CarolinaGirl88

Q: How to delete photos from iPad without losing them?

Im preparing my iPad for iOS 10 update, trying to free up storage space. I would like to remove photos stored in iCloud from my iPad, but when I delete photos I get a message that the photos are "removed from iCloud and any other devices that sync" - in this case, that's my phone. So apparently this means those photos vanish altogether if I delete them from my iPad?  All I'm trying to do is delete the physical files from my device storage, not erase the photos altogether!!  With the old Photo Stream, i could turn it off and delete photos from my devices but they were still stored in the cloud and I could recover them if I turned it back on. What gives? 

I back up photos to Dropbox and the Photos app on my Windows 10 PC. Does this mean I still have them even if I delete them from my iPad (and thus, apparently, iCloud?)

 

Thanks to anyone who can clear this up. The Apple documentation is not clear at all!

iPad 2, iOS 9.3.2

Posted on Oct 5, 2016 8:49 PM

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Q: How to delete photos from iPad without losing them?

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  • by zinacef,

    zinacef zinacef Oct 6, 2016 6:19 AM in response to CarolinaGirl88
    Level 5 (5,471 points)
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    Oct 6, 2016 6:19 AM in response to CarolinaGirl88

    Unfortunately, that's how iCloud works because it's a syncing/mirroring system, i.e. it syncs all your photos/videos across all devices making available to you.  Delete a photo/video from one device and it deletes from all of them.

     

    iCloud isn't a traditional cloud based solution unfortunately.