You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

💡 Did you know?

⏺ If you can't accept iCloud Terms and Conditions... Learn more >

⏺ If you don't see your iCloud notes in the Notes app... Learn more >

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Once iCloud storage has saved past data, such as photos, can you have them deleted, to make room for your future data?

My initial cloud storage is full and I don’t want to save the photos to iCloud.

Posted on Aug 4, 2023 6:31 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 4, 2023 6:50 AM

iCloud storage is syncing storage. That means that unless you disable the syncing for a certain category that what you store on one device is stored on other devices too. However, if you delete a file on one device it is also deleted everywhere else that uses iCloud for that file.


iCloud is not like a traditional archival drive where you can offload items. The exception is optimization but note that this entails lesser quality files on devices. Click on the link to learn how to optimize the storage on a device --> "How to check the storage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch" - How to check the storage on your iPhone and iPad - Apple Support

- "If your device is low on storage, it automatically frees up space while installing an app, updating iOS or iPadOS, downloading music, recording videos, and more.



I don’t want to save the photos to iCloud.

Change your iCloud feature settings [iOS and Mac] - Change which apps sync and store data with iCloud - Apple Support


You can turn off iCloud syncing for Photos. The photos will then only be on your computer (except the ones that were already in iCloud, in which case log into iCloud.com and delete them from there so they are not in iCloud). Make sure you use another way for backing up your photos such as to a computer.


2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 4, 2023 6:50 AM in response to Dangcloudquest

iCloud storage is syncing storage. That means that unless you disable the syncing for a certain category that what you store on one device is stored on other devices too. However, if you delete a file on one device it is also deleted everywhere else that uses iCloud for that file.


iCloud is not like a traditional archival drive where you can offload items. The exception is optimization but note that this entails lesser quality files on devices. Click on the link to learn how to optimize the storage on a device --> "How to check the storage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch" - How to check the storage on your iPhone and iPad - Apple Support

- "If your device is low on storage, it automatically frees up space while installing an app, updating iOS or iPadOS, downloading music, recording videos, and more.



I don’t want to save the photos to iCloud.

Change your iCloud feature settings [iOS and Mac] - Change which apps sync and store data with iCloud - Apple Support


You can turn off iCloud syncing for Photos. The photos will then only be on your computer (except the ones that were already in iCloud, in which case log into iCloud.com and delete them from there so they are not in iCloud). Make sure you use another way for backing up your photos such as to a computer.


Once iCloud storage has saved past data, such as photos, can you have them deleted, to make room for your future data?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.