How do you delete photos from iCloud? This article will show you how to delete iCloud photos in 3 ways. By default, your device syncs photos to iCloud, where you have about 5 GB of free storage, which get used up pretty quickly.
- Cannot Load Photos From Icloud
- Cannot Delete Photos From Icloud
- Cannot Access Photos From Icloud
- Cannot See Photos From Icloud On Iphone
- Cannot Download Photos From Icloud
We are ready to download iCloud photos to iPhone! For a smooth transfer, use CopyTrans Photo: Download CopyTrans Photo. Start CopyTrans Photo and connect your device. IPhone photos are displayed on the left while PC photos appear on the right. In the rightmost pane, select a PC folder with your iCloud photos. Photos aren't checked on devices with iCloud Photos disabled. Apple also confirmed that it cannot check photos that are inside iCloud backups Apple announced new on-device CSAM detection techniques yesterday and there has been a lot of confusion over what the feature can and cannot do.
If you are uncomfortable with entrusting your photos to any cloud service, or if you simply don’t want to pay for iCloud storage anymore, this article will show you how to delete pictures from iCloud and downgrade your iCloud storage plan.
TIP: If you have Photo Stream enabled, check out this article by Apple on how to delete photos from My Photo Stream.
Don’t forget to back up your photos to PC from time to time so that you don’t lose them if something happens to your iPhone. Anyway, let’s get started!
Before you start:
Choose the method you prefer below:
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The quickest solution will delete your photos from iCloud in just three clicks:
- Start CopyTrans Cloudly.
- Log in to your iCloud.
- Click on “Empty iCloud Photo Library”.
To help you mass-delete photos from iCloud, we have developed a program of our own: CopyTrans Cloudly. Download it here:
Download iCloud photosRun the app. Enter your Apple ID and password.
If you have two-factor authentication enabled, please allow the connection on one of your devices and enter the code.
Wait until your iCloud library is loaded. To delete all the photos and videos from iCloud, click on “Empty iCloud Photo library”.
Confirm that you want to delete ALL your photos and videos from iCloud by ticking the checkbox.
Important: Your photos and videos will be deleted from all devices synced with the current iCloud account. To safeguard yourself against any unwanted loss, you can disable iCloud Photos on your device.
Voila! All you need to do now is wait until all your photos and videos are deleted.
Go to icloud.com and log in using your Apple ID and password.
Click on “Photos”.
You will see all the photos and videos stored in your iCloud. Select the one(s) you want to delete and click on the trash bin icon.
You can also delete photos by moments. Choose a moment and click on “Select” (1). Now you can click on the trash bin icon (2) and delete the entire moment.
To make sure your iCloud Photos is enabled, go to Settings > tap on your name on the top > iCloud > Photos. The switch next to iCloud Photos should be on.
Go to your Photos app, tap “Select” in the top-right corner, and then select all the photos you want to delete.
Click on the trash bin icon in the bottom-right corner. Don’t forget to delete your photos from the Recently Deleted folder as well 🙂
Instead of “Delete”, click on “Upload”;
Select the files you want to upload to iCloud. CopyTrans Cloudly works with .HEIC, .PNG and .JPEG images and .MOV, .MP4, .M4V video files;
When everything is selected, click on “Go!”;
Great! Your selected photos are now back in iCloud.
How to delete photos from iCloud but not iPhone
If you want to delete photos from iCloud but keep them on your iOS devices, make sure to disable iCloud Photos first.
Go to Settings -> Apple ID (your name at the very top) -> iCloud -> Photos -> Toggle off “iCloud Photos”.
Now, when you delete photos from iCloud, they will stay on your iPhone.
Delete all photos from iCloud
We compared the strengths and weaknesses of all three methods described in this article and created a table for you to decide which one suits you best. Check it out!
| CopyTrans Cloudly | iCloud.com | iOS | |
| Deleting all photos | Deletes everything at once | Deletes only 1000 items at a time | Have to select manually |
| Speed | Instantly | 1000 at a time | Eternity |
| Retrieving permanently deleted photos | Yes | No | No |
| Downloading all photos to PC | Yes | 1000 at a time | No |
| Uploading photos to iCloud | Yes | 1000 at a time | Only from Camera Roll |
| Uploading videos to iCloud | Yes | No | No |
| Viewing and selecting photos before deleting | No | Yes | Yes |
BONUS: If you accidentally deleted files that you didn’t mean to delete, don’t panic: you can still rescue your permanently deleted photos using a little trick from CopyTrans Cloudly! Who would’ve thought?
Delete multiple photos from iCloud (not all at once)
Use icloud.com
The biggest drawback of this method is that you can’t delete more than 1000 pictures at once.
If you do not want to delete all the photos at once, select photos for deletion manually at icloud.com.
Use your iPhone
It is also possible to delete iCloud photos directly from your device (iPhone/iPad) if you have iCloud Photos enabled.
How to upload photos to iCloud from PC
After you have deleted everything from iCloud, you might want to upload some photos and videos back. Not all of them, just the ones you need. CopyTrans Cloudly can do that too!
Here are the steps:
That’s it! Now you know 3 ways of deleting iCloud photos and can delete photos from iCloud while still keeping them on your iPhone. If your data size still exceeds 5 GB, check out our tips on how to clear more iCloud storage.
Related articles
Before you begin
Here's what you need to use iCloud Photos on your PC:
- Windows 7 or later
- Your Apple ID
My Photo Stream isn't available on iCloud for Windows 10 and later. To learn more, check the system requirements for iCloud.
