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trying to delete photos on my Mac but keep in icloud

how do I delete photos on my Mac but keep in icloud?


MacBook, OS X 10.11

Posted on Dec 27, 2022 3:01 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 27, 2022 8:11 PM

What are you trying to do? Partial deletion on the Mac or complete? Temporary or permanent?


Are you trying to sever the connection between Photos on the Mac and Photos in iCloud entirely? Disable iCloud Photos in Photos > Settings > iCloud. Now the deletions or additions you make on the Mac won't be made in iCloud and vice versa. If you reconnect them later, they will be merged.


If you are trying to create only a partial asymmetry between the Mac version of the library and the cloud version of the library but allow future additions or deletions to be synced, there is no way to do that. iCloud Photos is a full-sync service.

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 27, 2022 8:11 PM in response to AtomicHandyman

What are you trying to do? Partial deletion on the Mac or complete? Temporary or permanent?


Are you trying to sever the connection between Photos on the Mac and Photos in iCloud entirely? Disable iCloud Photos in Photos > Settings > iCloud. Now the deletions or additions you make on the Mac won't be made in iCloud and vice versa. If you reconnect them later, they will be merged.


If you are trying to create only a partial asymmetry between the Mac version of the library and the cloud version of the library but allow future additions or deletions to be synced, there is no way to do that. iCloud Photos is a full-sync service.

trying to delete photos on my Mac but keep in icloud

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