Apple’s iCloud is a powerful tool that automatically backs up important data on your device. When enabled, iCloud will back up every photo and video you have on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. While it ensures that your important data stays safe, it doesn’t filter which photos you want to back up and which you don’t. This can quickly eat up your precious 5 GB of free iCloud storage, making it unavailable for your data that is actually important to you. In this article, we will show you how to delete photos from iCloud to delete older photos and free up your storage space. If you want to delete photos from iCloud but not iPhone, don’t worry as we have mentioned steps for that too. You don’t have to wait anymore, we’ll get started right away!
How to delete photos from iCloud
Note: This method will delete photos from your iCloud storage and from your Apple device. The steps remain the same for iPhone, iPad and Mac.
If you also want to delete photos synced to iCloud from your iPhone, you can easily do that through the Photos app. The process is simple and you don’t need to mess with other settings on your iPhone. However, make sure to backup your important photos beforehand. When you delete photos and videos from the Photos app, they are deleted from your iPhone and any other devices where you are signed in with the same Apple ID. To delete iCloud Photos:
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Go to the Library tab from the bottom left corner.
- Then tap All pictures.
- Then tap Select at the top right of the screen and choose the photos and videos you want to delete from your iCloud account.
- Once selected, tap the trash icon from the bottom and press the To delete knob.
- Confirm your decision when prompted.
Once deleted, the photos and videos will remain on your device for up to 30 days. If you want to permanently delete photos from iCloud and iPhone, go to the Recently Deleted folder in the Photos app. Then choose the Select option, tap the three horizontal dotsand choose Clear all. This will permanently delete photos from iCloud and all connected Apple devices.
How to delete photos from iCloud but not iPhone
To delete photos from iCloud without deleting them from your iPhone, you need to check the sync status of your iPhone. If you have enabled the iCloud Photos sync option, you cannot delete iCloud Photos without deleting them from your iPhone. This is because when everything stays in sync, the deletion will also be in sync. If you want to delete photos from iCloud storage but not on your iPhone or iPad, you must first disable the iCloud Photos option on your device.
Step 1: Turn off iCloud Photos
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and tap Photos.
- Turn the switch off for iCloud Photos.
- In the pop-up that appears on the screen, tap Delete from iPhone if you want to delete low-resolution copies from your iPhone. To restore original photos to your iPhone from iCloud before deleting them, tap Download photos and videos.
- Repeat the above steps for any other device paired with your device Apple ID. When the iCloud Photos switch is turned off, the photos on each device are managed separately.
Step 2: Delete iCloud Photos
Once you have turned off iCloud Photos, follow the steps below:
- Open iCloud.com in a web browser.
- Click on the To register button and enter your Apple ID information. If you have forgotten your password, you can find it here how to reset your apple id password.
- Then go on the Photos app and click Library from the left pane.
- Then select the photos and videos you want to delete from your iCloud account.
- To select multiple photos, hold down the Command button on a Mac or the Control key on a Windows PC while you select the items.
- To select all photos at once, press Command + A on your Mac or Control + A on a Windows PC.
- Click on the trash icon from the right corner.
- Finally, press the Delete button to confirm your decision.
Once again, the deleted items will be moved to the Recently Deleted folder, where they will be available for the next 30 days. If you want to permanently delete your iCloud photos, click the Recently deleted folder in the left pane and then click the clear all option and confirm your decision.
Those were the two ways to delete photos from iCloud. Hopefully this article has helped you free up storage space and delete older photos and videos that you no longer need. If you have any doubts, please feel free to contact us via the comments below.
