How to Delete Photos from iPhone but Not iCloud

Although we have much more iPhone storage options now, we also photograph more. And iPhone storage is always full. Therefore, we need to delete iPhone photos or videos to free up device space, but without losing the pictures/videos on the cloud. Many people are wondering: how do I delete photos from my iPhone but keep them in iCloud? Now, let’s check the proven methods below to get an answer.

Also Read: How to Delete Photos from iCloud to Free up Space >

How to Delete Photos from iPhone but Not iCloud

Here we have collected 4 workarounds to help you delete photos from your iPhone but not the iCloud.

Method 1. Syncing All iPhone Photos to iCloud from Computer

If I delete photos from iPhone is it deleted from iCloud? The answer is YES. The iPhone photos will sync to iCloud when you enable iCloud Photo Library, and with iCloud Photo Library, you can access synced photos from all your iOS device signed with the same Apple ID. So, if you delete a photo from your iPhone, it will be removed from iCloud and other iOS devices at the same time.

It seems impossible to delete photos from iPhone but not iCloud. But actually, you can. What you need to do is:

1. Export all iPhone photos to a computer.
2. Delete the photos from your iPhone.
3. Add these photos from your computer to the iCloud server manually.

In this case, you can do it with the aid of AnyTrans – iPhone Data Manager. It is an iOS data transfer tool that can help you easily export all iPhone photos to a computer and upload photos from the computer to iCloud manually.

Not just transfer photos, AnyTrans can also transfer contacts, videos, messages, and WhatsApp data, etc from iPhone to computer, from iPhone to iPhone and from Android to iPhone easily. Check some of its main features concerning syncing photos to the computer below to get a better understanding of AnyTrans.

Now, free download AnyTrans on your computer and follow the steps below to delete photos from iPhone but not iCloud.

Step 1. Install and launch AnyTrans, connect your iPhone to your computer. Then click on Content to PC. If you run AnyTrans on a Mac computer, you’ll see Content to Mac instead.

Step 2. Select the Photos category and set the export path, then click on the Next button to export all iPhone photos to the computer.

Step 3. Choose the iCloud Manager section > Sign in with your Apple ID and password > Click on iCloud Import.

Step 4. Browse the folder that contains the photos you exported from your iPhone, under the AnyTrans-Export-Date folder, you’ll see the folders that came with the category you chose to export, select all photos, then click on Open to upload them to iCloud. Then, upload photos from the next folder till all exported photos are added to your iCloud.

After uploading all your iPhone photos to iCloud, as long as you enable iCloud Photo Library, you’ll see these photos still show up on your iPhone but do not consume any storage. Now, you successfully delete photos from your iPhone but not iCloud.

Method 2. Switch off iCloud Photo Library

If you delete photos from iPhone are they still on iCloud? iCloud Photo Library is designed to mirror your library on all of your devices. Once this feature is enabled, everything you do to a photo on your iOS device is mirrored to iCloud and to any other iOS devices or Macs that have the library enabled.

This is why you delete photos from your iPhone and find that those photos are also deleted from your iCloud. So the first and direct solution of removing photos from iPhone but not iCloud is to turn off iCloud Photo Library entirely. You can make it with steps:

1. Go to Settings on your iPhone.
2. Tap on [your name] and choose iCloud.
3. Tap on “Photos“.
4. Turn off “iCloud Photo“.
5. Now, you can delete photos from your iPhone.

Method 3. Back up iPhone Photos with iCloud Alternatives

If your iPhone storage is almost at a premium, and you really don’t want these photos appearing anywhere on your iPhone, then there is another option that is to give up on iCloud’s photo solutions and look to a third-party cloud service to backup your iPhone photos.

There are many iCloud alternatives such as Google Photos, DropBox, OneDrive, etc. Your iPhone photos can be securely stored in the cloud after successfully uploading, then you can delete them from your iPhone without removing them from the cloud.

Method 4. Sign into Your iPhone with Another New iCloud Account

Another practical method is to sign in to your iPhone with a new iCloud account. After uploading your iPhone photos to iCloud that signed in with your old Apple ID, sign out this account and sign in with a new Apple ID.

Then you can delete all photos from your iPhone without losing them from your previous iCloud. And you can still access the deleted photos from your other devices by signing in with your old Apple ID.

The Bottom Line

Hope this guide can give you a hand on how to delete photos from iPhone but not iCloud. You can choose the best one for yourself. If you have better solutions, welcome to share with us via comment. By the way, if you want to transfer data among multiple iCloud accounts, you can have a try on AnyTrans. It will bring you more convenience.