After turning on iCloud to sync photos across all devices associated with your Apple ID, you found that you also uploaded some photos that you didn’t want to sync. In trying to delete them, however, you have noticed that the photos in question are deleted not only from iCloud but also from the device on which they were originally present. Not knowing how to fix it, you did some research on the web for more information about it and you ended up straight on this guide of mine.
That’s the way it is, am I right? So let me tell you that today is your lucky day. In the next paragraphs of this tutorial, in fact, I will explain how to delete photos from iCloud by providing you with all the information you need to succeed in your intent. In addition to the detailed procedure for deleting photos from a single device without deleting them from iCloud, you will also find instructions on how to delete specific photos, both from iCloud and from devices on which synchronization is active.
If that’s what you wanted to know, let’s not go any further and get to the heart of this tutorial. Make yourself comfortable, take all the time you see fit and dedicate yourself to reading the next paragraphs. By carefully following the instructions I am about to give you and trying to put them into practice, I assure you that you will be able to delete all the photos you want from iCloud. Happy reading and good luck for everything!
Index
- How to delete iCloud photos from a device
- How to delete photos from iCloud on iPhone and iPad
- How to delete photos from iCloud on Mac
- How to delete photos from iCloud from PC
- How to delete a photo from iCloud
- How to delete photos from iCloud but not from iPhone
- How to delete photos from iCloud without losing them
How to delete iCloud photos from a device
The procedure for deleting photos from iCloud varies depending on what your intentions are. For example, if you want to delete all iCloud photos from a single device without deleting them from iCloud, you must first access the iCloud settings and disable the option that allows automatic synchronization of photos with iCloud and then manually delete the photos on your own. interest. How to do? I’ll explain it to you right away.
How to delete photos from iCloud on iPhone and iPad
To delete iCloud photos on iPhone and iPad , access the iOS / iPadOS Settings by pressing the gear wheel icon , tap on your name displayed at the top and press on the iCloud item .
In the Apps that use iCloud section , tap on the Photos option and, in the new screen displayed, move the lever relating to the item Sync this iPhone / Sync this iPad from ON to OFF , in order to disable iCloud Photos .
By doing so, any new photos you sync with iCloud will not be automatically downloaded to the iPhone / iPad and you can delete all the photos available on your device without them being removed from iCloud as well. In that regard, my guide on how to delete photos from iPhone may be useful .
You should know, however, that if iCloud Photos is reactivated, all the photos available on iCloud (including those you have manually deleted from your iPhone / iPad) will be downloaded back to your device. To find out more, I leave you to my tutorial on how iCloud Photos works .
How to delete photos from iCloud on Mac
How do you say? Would you like to delete photos from iCloud on Mac ? In this case, open the System Preferences by clicking on the gear wheel icon in the Dock bar of your Mac and press on the Apple ID item .
Now, make sure that the iCloud option is selected in the left sidebar and remove the check mark next to the item Photos , in order to disable the synchronization of photos with iCloud.
From now on, any new photos you sync with iCloud will no longer be downloaded to your Mac. Note, however, that the photos synchronized until the service is deactivated will still be available in the macOS Photos app: if you want to delete them, you will need to proceed. manually by starting the app in question.
To do this, select all the photos you want to delete, right- click on one of them, select the Delete [number] photos option from the opened menu and click on the Delete button , in order to delete photos from Mac .
How to delete photos from iCloud from PC
As you probably already know, it is also possible to use iCloud on a Windows PC by downloading the official iCloud client from the Microsoft Store on Windows 11 and Windows 10 .
The application in question also includes iCloud Photos and, consequently, allows you to synchronize iCloud photos with your PC and also to upload new photos. Also, I point out that on Windows 11 there is integration with iCloud photos in the Windows Photos application, even if at the time of writing this function is not yet available.
Having said that, to delete photos from iCloud from PC, that is, to disable the synchronization of iCloud photos on your computer, start the iCloud client and, on the main screen, remove the check mark next to the Photos option . Then click on the Apply button and that’s it.
New photos uploaded to iCloud from other devices will no longer download to your Windows PC. However, you will still be able to view the previously synced ones by accessing the iCloud Photos folder located in the Pictures folder on your PC.
How to delete a photo from iCloud
If your intention is to delete a photo from iCloud , simply delete the single photo from your device as long as it is synchronized with iCloud. By doing so, the deleted photo will be deleted from iCloud and removed from all devices on which synchronization is active.
To proceed, then take your iPhone (or iPad ), access the iOS Settings by pressing the gear wheel icon and tap on your name displayed at the top. Then press on the iCloud and Photos items and make sure that the lever relating to the Synchronize this iPhone option is set to ON .
Now, launch the Photos app , locate the photo you want to delete from iCloud and tap on it. In the new screen that appears, press the trash can icon located at the bottom right and select the Delete photos option from the opened menu.
