos for OS X to import photos from your iOS device to your Mac without using iCloud Photo Library. These steps also work for importing images from digital cameras and SD cards. 

    1. Connect your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or digital camera to your Mac with a USB cable. If you're using an SD card, insert it into the SD slot on your Mac, or connect it using a card reader.
    2. You might need to unlock your iOS device using your passcode. You might also see a prompt on the iOS device asking you to Trust This Computer. Tap Trust to continue.
    3. On your Mac, the Photos app automatically opens. If it doesn't, open the Photos app.
    4. The Photos app shows an Import screen with all the photos and videos that are on your connected device. If the Import screen doesn't automatically appear, click the Import tab at the top of the Photos app, or click the device's name in the Photos sidebar.
    5. To import a selection of photos, click the ones you want, then click Import Selected. To import all new photos, click Import All New Photos.
    6. When the import is complete, a message box asks if you want to delete or keep the photos on your device. Click Delete Items to remove the photos, or click Keep Items to keep them on the device.
      If you select Keep Items, you'll have to delete them directly from your device when you want to remove them.
    7. You can now disconnect your device from your Mac. If you imported photos from an SD card or other USB device, safely eject the device first.

    Imported photos appear in the Photos app's Last Import album.

    Photos and videos that you sync from your computer to your iOS device using iTunes can't be imported back to your computer. 

    Learn what to do if you can't import photos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your computer.

     

    Once you've made sure that all photos have been imported to your Mac, you can then safely remove them from your iPhone. The iPhone User Guide has the steps to delete photos from your iPhone, specifically, this section: 

     

    Delete a photo or video from Photos. Tap the Photos tab, tap the photo or video, tap the trash can button, then tap Delete Photo or Delete Video. Deleted photos and videos are kept in the Recently Deleted album on iPhone, with a badge showing the remaining days until the item is permanently removed from iPhone. To delete the photo or video permanently before the days expire, tap the item, tap Delete, then tap Delete Photo or Delete Video. If you use iCloud Photo Library, deleted photos and videos are permanently removed from all your devices using iCloud Photo Library with the same Apple ID.

     

    Cheers!