If you use Google Photos on your iOS device, you must be wondering if you can delete photos on your iPhone once they are uploaded to Google Photos. But if you tried doing it from the app, you must have noticed that the photo is also deleted from Google Photos. So how to delete photos from iPhone without deleting from Google Photos? Let’s find the answer here.
The main purpose of a photo storage service like Google Photos is to back up your photos to the cloud. When done, the photos will be safe in the cloud. One can then think about deleting photos from their phone to free up space inside for other apps and things like music.
Let’s see different methods to delete photos from iPhone but not from Google Photos.
How the Google Photos app works on iPhone
When you install the Google Photos app, it will act like a traditional gallery app on your iPhone. That is, it shows the photos and videos stored on your iPhone. However, you can also use it to save your photos to the cloud. When the backup option is enabled, two photo copies will be created. One is available in the cloud and the second is a device clone.
In case there is no photo backup on Google Photos and you are only using it as a gallery app then deleting them will only remove them from your phone. Such photos will not show up in any gallery apps. But if you have them backed up, then you can delete them from your iPhone and keep them in Google Photos.
That can happen because the copy on the device is being deleted without affecting the copy in the cloud. However, the process is not as simple as hitting the delete button.
Delete photos from iPhone but keep them in Google Photos
There are three methods to do that. Before testing them, let’s see what its consequences are. Read our guide to what happens when you delete photos directly from Google Photos.
What happens when you delete photos from iPhone but not from Google Photos
When you do so, only the device copy will be deleted. The cloud copy will stay and be accessible on photos.google.com. They will also show up on your phone, but only in the Google Photos app.
Note: In all three methods, if iCloud is turned on, the photos will also be deleted from iCloud. Learn how to unlink Google Photos and iCloud. Plus, find out how iCloud is different from Google Photos
1. Remove from other gallery app
The simplest method to delete multiple photos from iPhone but keep them in Google Photos is to delete them with another app. You can use the Apple Photos app or any other gallery app on your iPhone. Again, photos must be backed up in Google Photos first.
In a word, if you directly use the Google Photos app to delete photos, then both copies (cloud and device) will be deleted because they are synced with each other. But deleting photos with other gallery apps will only delete the copy on the device. As a result, your cloud copy will remain safe and unaffected.
After photos are deleted using other gallery apps, you can still view them in the Google Photos app. But now you see the cloud copy. To verify that, open any image in the Google Photos app that you deleted and swipe up. If you see a ‘Save to device’ button, it means you are viewing a cloud copy. If you see Remove from device, it means the photo is still on your phone.
Note:
2. Free space usage
Google Photos comes with a native feature to delete photo copies on the device to free up internal space on both Android and iPhone. It’s called Freeing up space.
When activated, it will erase device copies of all backed up photos. You should see a cloud copy on your phone. This method is safe because only photos that are successfully backed up in the cloud will be deleted. Photos that have not been backed up will remain on your iPhone. Check out our detailed guide to what happens when you free up space in Google Photos.
To use it, follow these steps:
Step 1: Open the Google Photos app on your iPhone.
Step 2: Tap the three-bar icon at the top and select Free up space.
Step 3: A pop-up will appear telling you how many photos will be deleted. Click Delete.
Step 4: If you’re looking to free up internal storage, you must delete them from the Recently Deleted folder of the Apple Photos app. Otherwise, they will continue to take up memory on your phone until they are automatically deleted after 30 days.
So open up the Apple Photos app. This is a pre-installed application on your phone. Tap Albums. Scroll down and tap Recently Deleted. Select photos and delete them.
Tips
3. Use the erase device clone feature
The above method will delete the device copy for all photos from the backup. If you want to delete the selected photo, you can use the Erase Original Device copy feature.
Note
For the uninitiated, Google Photos offers two types of delete buttons. One is your regular delete icon that will delete both photos from your iPhone and Google Photos accounts. A second delete button (Remove from device) is available by swiping the photo up or tapping the three-dot icon at the top of the photo.
When you use this feature, only the device copy will be deleted by name. Because the photo is saved to Google Photos, you’ll still see it (as a cloud copy) on your iPhone in the Google Photos app.
To use it for a photo, open the photo and swipe up. Tap Remove from device.
For multiple photos, select them on the main screen of the Google Photos app. Then, tap the three-dot icon at the top and select Original Copy Device.
What about accidentally deleted photos
If you accidentally delete a photo, you can restore it from the Trash Pictures folder. To access it, open the Google Photos app and tap the three-bar icon. Select Trash.
Select the photos you want to retrieve and press Restore.
Be careful
Since we are dealing with photos and photo-related cloud services, we always recommend that you try the above methods for some photos first. Once you’re sure they’re safe in Google Photos, you can go ahead and delete the rest of them. You can also move photos on your iPhone to Google Photos and delete them eventually.
Next up: Don’t like the Google Photos app? Uninstall it from your iPhone. Know what happens to your photos after uninstalling the app.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
