Best way to reduce size of iCloud backup and transfer photos to Windows,

[lsquare]

I just realized I don't need to have all my photos and videos on my iPhone as it takes up valuable space and it forces me to buy a larger capacity iPhone. I use Windows on my main PC. I haven't transferred photos from an iPhone to a PC before, but I'm assuming that when an iPhone is connected to a PC, it won’t appear as a mass storage device. If true, what is the simplest way to transfer all my photos and videos to the PC?

After the transfer is done, how do I delete all photos and videos from the iPhone?

To further reduce the size of a future backup, I will also delete unused or rarely used apps. When deleting the apps, is it true that all app data are deleted or its possible there will be traces left behind?

After this, I will do a iCloud backup. This will now be the basis of future iPhone restore and setup.

I just want to retain all Safari data, text/I message data, phone call history, VM, and the apps that I do use daily and their data.

How does this plan sound? Anything else I can do to optimize things?

 

[BigMcGuire]

Hey lsquare!

iPhones have an option now: Optimize iPhone Storage. I have a 150+GB iCloud Photo Library and I can use this to access all my photos on a tiny little 64GB iPad without hurting the iPad's available storage. If you haven't looked into this, I'd suggest this as your first option. Settings --> iCloud --> Photos --> Optimize iPhone Storage.

There are 3rd party applications (and even Window's photo import tool should work from what I'm reading). I used iMazing back when I was a Windows user. Plugging your phone into your PC and trusting the PC should give you an option to import photos. Deleting photos would be a manual process, keep in mind you can choose Select on the top right and swipe to select your photos - this can be SUPER tedious especially if you have many photos.

Another option: If you use Google, you can have Google Photos back up all your photos and then clear local storage once done. This is really handy for those not already using iCloud (or want a backup to iCloud). I use both iCloud Photos and Google Photo Storage. Google Photos --> Free Up Space On This Device option.

Hope this helps!

 

[lsquare]

Hey lsquare!

iPhones have an option now: Optimize iPhone Storage. I have a 150+GB iCloud Photo Library and I can use this to access all my photos on a tiny little 64GB iPad without hurting the iPad's available storage. If you haven't looked into this, I'd suggest this as your first option. Settings --> iCloud --> Photos --> Optimize iPhone Storage.

There are 3rd party applications (and even Window's photo import tool should work from what I'm reading). I used iMazing back when I was a Windows user. Plugging your phone into your PC and trusting the PC should give you an option to import photos. Deleting photos would be a manual process, keep in mind you can choose Select on the top right and swipe to select your photos - this can be SUPER tedious especially if you have many photos.

Another option: If you use Google, you can have Google Photos back up all your photos and then clear local storage once done. This is really handy for those not already using iCloud (or want a backup to iCloud). I use both iCloud Photos and Google Photo Storage. Google Photos --> Free Up Space On This Device option.

Hope this helps!

Doesn't optimizing storage compress the photos? I want to maintain the original quality.

Does iCloud have an option to back up all photos and videos from my iPhone and then remove them from my device?

 

[BigMcGuire]

Choosing Optimize Storage will leave the full original quality photo on iCloud and have a thumbnail on your device (how Apples optimize storage saving feature works). When you open the photo on your device it downloads the original photo from iCloud.

iCloud doesn’t have an option to remove local photos while maintaining a cloud copy like Google Photos. I used that feature a lot when I used to use Google photos as my primary photo storage back in the day (android).

 

[lsquare]

Choosing Optimize Storage will leave the full original quality photo on iCloud and have a thumbnail on your device (how Apples optimize storage saving feature works). When you open the photo on your device it downloads the original photo from iCloud.

iCloud doesn’t have an option to remove local photos while maintaining a cloud copy like Google Photos. I used that feature a lot when I used to use Google photos as my primary photo storage back in the day (android).

You mentioned OneDrive and Google Photos. I'm assuming for sure they'll backup every single photo and video in their original quality with no conversion or compression and delete the original? How do I configure that? I sort of prefer this approach to anything else since it would save me time. I'm just scared that it might miss a file or end up compressing or converting my media. I have enough cloud storage with both services to do this.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Well, now this gets a little more complicated. OneDrive is not a bad option but not so great with the photos as iCloud and Google Photos are. So if you have both, I'd recommend Google Photos - that is the best cloud storage for photos right now.

Install the Google Photos app on your phone, log into Google, and make sure that the Settings --> Backup --> Backup Quality is set to Original Quality.

Then let it chug through and upload all your photos to Google Cloud. It will tell you when it's done - you can click your account icon on the top right to see the progress.

Once done you can do the Settings --> "______ items to delete from this device" -- "Free Up Space on This Device. "These items are already safely backed up in your chosen quality. You can still view them any time in Google Photos."

<Big Delete _______ items> button at bottom. That'll remove them from your device.

You can test before deleting by going to photos.google.com and making sure you can see them from another device.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I personally use Storage Saver backup quality on Google Photos because it's a "Backup" to my iCloud and because I can't tell the difference between the two. <shrug>

But yeah make sure to set Original Quality if you don't want your photos messed with.

 

[lsquare]

Well, now this gets a little more complicated. OneDrive is not a bad option but not so great with the photos as iCloud and Google Photos are. So if you have both, I'd recommend Google Photos - that is the best cloud storage for photos right now.

Install the Google Photos app on your phone, log into Google, and make sure that the Settings --> Backup --> Backup Quality is set to Original Quality.

Then let it chug through and upload all your photos to Google Cloud. It will tell you when it's done - you can click your account icon on the top right to see the progress.

Once done you can do the Settings --> "______ items to delete from this device" -- "Free Up Space on This Device. "These items are already safely backed up in your chosen quality. You can still view them any time in Google Photos."

<Big Delete _______ items> button at bottom. That'll remove them from your device.

You can test before deleting by going to photos.google.com and making sure you can see them from another device.

I just realized that I don't have enough space to do this with Google Photos.

How do I do this with OneDrive? I have 1TB. I want the surest way to back up all my images and videos in their original quality.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I just realized that I don't have enough space to do this with Google Photos.

How do I do this with OneDrive? I have 1TB. I want the surest way to back up all my images and videos in their original quality.

So OneDrive I have a lot less experience with. I used it for a few months before deciding to go with Google Photos because it was far easier to use, had more photo editing features, and has the clean up photos on device while keeping them on the cloud option.

OneDrive is a one way syncing tool - so theoretically you can use it to upload photos to OneDrive then delete them on your device. OneDrive also utilizes a recycle bin so if you accidentally delete them in the OneDrive cloud you can restore them from the recycle bin.

BUT before you do this you need to make sure you don't have iCloud Photos Optimize Storage on (if you do). Double triple confirm that all your photos are backed up before deleting ANYTHING. I utilize 2 forms of backups because my photos are some of the most valuable items in my digital storage. (I have iCloud and Google Photos backing them up at the same time).

Keep in mind that the way apps work on iOS is that they have to be opened and at the forefront to do their heaviest work - OneDrive won't be able to back up a massive amount of photos when the app is minimized. So depending on the amount of photos you have - it may take awhile for OneDrive to back them all up.

1. Install the OneDrive app.
2. