How to Delete Photos from iCloud While Keeping Them on iPhone

Do you want to delete photos from iCloud while keeping them on your iPhone? There are two ways to do so. Deleting photos from iCloud helps free up iCloud storage. Please follow this guide to learn the detailed steps.

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Sofia Albert

Updated on Nov 26, 2024

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Questions from Apple Community: How do I delete photos from iCloud while keeping them on the iPhone?

Quick Answer: First, turn off iCloud Photo Syncing on your iPhone. Then, go to iCloud.com > Photos > choose the photos > Delete.

It is easy to delete photos from iCloud. But can you keep these photos on your old iPhone? The answer is yes. You can free up your iCloud storage by deleting the photos and keeping them on your iPhone. It helps back up your important data by keeping the photos on your old iPhone. In this guide, I will show you the detailed steps to delete photos from iCloud but not iPhone.

Turn off iCloud Photo Syncing on iPhone First

Before you delete photos from iCloud, you should know two situations:

  • If you have enabled iCloud Photo syncing: deleting photos from iCloud will delete them from devices linked to the same iCloud account.
  • If you haven't enabled iCloud Photo syncing: you can delete photos from iCloud but keep them on your devices.

Once you delete photos from iCloud, they will be removed from all devices using the same Apple ID unless you've disabled iCloud Photo syncing. If you want to delete photos from iCloud but not from iPhone, you should first turn off iCloud Photo syncing. Here is how to turn off iCloud photo syncing on your iPhone.

Step 1. Open your iPhone "Settings" and tap your name on the top.

Step 2. Go to "iCloud" and select "Photos."

Step 3. Turn off "Sync this iPhone." This will stop syncing your iPhone photos with iCloud.

disable sync this iphone option

How to Delete Photos from iCloud but Not iPhone [2 Ways]

Make sure syncing is turned off on your iPhone, and you can delete photos from iCloud while keeping them on your iPhone. There are two ways to delete photos from iCloud but not iPhone.

Method 1. iCloud.com

The first way is to delete photos with iCloud.com. Turn off your iCloud Photos and follow the steps to delete photos from iCloud but not iPhone.

Step 1. Go to iCloud.com via a web browser.

Step 2. Sign in with your iCloud account and password.

Step 3. Choose "Photos" on iCloud.

tap photos on icloud website

Step 4. Choose the photos you want to delete. (📝Tip: If you want to select all photos, press the Ctrl + A keys on your keyboard.)

Step 5. Click the trash can icon on the top-right corner to delete photos from iCloud.

icloud delete photos

Method 2. EaseUS MobiMover

If you want to delete all photos from iCloud, you can do so directly by using a reliable iCloud manager - EaseUS MobiMover. With MobiMover, you can flexibly manage iCloud storage MobiMover, including deleting iCloud photos, transferring iCloud photos to a PC, etc. If you just want to free up iCloud storage space, MobiMover can help you back up and transfer your iCloud photos to your computer, and then you can delete them from iCloud.

As an iCloud manager, EaseUS MobiMover can help you:

  • File management: Provides an intuitive interface for users to browse and manage files in iCloud, delete and add files, etc.
  • Data transfer: Transfer photos, videos, contacts, and other data to devices or computers using iCloud.
  • Backup and restore: Supports backing up data from iCloud to computer, or from computer to iCloud to ensure data security.
  • Batch management: Allows users to download or upload photos to iCloud in batches to improve efficiency.
  • Account syncing: Supports data syncing between two cloud accounts, such as iCloud to iCloud or iCloud to Google Drive.

Download EaseUS MobiMover on your computer and follow the steps to delete photos from iCloud but not iPhone:

Step 1. Open EaseUS MobiMover on your computer, click iCloud Manager and sign in with your Apple ID and password.

icloud manager sign in icloud

Step 2. Then, you will be able to check the usage of iCloud space. You can also choose one category to manage: Contacts, Calendar, Photos, Notes, and Reminders.

icloud manager icloud date

Step 3. Select the category, and you can click the five buttons at the top to manage your iCloud Photos/Contacts/Calendar/Notes/Reminders.

icloud photos

  • Download: Download the selected items to your computer, USB flash drive, external hard drive, or other storage device connected to your computer.
  • Upload: Select the files on your computer or external hard drive and upload them to iCloud storage.
  • Sync: Sign in to another iCloud account, and the selected data will be synced to another iCloud account.
  • Delete: Delete the selected data from iCloud.
  • Refresh: Click Refresh to check any changes you make to the iCloud data.

📝Tip: It is recommended to have a backup of your photos on your iPhone before deleting them from iCloud. EaseUS MobiMover is a powerful photo backup tool. It can help you back up all photos to the computer in one click. If there is a glitch in the iOS system, your photos may be deleted from your iPhone. To avoid data loss, please back up your photos first.

Conclusion

By disabling iCloud Photos, you can delete photos from iCloud but not iPhone. Then, there are two ways to delete photos from iCloud, including iCloud.com and EaseUS MobiMover. EaseUS MobiMover is a better option to delete all photos from your iCloud and keep these photos safe. You can effectively keep your photos on your device while freeing up space in iCloud. You'd better have backups of your important photos to avoid accidental loss.

FAQs on How to Delete Photos from iCloud but Not iPhone

1. How do I clear iCloud storage without deleting photos on my iPhone?

There are many ways to clear iCloud storage. You can delete unused apps from iCloud, optimize iCloud Drive, delete old messages, delete old backups, and clear mail storage.

2. How do I delete photos from iPhone but not iCloud?

Step 1. On your iPhone go to "Settings" > "iCloud" > "Photos."

Step 2. Turn off "Sync this iPhone."

Step 3. Open the "Photos" app on your iPhone and select photos to delete.

3. How do I sync photos to iCloud?

Sync from iPhone: Go to Settings > Your name > iCloud > Photos. Turn on Sync this iPhone.

Sync from computer: go to iCloud.com > select Photos > Upload icon.

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Updated by Sofia Albert

Sofia has been involved with tech ever since she joined the EaseUS editor team in March 2011 and now she is a senior website editor. She is good at solving various iPhone and Android issues, such as iPhone or Android data transfer & recovery.

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