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Will deleting an iPhone picture also delete it from iCloud?

If I delete a picture from my iPhone will it delete it from the iCloud too?



[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on May 30, 2021 11:12 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 30, 2021 11:30 AM

Yes. iCloud Photos is a syncing service. Any photo you delete from a device where iCloud Photos is turned on will also be deleted from iCloud and from any other device connected to iCloud Photos. You can potentially reduce the storage space required on a device by turning on Optimize Storage. See: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204264


Apple does not currently offer cloud-only storage for photos. If that is what you want or need, you may want to explore 3rd party options such as Google Photos or Dropbox.


Another way that photos may be on iCloud (if you don’t have iCloud Photos turned on) is via a backup of an iOS device. The only thing you can do with a backup is use it to restore a device or set up a new device. The contents of backups are not viewable at iCloud.com and if you delete a photo from a device it will not be included in future backups and will be lost.

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 30, 2021 11:30 AM in response to joleen18

Yes. iCloud Photos is a syncing service. Any photo you delete from a device where iCloud Photos is turned on will also be deleted from iCloud and from any other device connected to iCloud Photos. You can potentially reduce the storage space required on a device by turning on Optimize Storage. See: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204264


Apple does not currently offer cloud-only storage for photos. If that is what you want or need, you may want to explore 3rd party options such as Google Photos or Dropbox.


Another way that photos may be on iCloud (if you don’t have iCloud Photos turned on) is via a backup of an iOS device. The only thing you can do with a backup is use it to restore a device or set up a new device. The contents of backups are not viewable at iCloud.com and if you delete a photo from a device it will not be included in future backups and will be lost.

May 30, 2021 11:33 AM in response to khajotia

khajotia wrote:

Hi, if you have used the feature optimize iphone storage then yes, if you have download and keep orignals enabled you have the option to keep them or delete them.

If the Download and Keep Originals option is on (or if Optimize iCloud Photos is on), photos deleted from a device where iCloud Photos is on will also be deleted from iCloud and from any other device where iCloud Photos is on. The Download and Keep/Optimize option doesn't change that.

Will deleting an iPhone picture also delete it from iCloud?

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