Can you delete pictures from an iPhone and still have it saved in iCloud? If so, how?

Apple’s iCloud grants you the ability to share pictures across devices, while also giving you an automatic backup if something happens to your iPhone. To be put simply, the iCloud’s memory is more permanent and preserved better than the memory on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.  

However, the connectivity between iPhone and iCloud means that if you happen to delete a picture on the iPhone, it will also be scrubbed from iCloud. Thankfully, there are a few workarounds that allow you to delete photos from your iPhone while retaining them in the cloud forevermore.  

How to delete photos from your iPhone without deleting them from your iCloud?  

The easiest way you can do so is by simply turning off your iCloud backup.  

To Turn off iCloud photo sharing follow-  

1. Open Settings on the iPhone.  

2. Then, tap on your name (Apple ID).  

3. Select “iCloud.”  

4. Tap on “iCloud Photos,” then tap on “My Photo Stream” so the green toggle is not showing. This will delete the iCloud album from your iPhone, while also leaving your album in iCloud intact.  

Despite being the easiest method, there is a drawback to this: If you reconnect your photos to iCloud, this will update to match your iPhone, including the deletions. If you are looking for a more permanent cloud backup for your photos, you should consider using a different cloud server.  

How to Use a server other than iCloud for photo backup?  

Say you wish to use Google Photos as an alternative, however, keep in mind that there are many other cloud options you can choose from, including OneDrive, DropBox, and Flickr.  

1. First, open the App Store, then download Google Photos.  

2. After you open Google Photos, it will ask for access to your camera, as well as various other permissions to function properly. You need to enable these.  

3. If you have another Google account on your phone (for example, a Gmail app), your iPhone will be able to use this to link your phone to your Google account.  

4. Your iPhone will ask you to confirm that you wish to use the Google account that is currently your default.  

5. After you tap on “Confirm”, it will immediately start backing up the photo album to Google Photos.  

The below given last option is best used if you wish to keep a running iCloud sync to your iPhone, while also wishing to maintain a separate iCloud account with all the photos.  

How to Sign out of your current iCloud account, and sign into another one?  

1. Tap on Settings.  

2. Then, tap on your name (Apple ID).  

3. Scroll down to the bottom, then tap on “Sign Out.” You will be asked to authenticate that you wish to sign out.  

You will be asked which data you wish to keep after you sign out.  

Then, you can sign in to a different iCloud account:  

1. Tap on Settings, again.  

2. Then, tap on the Apple ID subheading.  

3. It will ask you to sign in to iCloud. Whatever iCloud account you use to sign back in will now act as your synced iCloud account.  

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