Want to delete photos from iCloud? You might be:
clearing out old photos you simply don’t need anymore,
protecting your data because you don’t fully trust cloud storage,
trying to free up precious iCloud space, or
ready to stop using iCloud altogether.
No matter your reason, this 2025 guide will show you how to safely delete photos from iCloud without losing them and explain what Apple’s own policy really says about how iCloud Photos works.
The Best Way to Delete Photos From iCloud
The best way to delete photos from iCloud without removing them from your iPhone is to do it directly on icloud.com — but that’s not the only step you need to take. Here’s the full process and a few important things to watch out for along the way.
1. Download iCloud Photos to Your iPhone
Right now, your full-resolution photos are stored in iCloud, not on your iPhone.
Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Photos, then choose "Download and Keep Originals."
After doing this, the photos stored on your phone won’t just be tiny previews, they’ll be full images saved directly on your device.
However, this process can take some time and will use a lot of your iPhone’s storage. Make sure you have enough space available, or the download might fail.
Quick Q&A
- What if I have multiple phones?If you use more than one iPhone, it’s best to download the originals on all of them before deleting anything from iCloud. Otherwise, the devices that didn’t download the photos will lose access once the photos are removed from iCloud.
- Can I skip this step?You can, but only if you truly don’t need those photos anymore.
- What happens if I skip it?If you skip this step and later delete photos from iCloud, it’s easy to accidentally wipe the photos from all your devices for good. They’ll be hard to recover, since no copy remains on your devices.
Turn off iCloud Photos
Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Photos, then toggle off iCloud Photos.
Doing this cuts the "link" between your iPhone and iCloud, so any changes you make on iCloud will stay there and will not affect the photos on your phone, and vice versa.
Log in to iCloud.com and Remove the Photos
iCloud.com is the most direct and convenient place to view and manage all your iCloud photos, regardless of which device they came from.
Head to icloud.com/photos, then select the photos you no longer need and delete them.
If you want to immediately free up iCloud storage, don't forget to empty the Recently Deleted folder. Otherwise, the deleted photos will remain there for 30 days before they are permanently removed.
Why This Is the Best Way
Even though you can delete iCloud photos directly from your iPhone (we’ll cover that in the next section), it can get confusing to know which photos are actually stored in iCloud and which ones exist only on your phone.
Some of your full-resolution photos might not even be fully uploaded to iCloud yet if your storage is running low. If you’re not careful, you could end up deleting photos that live only on your phone, and I don’t think that’s what you want.
For peace of mind, delete photos directly on iCloud.com. Everything you do there only changes what’s in iCloud.
What If You Deleted the Wrong Photos?
Even with the clearest instructions, accidents happen. Maybe you skip the download step, or empty the Recently Deleted folder too soon. And sometimes, you might delete something today and only realize its value later.
When that happens, tools like Gbyte Recovery can come in handy. It’s a professional iPhone data recovery tool that specializes in the latest iCloud-based recovery techniques, helping you locate lost photos, chat history, and other files.
Right now, Gbyte Recovery offers a free scan, so you can see for yourself if any old or deleted items from your iCloud are still around. And you never know what forgotten memories might still be hiding there.
Alternative: Delete iCloud Photos from the Phone Itself
When iCloud Photos is turned on, your iPhone and iCloud share the same photo library. This means anything you delete on your iPhone will also be deleted from iCloud automatically. If you’re okay with that and just want to manage everything from your phone, here’s what to do:
Step 1. Make sure iCloud Photos is turned on
Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Photos, and switch on iCloud Photos. This makes sure your iPhone and iCloud stay synced.
Step 2. Delete Photos from the Photos App
Open the Photos app and remove the images you no longer want. They’ll also be deleted from your iCloud.
Do You Still Need iCloud Photos?
iCloud Photos is designed to keep your photo library perfectly in sync across all your Apple devices while seamlessly expanding your storage space.
Whether you’re using an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, every photo you take, edit, or delete is reflected everywhere once you’re signed in with the same Apple ID and have Photos turned on.
iCloud Photos stores your original images in the cloud while keeping only tiny versions on your devices to save your device storage. When you open a photo, your iPhone temporarily downloads the original from iCloud so you can view or edit it in full quality.
But you’ve also seen how much effort it takes to truly separate your photos from iCloud: downloading originals, turning off sync, managing files on the web. iCloud Photos works seamlessly when you follow Apple’s intended setup. However, once you try to manage photos outside of that system, such as deleting items only from your iPhone, it can quickly get complicated.
Some people love that convenience. Others find it a bit too automatic.
If you’re someone who prefers full control over where your photos live, you might be better off turning off iCloud Photos and managing backups manually.
But if you value convenience and peace of mind, keeping iCloud Photos on is still one of the easiest ways to make sure your memories stay safe and accessible across all your devices.
