Turned off Photo Sync to iCloud but iCloud backup increased?

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Level 1

7 points

Turned off Photo Sync to iCloud but iCloud backup increased?

Hello All,

I just started backing up my photos on my iPhone to my Western Digital NAS as iCloud was getting full of photos. I think I had about 2Gb of photos and the backup (apps and data on phone) was also about 2Gb. I stopped (a couple of days ago) synching my photos and stopped photos from being backed up into iCloud so total used iCloud was around 2Gb.

Just today I received an email saying my iCloud was 95% full so I logged in to my iCloud account. There are no photos taking up any space but my iCloud backup doubled from 2Gb+ to 4Gb+. What the heck? Why would my iCloud backup increase?

Posted on Nov 26, 2023 06:26 AM

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Answer 1

muguy

Level 10

90,026 points

Nov 26, 2023 06:34 AM in response to bpatters69

If you do not sync your photos to iCloud, they are included in your iCloud backup of your device.

If you sync your photos, they aren't included in the device backup as they already sync to iCloud.

What does iCloud back up? - Apple Support

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Answer 2

bpatters69 Author

Level 1

7 points

Nov 26, 2023 07:56 AM in response to muguy

@muguy

Thanks. Sounds a bit counter-intuitive or maybe I am not understanding the terms. What I want to do is to stop all photos from being stored, backed up, etc into the iCloud so it eats into the 5Gb storage. That being said, should I turn off the sync function?

I am ok with the photos being on the phone and the Western Digital MyCloud (NAS on my LAN) will backup the photos.

Thanks, Bill

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Answer 3

muguy

Level 10

90,026 points

Nov 26, 2023 08:19 AM in response to bpatters69

Admittedly, I have always used iCloud Photos and I'm not sure if a toggle exists to turn off photo backup (although I don't believe one exists). If there is one it's at settings > Apple ID > iCloud > iCloud backup

Wait for the device to find the apps backing up data into iCloud.

Here's the breakdown:

Assuming a 3GB photo library and a total device use of 4 GB

If you have 3GB of photos and sync to iCloud, you would have 3GB in iCloud Photos, 1GB in your backup and 1GB remaining.

If you turn off sync, you would have 0 GB in iCloud Photos , 4GB in your backup and 1 GB remaining.

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Answer 4

shoeluvr13

Level 6

18,427 points

Nov 26, 2023 11:32 AM in response to bpatters69

You just need to select what you want the iCloud backup to include.

Settings > your name > iCloud > Manage Account Storage > Backups > select your iPhone > turn off anything you don’t want included in the backup

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Answer 5

bpatters69 Author

Level 1

7 points

Nov 27, 2023 02:54 PM in response to shoeluvr13

Thanks. Yes, I found this when I was playing around with the settings. Its kind of annoying that you have to go to so much trouble to stop photos from being backed up. I think Apple is trying to get us to buy more storage space. 50Gb is only $.99 per much which is nothing but like anything else, at some point you will blow out the 50Gb and then need more and more and more.

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Answer 6

sahel132

Level 1

8 points

Nov 26, 2023 05:17 PM in response to bpatters69

I want my own movie.

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Turned off Photo Sync to iCloud but iCloud backup increased?

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