Device storage v. iCloud storage

jpap97 wrote:

This might have a straightforward answer but I’ve looked everywhere online and can’t seem to figure it out. I recently bought additional iCloud storage (the 200gb) package because my phone is choked up with photos and other random stuff and I thought cool, I’ll just have the cloud take care of it. But the storage on my phone hasn’t lessened at all. Is there something I have to do? I already have iCloud photos turned on and the setting for optimizing storage also turned on. I thought iCloud would lessen the burden on my phone, so why is there still so much space being taken up on my phone by stuff that I paid for iCloud to store?

What's the difference between device storage and iCloud storage? - Apple Support