Trying to turn on iCloud photos with concerning pop-up

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Level 1

4 points

Trying to turn on iCloud photos with concerning pop-up

I recently upgraded my iCloud storage to sync my photos across devices. I have an old iPhone 7 that I want to share photos from, but when I tried to toggle "iCloud Photos" to "on", I received a pop-up that says the following:

iCloud Photos Will Be Deleted Soon

Photos and videos will no longer upload unless you cancel this deletion in iCloud Storage Management.

I then have the option to Enable, Manage iCloud Storage, or Cancel. My iCloud storage management lists Photo sharing as "on" (as it is active on other devices without issue). Can anyone please explain if this is safe to Enable? I don't want my photos deleted and manually copying stuff would be a pain.

See below for my iCloud Storage management settings summary.

iPhone 7, iOS 15

Posted on Jun 18, 2025 11:45 PM

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Answer 1

zinacef

Level 10

88,714 points

Jun 19, 2025 09:31 PM in response to lindrock

Why You're Seeing This Message

When you toggle iCloud Photos ON on the iPhone 7, Apple detects that at some point, iCloud Photos was turned OFF on this device. When that happens, Apple marks the photos from this device for deletion from iCloud after 30 days, assuming you're no longer syncing them.

Even though other devices are using iCloud Photos just fine, this particular device has a deletion request "pending" in iCloud Storage Management—hence the warning.

Is It Safe to Tap "Enable"?

Yes, it's safe—as long as your photos are intact in iCloud from your other devices. When you tap "Enable", it does the following:

Cancels the pending deletion.
Reconnects this iPhone 7 to the same iCloud Photo Library.
Begins syncing all iCloud photos with this device (both upload and download, depending on settings and space).

In short, "Enable" reconnects your iPhone 7 to the shared photo library rather than wiping anything.

Important Precautions

Before you tap Enable, here are some smart safety steps:

Check iCloud Photos online (via iCloud.com) to confirm your photos are safely stored.
If you're nervous, backup the iPhone 7 to a computer using Finder (macOS) or iTunes (Windows) before proceeding.

If You Want to Be Extra Cautious

Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos on your other (working) device.
Ensure iCloud Photos is ON and you can see all your photos there.
Then, go back to your iPhone 7 and choose "Enable" on the warning prompt.

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Trying to turn on iCloud photos with concerning pop-up

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