3 Best Ways to Delete Photos From iCloud
You plan to use iCloud to back up and sync just about everything on your iPhone.
Fortunately, it's very easy to free up space by deleting photos saved on iCloud. I guess iCloud Photos is enabled on your iPhone, iPad or Mac. So removing them from one of your devices will also remove them from iCloud servers. Alternatively, you can visit iCloud.com and delete your photos this way.
Warning: Deleting iCloud photos will also delete them from all other Apple devices. Before proceeding, make separate backups of your photos to a location outside the Photos app on the devices on which you want to keep them intact.
1. Delete photos using iPhone and iPad
On the iPhone and iPad, open the Photos application, then visit the photo roll or album. To delete an individual photo, tap and hold the thumbnail of the image. In the pop-up menu that appears, tap Delete. (I bet you already know that.)
To delete multiple photos, touch the Select icon in the upper right corner of the screen. Then press to select the pictures you want to delete. You can also press and slide your finger on the screen to select multiple photos in one go. Now, it's something you may not know.
Follow up by tapping the Trash icon in the lower right corner of the screen.
In the menu that appears, tap Delete Photos. According to the warning, the photos will be deleted from iCloud. At the same time, they will be removed from any other iOS and macOS device to which you have logged in with the same Apple ID.
To recover deleted photos by accident, go to Recently Deleted, located in the Album tab. Fortunately, you have 30 days to do it. Recovered photos will sync to iCloud and the rest of your devices.
2. Delete photos with Mac
On your Mac, open the Photos application, and then select the photo (s) you want to delete. To select multiple photos, click the appropriate thumbnails while holding down the Command key. You can also click and drag on thumbnails instead of picking them up faster.
Then, right-click a selected image, and then click Delete Photos. In the confirmation dialog box that appears, click Delete again. Photos will be removed from iCloud, as well as all your other Apple devices.
If you want to recover deleted photos, go to the Recently Deleted section under Library in the sidebar of the Photos application.
3. Delete photos via iCloud.com
If you use the iCloud application on Windows, the situation is a little tricky. You can not delete your photos with the help of File Explorer and expect backups to be removed from your iCloud account. The iCloud app only uploads your photos; it does not synchronize changes made on Windows devices.
However, you can still delete your iCloud photos quite easily by logging into iCloud.com with the help of any web browser. You can also do it on a Mac, but using the Photos application is much more convenient.
Start by signing in to iCloud.com. On the iCloud.com dashboard, select Photos to access your photo library.
Like iOS and macOS, you can browse your entire photo library using the sidebar on the left side of the screen.
To delete a single photo, click a thumbnail and then click the Trash icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
You can also delete multiple images – hold down the Ctrl key (or the Cmd key on Mac), then click thumbnails to select them. You can also choose items faster by clicking and dragging the thumbnails.
Point: To select all images in an album, press Ctrl + A or Cmd + A. Just be careful not to select important photos.
In the confirmation dialog box that appears, click Delete. Your photos will be deleted from iCloud and all your Apple devices.
However, downloaded copies of photos present locally on Windows devices will not be deleted. You must delete them manually if you want to get rid of them.
To recover deleted photos, click Recently Removed in the sidebar of your iCloud.com photo library.
Recover your storage
Your iCloud photo library is about to fill with all kinds of unwanted photos (duplicates, screenshots, etc.). Therefore, a regular cleaning activity can help you a lot in controlling your storage quota.
You can also use another cloud storage service and you have a choice of excellent alternatives. If you choose one, you will need to disable iCloud Photos on your devices to completely delete all the saved photos.
And if you are ready to spend some time, there are also other ways to help you recover space on your iCloud account.
Then: Take complete control of your data. Here's how to download everything from iCloud.