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Moving personal iCloud to Family iCloud

I have an existing iCloud account and have saved all my photos there. My husband bought a family iCloud space and wants me to move to that so we are not paying for iCloud twice. If I click on 'Use Family Storage' in settings, will I lose my pictures on my personal iCloud?

iPhone X, iOS 14

Posted on Sep 6, 2021 9:13 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 7, 2021 6:40 PM

Hey Dave G1,


I don’t think the referenced articles address the situation. I just signed up for the Apple One Premier account. My wife has an individual 200 gb storage plan. As far as I can see, there is no easy way to meld her plan into the family plan.


I called your help line today and was referred to the two articles you list.


i quote from the second article:


If a family member is already paying for their own iCloud storage plan, they can choose to switch to your plan or keep their own and still remain part of the family. When they switch to the shared family plan, they get a refund for the remainder of their personal plan. They can't keep their current plan and use the shared family plan at the same time.

Follow these steps to switch to the shared family plan on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:

  1. Go to Settings > [your name].
  2. Tap Family Sharing, then tap iCloud Storage.
  3. Tap Use Family Storage. 


“Use Family Storage” is not listed as an option. I am afraid to try what the Apple Specialist suggested which was to delete my wife's 200 gb account and then sign her up for family storage. If I do that I think there is a good chance most of her photos will be lost.




2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 7, 2021 6:40 PM in response to Dave_G1

Hey Dave G1,


I don’t think the referenced articles address the situation. I just signed up for the Apple One Premier account. My wife has an individual 200 gb storage plan. As far as I can see, there is no easy way to meld her plan into the family plan.


I called your help line today and was referred to the two articles you list.


i quote from the second article:


If a family member is already paying for their own iCloud storage plan, they can choose to switch to your plan or keep their own and still remain part of the family. When they switch to the shared family plan, they get a refund for the remainder of their personal plan. They can't keep their current plan and use the shared family plan at the same time.

Follow these steps to switch to the shared family plan on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:

  1. Go to Settings > [your name].
  2. Tap Family Sharing, then tap iCloud Storage.
  3. Tap Use Family Storage. 


“Use Family Storage” is not listed as an option. I am afraid to try what the Apple Specialist suggested which was to delete my wife's 200 gb account and then sign her up for family storage. If I do that I think there is a good chance most of her photos will be lost.




Sep 7, 2021 3:32 PM in response to anupa11

Hey there anupa11!


It sounds like you have some questions regarding Family Sharing and iCloud storage.


In your case you're simply upgrading from one storage option to the other. As long as you have enough storage space to accommodate your data, you should be just fine. The articles below are great resources.


Upgrade your iCloud storage plan

Share an iCloud storage plan with your family


Warm regards.

Moving personal iCloud to Family iCloud

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