Understand iCloud Photos and your originals

One library on all your devices

iCloud is Apple's service that stores your information on the internet. iCloud Photos keeps pictures, edits and deletions current across the devices on the account that have the feature on. That is what syncing means: what changes on one device changes on the others.

• iCloud storage and iPhone storage are different capacities. Buying more iCloud does not physically enlarge the phone's storage.
• With iCloud Photos on, the library is not duplicated inside the device's iCloud backup or in a backup of the iPhone to a computer. A backup is a safety copy.
• To protect yourself from a synced deletion, keep independent copies of the originals that matter to you.

Check how it is syncing

1. Open Settings and tap your name.
2. Tap iCloud and then Photos.
3. Check Sync this iPhone. Understand which library will be used before changing it.
4. Open Photos and tap Collections: your account icon, in the top-right corner, shows the syncing status.
5. Tap that icon to see the details; the last time the iPhone synced with iCloud appears below the profile.
6. Notice the warnings: a yellow badge means syncing is paused and a red exclamation mark means your iCloud storage is full.

Choose how originals are kept on the iPhone

In Settings, tap your name, then iCloud, Photos and iPhone Storage. There are two options there; the first is on by default.

If you optimize, open and download what you need before depending on files without a connection.

Tell the Shared Library apart from a shared album

iCloud Shared Photo Library is different from a Shared Album. Its participants can have permission to edit and delete the shared content. Before reorganizing or deleting, in Library tap the Sort and Filter button and check whether you are viewing Both Libraries, Personal Library or Shared Library.

Keep the irreplaceable somewhere else

1. Connect an external drive or a memory card to the iPhone.
2. In Photos, select your irreplaceable photographs and tap the Share button.
3. Tap Export Unmodified Original, tap the drive below Locations and tap Save.
4. Check that the photos open from there and back up that destination.
5. Keep the edited copies too if you need that result.
6. Write down where they are and check the process periodically, especially before a cleanup or an account change.