It depends on your iCloud Photos settings. If iCloud Photos is on, then deleting photos from your phone will remove them from the cloud. However, if iCloud Photos is off, deleting them from an iPhone will not remove them from the cloud.
Whether it is photos of my dog or important screenshots, I keep a lot of pictures on my iPhone. But eventually, there comes a time when I want to delete some of them in order to preserve storage space on the device.
But do photos that get deleted from your iPhone automatically get removed from the cloud as well? Keep reading to find out.
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Key Takeaways
- If iCloud Photos is on, then whenever you delete a photo from your iPhone, it will also be deleted from the cloud.
- On the other hand, if iCloud Photos is turned off, then you can freely delete photos on your device without anything happening to the cloud. This is because when this setting is off, the cloud is separated from your phone storage when it comes to photos.
- While iCloud is a popular and good choice, there are other cloud storage options to consider if you want to be able to save photos, but delete them from your device.
It Depends on Your iCloud Photos settings
Ultimately, whether or not photos stay on iCloud if they are deleted on your phone depends on your iCloud Photos setting on the device. If iCloud Photos is turned on, then photos you delete off of your device will also be deleted from the cloud.
This is because the photos are linked and deleting them from the phone deletes them from the shared storage at the same time. But if it is turned off, this won’t be the case. Without iCloud Photos turned on, the photos on your iPhone will be separate from those in the cloud.
To check whether iCloud Photos is on or off, head to Settings > Photos > iCloud Photos. Then, simply tap the button to turn it off or on as you wish.
Consider Cloud-Only Storage
If you want to be able to delete photos from your device periodically without also losing them from the cloud (without having to constantly turn iCloud Photos on and off), you may want to consider using some sort of cloud-only storage.
That way, you can keep certain photos you never want to lose safe in the cloud, while also being free to delete things you don’t need from your device at the same time without worrying if you will end up deleting them from everywhere.
When choosing the alternative to use, be sure to look at reviews, check out the features they have and consider trying them out to see which you prefer. Some of the best options here include Google Photos and Dropbox, but there are plenty of choices to consider.
Creating a backup of your photos on one of these alternatives will ensure that all of your important photos are kept safe, even if you need to remove them from your device for one reason or another.
The exact process for using these pieces of software varies, but most are very easy to set up and use, right on your iPhone.
In addition to this, some people may also use more than one iCloud account. This way, you can have an iCloud account with all of the photos you never want to lose, and one you don’t mind losing photos from every now and then.
Final Thoughts
Whether it is to save storage space or simply do some album cleanup, there will likely come a time when you need to delete some photos. However, you need to be careful about what you delete, as it could be lost forever if you also delete the photo from the cloud.
I hope this guide has helped you learn more about whether or not photos remain on iCloud if deleted from your phone, and how you can decide what gets deleted and what stays safe.
Do you like to use iCloud Photos to automatically sync your photos with the cloud? Or do you prefer to keep everything on the device only? Let me know in a comment.
