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Photos on iCloud and phones

Ok so I downloaded all my photos/vids etc that I actually want to my iCloud and I basically want to delete all the photos/vids etc from my IPHONE and then transfer the ICLOUD photos/vids etc (I took time deleting etc so I can have all the photos etc that I actually want not the ones I don’t want anymore) back to my IPHONE again how do I do that 🙃

Posted on Jun 29, 2021 11:28 AM

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Posted on Jun 29, 2021 1:07 PM

iCloud Photos is a syncing service. Any photo you delete from a device where iCloud Photos is turned on will also be deleted from iCloud and from any other device connected to iCloud Photos (also, any photo you delete from iCloud will be deleted from al devices where iCloud Photos is turned on). You can potentially reduce the storage space required on a device by turning on Optimize Storage. See: Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support


Apple does not currently offer cloud-only storage for photos. If that is what you want or need, you may want to explore 3rd party options such as Google Photos or Dropbox.


Another way that photos may be on iCloud (if you don’t have iCloud Photos turned on) is via a backup of an iOS device. The only thing you can do with a backup is use it to restore a device or set up a new device. The contents of backups are not viewable at iCloud.com and if you delete a photo from a device it will not be included in future backups and will be lost.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 29, 2021 1:07 PM in response to Notdownrn1

iCloud Photos is a syncing service. Any photo you delete from a device where iCloud Photos is turned on will also be deleted from iCloud and from any other device connected to iCloud Photos (also, any photo you delete from iCloud will be deleted from al devices where iCloud Photos is turned on). You can potentially reduce the storage space required on a device by turning on Optimize Storage. See: Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support


Apple does not currently offer cloud-only storage for photos. If that is what you want or need, you may want to explore 3rd party options such as Google Photos or Dropbox.


Another way that photos may be on iCloud (if you don’t have iCloud Photos turned on) is via a backup of an iOS device. The only thing you can do with a backup is use it to restore a device or set up a new device. The contents of backups are not viewable at iCloud.com and if you delete a photo from a device it will not be included in future backups and will be lost.

Photos on iCloud and phones

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