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If I am storing photos in iCloud, may I delete photos from my devices without losing them in iCloud?

If I am storing photos in iCloud, may I delete photos from my devices (both iPhone and MACbook PRO without losing them in iCloud?

iPhone 11, iOS 15

Posted on Feb 22, 2022 6:10 AM

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Posted on Feb 22, 2022 6:26 AM

When iPhone and Mac are signed in with same Apple ID and password on the same network and photo library is setup Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support

When photos are deleted from iPhone Delete photos on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

Before you delete

Make sure that you back up the photos and videos that you still want. When you use iCloud Photos and delete a photo or video on one device, it gets deleted on all other devices where you're signed in with the same Apple ID.

Read Delete photos or recover deleted ones in Photos on Mac - Apple Support (IN)

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 22, 2022 6:26 AM in response to PenelopeKG

When iPhone and Mac are signed in with same Apple ID and password on the same network and photo library is setup Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support

When photos are deleted from iPhone Delete photos on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

Before you delete

Make sure that you back up the photos and videos that you still want. When you use iCloud Photos and delete a photo or video on one device, it gets deleted on all other devices where you're signed in with the same Apple ID.

Read Delete photos or recover deleted ones in Photos on Mac - Apple Support (IN)

Feb 23, 2022 8:03 AM in response to PenelopeKG

Any external volume you are using for your photos should be prepared as described here: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

The important things to consider are:

  • The file system format should be MacOS Extended (Journaled) or APFS.
  • The external drive needs a wired connection, not a NAS.
  • The external drive should not have been used for Time Machine backups.
  • If the drive does not allow you to set the "Ignore Ownership" flag, something is wrong.


Any small, portable volume that can be connected to USB and does not need an own power supply will do. I am using a Lacie Mobile Drive USB3 5TB. There is enough free storage for many years of shooting photos. If you will be rarely working with the photos on this archive drive, it does not need to be the fastest device. I am using small, portable devices, so I can carry them with me to use with my MacBook Pro. But if you are using a Desktop Mac, not a portable Mac, you could also consider a larger stack, that will stay on your desktop.


To archive all photos on the external disk, you can drag the Photos Library from your Mac to the external drive. This will work, if the Photos Library is complete, meaning, you have not been using "Optimise Mac Storage" for your iCloud Photos Library and all originals have been downloaded to the Mac.




Feb 23, 2022 6:05 AM in response to tygb

This is so important to know. Thank you for the response. I actually can't see all photos in iCloud...maybe this is a process that take several days. My recent upload of about 600 photos/videos are visible on my phone and not taking up space so they are in iCloud but I had hoped they would be visible there as well for easier and faster editing. I want to weed out, create albums and share but first I need to be able to see them. The first time I uploaded it took about 3 days for me to see them. I'll give it a couple more. Can you confirm that is the case...eventually I'll see them when I log into iCloud.com and open Photos?

Feb 23, 2022 7:04 AM in response to PenelopeKG

PenelopeKG wrote:

If I am storing photos in iCloud, may I delete photos from my devices (both iPhone and MACbook PRO without losing them in iCloud?

In no account delete photos from your devices, while the devices are still syncing with iCloud Photos or the photos will be deleted from iCloud and all other devices syncing with iCloud Photos.


If you a re using iCloud Photos you will always be seeing the same photos on all devices, as the purpose of iCloud Photos is to keep all the photo libraries on all devices identical and in sync.

You can only delete photos from any of your devices without losing them in iCloud or on other devices, if you disable iCloud Photos on your device. This will have many draw-backs. You can no longer use the local Photos.app on the device to work with the photos. The very limited web interface at www.icloud.com will be the only way to access your photos.


It would be more convenient to reduce the size of your iCloud Photos Library. Keep only your most important favourite photos in iCloud Photos, that you want to see on all your devices at all times. And archive all your photos on an external volume on your Mac, so you can always access all your photos from your Mac, including the ones that you do not need on all your devices.


Feb 23, 2022 7:14 AM in response to léonie

Wow Leonie! This is incredibly helpful. Is there "an external volume" that you use to archive photos that you recommend? I've got a very rudimentary system now of thumb drives which is not the best for ease of viewing, future editing, etc. If you can recommend something that has worked well for you, please advise. It may just be that I won't need to be concerned with that if I use iCloud as you suggest, and consider the "Archived" photos as rarely viewed which would lessen the importance of them being organized?!

If I am storing photos in iCloud, may I delete photos from my devices without losing them in iCloud?

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