what to know
- Before deleting photos from your iCloud account, turn off automatic backup from iPhone to iCloud.
- Go to Settings > Your Apple ID > iCloud > Photos > Turn off iCloud Photos or Sync this iPhone .
- Sign in to iCloud.com > Photos > Select the photos you want to delete > Select Delete (trash can icon).
This article explains how to delete photos from iCloud without deleting them from iPhone.
Sync must be turned off to ensure that photos deleted from iCloud are not deleted from your iPhone. To check if iCloud photo sync is enabled on your iPhone, follow these steps:
Open Settings from your iPhone home screen and tap your Apple ID .
Select iCloud > Photos .
To delete photos from iCloud without deleting them from your iPhone, turn off sync by flipping the switch to Off.
You may see this setting labeled "Sync this iPhone." Move the switch to the left to disable iCloud photo sync.
Now you can delete photos from iCloud without automatically deleting them from your iPhone. Follow the same steps to turn off iCloud sync for any other Apple device.
To delete photos from iCloud without deleting them from iPhone, you need to check the sync status of your phone. Make sure sync is turned off. Then, follow these steps to delete only images from iCloud:
Open iCloud.com in any browser, log in with your Apple ID and verify your identity.
choose a photo .
Press the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) key on your keyboard, and then select the photos you want to delete.
Select the delete (trash can) icon to delete the selected photos.
Photos will be deleted from iCloud. When iCloud Photos is turned off on your device, the photos in your iPhone Photo Library will not be affected.
hint:
After deletion, photos and videos will be transferred to iCloud and the "Recently Deleted" folder on iPhone. They are permanently deleted after 30 days, so you can restore them if you change your mind. To permanently delete them before 30 days have passed, go to the Recently Deleted folder and select Delete All .
If you enable Optimize iPhone Storage , all of your full-resolution photos and videos will be saved on iCloud, and only your newest photos and videos will be saved on iPhone.
When iPhone runs out of storage space, iPhone uploads full-resolution images (and videos) to iCloud and replaces them with smaller-sized versions on iPhone.
If you delete anything from iCloud Photos, make sure you select the "Download and keep originals" option. Now, even if you turn off iCloud Photos and start deleting photos from the cloud, your entire photo library will remain on your phone (if there's enough storage available).
FAQTo download photos from iCloud, go to iCloud.com > Select Photos > Select the photo, then select the Download icon at the top (cloud and down arrow). To download the original version of a photo or video (original, unedited format), click and hold the Download icon and select Unmodified Original .
To upload photos to iCloud, go to iCloud.com > Select Photos > Upload icon at the top (cloud and up arrow). Or, drag files from your computer to the Photos folder in your browser.
Uploading may pause when the battery is low or when connected to a cellular network. Restart your device, check your internet connection, and charge the battery.
iCloud Photos is not a backup of a set of photos on your iPhone. Instead, it's a replica of the current photo library on your iPhone. If you delete a photo from either location (iCloud Photos or iPhone), sync will delete the photo from the other location. The only way to keep photos on your iPhone when you delete them from iCloud is to turn off automatic sync. This won't work if you reopen iCloud Photos later.