If you see a 'We detected that you are using an older version of Windows' message, learn what to do.
How do I see the photos and videos I uploaded to iCloud Photos from my PC?
After you upload the photos from your PC to iCloud Photos, you can view and manage your photos and videos in the Photos app on iCloud.com and your Apple devices.
How do I download all of my photos and videos to my Windows PC?
In iCloud for Windows 11.1 and later, optimized versions of all photos and videos automatically download to your PC once you enable iCloud Photos. Open the photo or video to download the full version.
In iCloud for Windows 10 and earlier, after you turn on iCloud Photos on all of your devices, any new photos and videos you add to your library will automatically download to your PC.* You can also download your photos and videos by year. You can find the download button by clicking iCloud in the Windows Notification Area.
* New photos and videos automatically download to your PC at C:Usersyour nameMy PicturesiCloud PhotosDownloads.
How do I see the status of my upload or download?
After you download iCloud for Windows, you can add it to your status bar to see the progress of your iCloud uploads and downloads. Click the iCloud icon in the Windows Notification Area on your PC. You might need to click Show hidden icons in the Notification Area to see iCloud.
Cannot Load Photos From Icloud
I made edits to a photo or video on my Apple device but don’t see them on my PC
In the latest version of iCloud for Windows, edits and deletions will download automatically.
In iCloud for Windows 10 and earlier, iCloud Photos on your Windows PC downloads your photos one time. If you make photo edits after they download to your PC, the edited version won't download again. If you want to save the edited version to your PC, you can download individual photos and videos from iCloud.com or download them by year.
- Click the iCloud icon in the Windows Notification Area on your PC.
- Click Download Photos.
- Choose the photos and videos you want to download and click Download.
If you edit a photo on your PC that you've already uploaded to iCloud Photos, you can change the filename of the photo and upload it to iCloud Photos again.
I added photos to My Photo Stream, but they aren't on my devices
If you add photos to iCloud on your PC, but you don't see them on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, follow these steps:
- On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, tap Settings > Wi-Fi. Make sure that Wi-Fi is on and your iOS device is connected to the Internet. Get help if you can't connect to Wi-Fi on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
- On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, tap Settings > [your name] > iCloud. Make sure that you’re signed in with the same Apple ID that you’re using with iCloud for Windows.
- Open iCloud for Windows, and next to Photos, click Options. Turn on My Photo Stream.
- Close and then reopen iCloud for Windows.
- Restart your computer.
If you still don’t see your Photos on your iOS devices, copy your photos to the Uploads folder.
Copy photos to an iCloud folder
You can also copy your photos from a folder on your PC to an iCloud folder that will upload them automatically.
- Open a File Explorer window.
- In the Navigation pane (sidebar), click on iCloud Photos. If you're using an earlier version of iCloud for Windows, go to Favorites > iCloud Photos.
- In another window, open the folder where you currently store the photos that you want to add to iCloud Photos.
- Select the photos that you want to add.
- Drag them into the iCloud Photos folder. In earlier versions of iCloud for Windows, drag them into Favorites > iCloud Photos > Uploads.
What happened to the My Photo Stream folder?
Cannot Delete Photos From Icloud
In iCloud for Windows 10 and later, My Photo Stream is no longer available.
In iCloud for Windows 7, after you turn on iCloud Photos on your PC, My Photo Stream turns off automatically. If you want to send new photos to your devices that don't use iCloud Photos, you can turn My Photo Stream back on in iCloud Photo Options. When you use both iCloud Photos and My Photo Stream, you can see your My Photo Stream photos when you go to Pictures > iCloud Photos > Downloads.
Why am I seeing duplicate photos?
In iCloud for Windows 7.x, you see both a video and a key still image for each Live Photo downloaded from iCloud Photos. Upgrade to the latest version of iCloud for Windows to see a JPEG or MOV file for each Live Photo currently stored in iCloud Photos instead of both a video and a still image.
You may also see extra copies of photos when they have been edited in the iOS or macOS Photos app before being downloaded to your PC. Learn more about edited photos in iCloud Photos.
How do I delete photos and videos in iCloud Photos?
In iCloud for Windows 11.1 and later, photos and videos that you delete from your Apple device or iCloud.com will delete from your PC unless you have chosen to pin them. And when you delete a photo or video on your PC, one of the following happens:
Cannot Access Photos From Icloud
iCloud for Windows 11 and later: The files and thumbnails are removed from your PC but are still stored in iCloud Photos. If you edit a photo or video on another device, the thumbnail reappears on your PC.
iCloud for Windows 10 and earlier: The files are removed from your PC but are still stored in iCloud Photos.
In iCloud for Windows 7, you can delete photos and videos in the Photos app on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac, and on iCloud.com.
When you delete photos and videos from your Apple device or on iCloud.com, they won't delete from your PC. And when you delete a photo or video on your PC, it won't delete in iCloud Photos.
Cannot See Photos From Icloud On Iphone
How does iCloud Photos handle RAW photos?
iCloud Photos keeps all of your RAW photos with embedded JPEGs stored in their original formats. You can view thumbnail versions on your Mac, or download and edit them on your Mac or PC.
I get a 'We detected that you are using an older version of Windows' message
Cannot Download Photos From Icloud
If you are running an older version of Windows 10, you may see a message that states 'We detected that you are using an older version of Windows. iCloud Photos capability will be slightly limited on this version of Windows.' To get full iCloud Photos capabilities, upgrade to Windows 10 build 18363 or later and download and install the HEVC decoder and HEIF plugin from the Microsoft Store.