How to delete the Google Photos app from iPhone

Now I see why I don't have this, and it presents yet another problem. (BTW, I'm a retired geek and Mac user for decades). I checked to see if I had any other versions of the Photos.library file with Option+doubleclick on the Dock icon and I had two. Photos was using a version of the file in my correct home library, but the Photos.library file that is the system file, is in a folder that doesn't even exist...or that I see (probably hidden). Of course, unless Photos is using the system library copy of Photos.library, it won't display the info that I wasn't seeing.

My Home library folder is named /Larry but the system library file is in /larry (see annotation on screenshot). Not sure why or how this happened, but currently both files are identical and both always show the exact same "Last accessed" time. Every time I tell it to use the system library version, when I open Photos and Option+doubleclick on the Dock icon, it's back to the wrong one.

I need to sort this problem out before going any further.

Kellie, the photos are on photos.ggogle.com, but they’re also in Photos in iCloud and on my Mac and iPhone so I shouldn’t need to download them. Even if I did, they’re not full resolution so they’d do me no good. I’ve turned off “Backup & Sync” in the Google Photos App so if I delete photos on photos.google.com they’re deleted also on the Google Photos app but not in iCloud.

The odd thing is if I delete a photo in the Google Photos app, it’s deleted from iCloud. This is why I’m afraid to just do an uninstall of the app.

When I first configured the Google Photos app I had to give it access to the Apple Photos app. I tried changing this access to “NEVER” and now the Google Photos app won’t open. It just tells me I need to give it access to the Photos app in Settings. I think in this state, I could uninstall it, but I’m not willing to risk 18 years worth of pictures to try it.

Gail, regarding "You can also go to your Photos app on your Mac and under Preferences>iCloud make sure that Download and Keep Originals is turned on"...this is no longer an option in Preferences. It used to be, but it's not there now. Not sure when it went away. I don't see anything that indicates whether or not I have originals stored on my Mac. I can still uncheck "Photo Library" but that doesn't tell me if I have originals on this Mac, so still reluctant to do anything that could possibly delete my originals in iCloud.

If I knew for a fact I had the originals on this Mac I would just copy my Photos Library file to a flash drive and then delete the Google Photos app, but I'm just not sure if what I have on the MBP are originals.

Kellie, as I stated in my last post...that's the problem...there's no way to tell anymore if what you have in your Photos Library on a Mac are originals, or thumbnails. It used to say in Preferences, but somewhere along the line that changed.

Took over two hours with a senior Apple Care advisor in the Photos app area to solve this...he'd never seen it before. Finally got rid of the ghost Photos Library file and all is good.

I backed up the Photos Library file to a thumb drive, plus I had it on Time Machine, then deleted the Google Photos app from my iPhone. It never did anything to the iCloud Photos Library.