Is it correct way of using iCloud for backing up my photos?

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Level 1

6 points

Is it correct way of using iCloud for backing up my photos?

I backed up my iPhone that had around 260GB of data, but the iCloud backup size is only 44GB. I didn’t have iCloud Photos enabled, but I believe the Photos app was selected in the list of apps included in the backup.

I understand that if iCloud Photos is turned on, photos are stored separately and not included in the iCloud backup to avoid duplication. But in my case, since iCloud Photos was off and I backed up the Photos app, does that mean all my photos are now inside the iCloud backup?

So if I restore this backup to a new iPhone, will all my photos come back, even though they don’t appear on iCloud.com/photos?

[Edited by Moderator]

iPhone 16 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on Jul 12, 2025 03:31 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 13, 2025 07:29 AM in response to askar3101

Like for you, it is my understanding that Photos is included in iCloud backup if you have turned on iCloud backup but not iCloud Photos. But, since I use iCloud Photos, I don't have direct experience. The one catch may be that, if you don't use iCloud Photos but you transfer pictures from a computer to an iPhone, those transferred pictures may not be "owned" by Photos and may not be in the backup. It does seem odd that the backup is so small.

You can "restore" your backup to a new phone before resetting the old one, so you can try it and see. Let us know how it goes!

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Answer 2

askar3101 Author

Level 1

6 points

Jul 13, 2025 03:00 AM in response to askar3101

EDIT: I had about +150GB of photos on IPhone (Photo app weight)

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