Finally, so that the single photo is permanently deleted and no longer takes up space on iCloud, select the Album option located in the bottom menu, press on the item Recently deleted , tap on the photo you just deleted and select the Delete and Delete options photo .
If you prefer to proceed from Mac , open System Preferences by clicking on the gear wheel icon in the Dock bar of your Mac, press on the Apple ID item and, in the iCloud section , make sure that there is a check mark next to the item Photo .
At this point, start the Photos app, select the Library item in the left sidebar, right click on the photo you want to delete, select the Delete 1 photo option from the opened menu and click on the Delete button .
Then access the Recently deleted section , select the photo you just deleted and click on the Delete 1 photo and Delete button , to permanently delete the photo in question from your Mac, from iCloud and from all devices on which synchronization is active. iCloud.
Alternatively, please note that you can also delete a photo by accessing iCloud.com via a browser . To do this, connected to the main page of the service , enter the credentials associated with your Apple ID in the appropriate fields and click on the arrow icon (or press the Enter key on the keyboard), to access iCloud .
Once this is done, click on the Photo item, make sure that the Library option is selected in the left sidebar and select the photo you want to delete. Then press the trash can icon , at the top right, and click on the Delete item , in order to delete the photo in question from iCloud and from all devices on which photo synchronization is active.
To delete the photo permanently, select the item Recently deleted , press on the photo you just deleted and click on the item Delete 1 item , at the top right.
Similarly, you can proceed even if your intention is to delete photos from iCloud on Android . In fact, you should know that there is no application that allows the management and synchronization of iCloud photos from a device equipped with the operating system of the green robot.
However, if you need to delete a single photo, you can use the browser installed on your device (eg Chrome ) and access the web version of iCloud, as I explained earlier.
How to delete photos from iCloud but not from iPhone
How do you say? Would you like to delete photos from iCloud but not from iPhone ? In this case, you can disable the synchronization of photos on iCloud on your “iPhone by” and, subsequently, proceed to delete the photos of your interest from iCloud.com or from a device on which photo synchronization is still active.
To proceed, take your iPhone, access the iOS Settings by tapping on the gear wheel icon and press on your photo displayed at the top. Then access the iCloud section , tap on the Photos option and, in the new screen displayed, move the lever relating to the item Synchronize this iPhone from ON to OFF , to disable iCloud .
At this point, log in to iCloud.com or start the Photos app on another device associated with your Apple ID on which you have activated the synchronization of photos with iCloud and manually delete all the photos of your interest, as I explained to you in previously to delete a photo from iCloud .
Deleted photos will be removed from iCloud and all devices on which sync is enabled. Keep in mind that by re-enabling photo synchronization on your iPhone, they will be synchronized and will be available again on iCloud and, consequently, on all other devices on which you have left photo synchronization enabled.
In light of what has just been said, if you want to use iCloud Photos on your iPhone but want to exclude some images from synchronization, you must remove them from the Photos app and save them as simple files in a folder of your “iPhone by” using the File app .
How to delete photos from iCloud without losing them
If you are wondering if it is possible to delete photos from iCloud without losing them , you will be glad to know that the answer is yes.
First, I want to inform you that all deleted photos are moved to the Recently deleted section , where they remain available for 30 days before being permanently deleted. As a result, you can recover a deleted photo as long as you do so within 30 days of deletion.
To restore a photo deleted from iCloud, start the Photos app on a device on which synchronization of photos to iCloud is active and access the Recently deleted section : on the iPhone you can do this by pressing the Album item located in the bottom menu and tapping on the item Recently deleted ; on iPad and Mac , on the other hand, press directly on the Recently deleted option in the left sidebar.
Now, if you have an iPhone / iPad , click on the Select item , select all the photos you want to recover and click on the Recover and Recover Photos options . Alternatively, you can also press on the Select and Recover All options , to restore all photos deleted in the last 30 days. On Mac , however, manually select the photos of your interest and click on the Recover item .
That said, the simplest solution to avoid losing photos to delete on iCloud is to download them to your device by activating iCloud sync. For example, if you have an iPhone / iPad, all you have to do is access the iOS / iPadOS Settings, press on your name and access the iCloud and Photos sections . Then move the lever relative to the Sync this iPhone / Sync this iPad option from OFF to ON and wait for all the photos available on iCloud to be downloaded automatically in the iPhone / iPad Photos app.
Alternatively, I point out that you can also log in to the iCloud website with your Apple ID, press on the Photos item and manually download the photos of your interest. To do this, select the photos you want to save and press the arrow icon inside a speech bubble , at the top right, to download all the selected photos.
By pressing the arrow icon located near the option to download iCloud photos, you can also choose whether to download the original photos ( Original not modified ) or to download a version with modifications ( Better compatibility ). To learn more, you can take a look at my guide on how to download photos from iCloud .