Quick Answer
Deleting photos from iCloud does not delete them from your iPhone or other devices. The photos will be removed from iCloud storage, but the original copies remain on your devices. To permanently delete photos everywhere, you need to delete them from each device individually.
Detailed Answer
iCloud Photos is Apple’s cloud storage service that syncs photos across iPhone, iPad, Mac and other Apple devices. When you enable iCloud Photos, it automatically uploads photos taken on one device to the iCloud servers. This allows you to access those photos from any other device signed into the same iCloud account.
Deleting a photo from the iCloud Photos library does not delete the original copy of that photo stored locally on your devices. For example, if you take a photo with your iPhone camera, it is saved in the Camera Roll on your iPhone. When iCloud Photos is enabled, that photo is also copied and uploaded to iCloud servers. If you later delete that photo from iCloud, it is simply removed from iCloud storage but the original remains in your iPhone Camera Roll.
To permanently delete a photo everywhere, you need to manually delete it from the local storage on each device. On an iPhone or iPad, go to the Photos app and find the photo you want to delete. Swipe left on the photo thumbnail and tap the Delete button. This will delete the local copy of the photo from that device. You need to repeat this on every device that has a local copy of the photo.
Deleting from iCloud only removes the online backup copy of the photo. The local original remains on your devices and can still be accessed unless deleted individually. This allows you to free up iCloud storage space while retaining photos on your devices.
When are photos deleted from iCloud?
Photos are deleted from your iCloud Photos library in a few different scenarios:
- When you manually delete photos from iCloud using the Photos app or iCloud.com interface. This removes the photo from iCloud storage but not your devices.
- When you disable iCloud Photos on a device. Any photos that were uploaded to iCloud just from that device will be removed from iCloud.
- After a period of inactivity on a device with iCloud Photos enabled. If a device stops uploading new photos to iCloud for an extended time, the existing iCloud photos originating from that device may be deleted.
- If you run out of your allocated iCloud storage space. Older photos may be deleted from iCloud in a First In First Out manner.
In summary, the main ways that photos get deleted from iCloud are manual deletions, disabling iCloud Photos, device inactivity, and exceeding storage limits. But in all these cases, the original copies of the photos on your devices are not deleted.
How to delete photos from iCloud only
If you want to remove photos from iCloud while keeping them on your devices, follow these steps:
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone, iPad or Mac.
- Locate the photos you want to delete from iCloud.
- Select the photos then tap or click the Delete button.
- When prompted, choose to Delete from iCloud Only.
- The photos will be deleted from iCloud but remain on your devices.
You can also visit iCloud.com from any web browser to delete photos from your iCloud library online:
- Go to iCloud.com and log in.
- Click on Photos to open your iCloud Photos library.
- Select one or more photos you want to remove.
- Click the Delete button.
- Confirm that you only want to remove the photos from iCloud.
Following these steps lets you free up iCloud storage by removing photos you no longer need backed up online, without losing the original copies on your own devices.
How to permanently delete photos from both iCloud and devices
To completely delete photos and eliminate all copies everywhere, you need to manually remove them from each device and iCloud:
- On your iPhone, iPad or Mac, open the Photos app and select the photos want to permanently delete.
- Delete the photos from the device storage itself:
- iPhone or iPad: Tap Delete then Delete Photo.
- Mac: Click the Delete button then Delete from Library.
- Open iCloud.com in a web browser and sign in.
- In your iCloud Photos library, select the same photos and click Delete.
- Confirm deletion only from iCloud.
This will remove all copies of the photos from both your devices and your iCloud storage. The photos will no longer be accessible through iCloud Photos or any local Photos app. This is a permanent deletion, so make absolutely sure you want to delete those photos everywhere before proceeding.
Other iCloud data that remains after deleting photos
Deleting photos from iCloud only affects the photos themselves. Other iCloud data remains intact:
- Contacts, calendars and other iCloud app data are not deleted.
- Documents or data stored in iCloud Drive are not touched.
- Any non-photo files attached to deleted photos are removed from iCloud but remain available on devices.
- Photo Album organization and management is unaffected.
- Memories, People recognition and places in Photos are preserved.
In essence, removing photos eliminates just the photos while preserving all metadata, organization and other associated data. This allows you to recover storage space while retaining a coherent iCloud library structure.
Can you recover deleted iCloud photos?
If you accidentally deleted photos from iCloud that you wanted to keep, recovery may be possible:
- iCloud keeps deleted photos available for recovery for 30 days after initial deletion. You can find previously deleted photos in the Recently Deleted album and restore them.
- If 30 days have passed, the photos are no longer available directly in iCloud. But if you have a Time Machine backup on a Mac, you may be able to recover the deleted photos from the backup.
- Some third-party apps claim to allow recovery of deleted iCloud photos beyond 30 days, but results vary.
- If you catch the error quickly, an iPhone or Mac data recovery app may be able to restore deleted photos before they are fully overwritten.
So in summary, you have 30 days to recover deleted photos using iCloud’s built-in tools. Beyond that window, data recovery software or backups provide your only hope for getting deleted photos back. Acting quickly is important for the best chance of restoration.
Tips for managing iCloud Photos
Here are some tips for effectively managing your iCloud Photos library:
- Review and delete unwanted photos regularly to avoid exceeding your storage limit.
- Use iCloud.com to manage photos from any browser for convenience.
- Enable iCloud’s Optimize Storage setting to automatically remove full-resolution copies of photos you rarely access.
- Use third-party apps like Picturelife to add another layer of backup for important photos.
- Make use of Albums to organize your photo library.
- Leverage Smart Albums if you need more advanced ways of grouping photos.
- Take advantage of Search to quickly find photos.
Carefully managing your iCloud Photos library this way helps ensure valuable storage space is used effectively and important photos remain accessible.
Conclusion
In summary:
- Deleting photos from iCloud does not delete the originals from your devices.
- To permanently delete photos from both iCloud and devices, you must remove them from each location individually.
- You have 30 days to recover deleted iCloud photos before they are permanently gone.
- Other iCloud data like contacts and documents are unaffected when deleting photos.
- Follow best practices like regular deletion of unneeded photos and enabling Optimize Storage to efficiently manage your iCloud Photos library.
So deleting photos from iCloud provides a way to free up valuable storage space without compromising the photos on your iPhone, iPad and other devices. Carefully consider whether to delete iCloud copies only or eliminate photos permanently before confirming deletion.