Short answer
On an iPhone with iCloud Photos on, you can’t delete a photo from the phone only: deletions sync to iCloud and your other devices. Turn on Optimize iPhone Storage instead: the originals stay in iCloud and the phone keeps smaller copies. On Android, in Google Photos tap your profile photo → Free up space on this device, or use Delete from device on a single photo: the cloud copy stays.
iPhone: why deleted photos disappear from iCloud too
iCloud Photos isn’t a backup, it’s syncing. Your iPhone, iPad, Mac and iCloud.com share one library, so a photo deleted on one device is deleted everywhere iCloud Photos is on. That’s true whether you delete in the Photos app or in any other app.
That’s why there’s no “delete from iPhone only” button. Two things do work: optimizing storage (photos stay but take less space) or turning off syncing on this iPhone.
iPhone: optimize storage instead of deleting
This is usually what people actually need: free up space on the phone without losing anything.
- Open Settings, tap your name, then iCloud.
- Under Saved to iCloud, tap Photos and make sure Sync this iPhone is on.
- Choose Optimize iPhone Storage. On iOS 27 and later, tap iPhone Storage first, then Optimize Storage.
Full-resolution originals now live in iCloud, and the iPhone keeps smaller copies. When space runs low, the photos and videos you open least are optimized first. An original downloads when you open it, so without internet some photos may look soft.
iPhone: turn off syncing to remove everything
If you want your photos only in iCloud and not on the iPhone at all, turn off iCloud Photos on this device:
- First make sure everything has uploaded: the bottom of your library in Photos shouldn’t show an upload in progress.
- Settings → your name → iCloud → Photos.
- Turn off Sync this iPhone.
- Choose Remove from iPhone to take the photos off the phone without keeping a copy, or Download Photos & Videos to keep full copies on it.
Remove from iPhone takes your whole iCloud library off the phone, not selected photos. The photos stay in iCloud and you can see them on iCloud.com and your other devices. But from then on, new photos from this iPhone won’t upload to iCloud and changes stop syncing. To remove only some photos, save a copy to a computer or another storage service, then delete them the usual way.
Android: Free up space in Google Photos
If you back up to Google Photos, the app itself can remove the phone copies of items already in the cloud:
- Open Google Photos and make sure the backup is complete.
- Tap your profile photo or initial at the top, then Free up space on this device.
- You’ll see how much space will be freed. Tap Free up to delete those copies from your phone.
To remove just one photo from the phone, open it in Google Photos, tap More (⋮) and choose Delete from device. It only appears for photos that are already backed up.
- What stays: the copies in Google Photos, which you can see in the app and on photos.google.com.
- Catches: photos and videos less than 30 days old may stay on the phone. Removed items no longer show in your phone’s built-in gallery, or in Google Photos while you’re offline.
Android: what can delete the cloud copy too
- Regular delete in Google Photos. The trash button in Google Photos deletes the photo from your phone, from the cloud and from your other devices with backup on. For “phone only” you need Free up space or Delete from device.
- A built-in gallery linked to Google Photos. On some phones (Google names Xiaomi, OPPO, OnePlus and realme, for example) you can give the gallery app access to Google Photos. Then photos deleted in the gallery are deleted from Google Photos too, even if they’re backed up.
- A backup you haven’t checked. Before removing anything from your phone, make sure the photos really are in the cloud: open photos.google.com on a computer and look for a few of your latest shots.
Where Shoo fits in
Shoo doesn’t replace Optimize iPhone Storage or Free up space: it deletes photos from your phone through the system itself. On an iPhone with iCloud Photos on, what you delete in Shoo is removed from iCloud too, just like in the Photos app. On Android, Shoo deletes files permanently, without a trash, and whether a cloud copy survives depends on your phone’s settings. So for “off the phone, kept in the cloud”, use the built-in tools above.
Shoo helps one step earlier: getting rid of what you don’t want anywhere, on the phone or in the cloud. Screenshots, failed shots, memes from chats, the tenth take of the same pose. Swipe left to queue a photo, review the queue and delete it all at once. Less clutter in the cloud means less to pay for and less to sync.
iPhone version coming soon.
Questions
Can I delete photos from my iPhone only, without turning off iCloud Photos?
No. While iCloud Photos is on, deletions sync to all your devices. To free up space without losing anything, turn on Optimize iPhone Storage.
What happens to my iCloud photos if I choose Remove from iPhone?
They stay in iCloud, and you can view them on iCloud.com or your other devices. Changes between this iPhone and iCloud stop syncing. If the iPhone only had optimized copies, choose this only when you’re sure the originals are in iCloud.
Does Free up space on this device delete photos from Google Photos?
No. It only deletes the phone copies of photos and videos that are already backed up. They stay in Google Photos.
A photo I deleted in Google Photos is gone everywhere. How do I get it back?
Open Collections → Trash in Google Photos: deleted photos stay there for 30 days and can be restored. After that they’re gone for good.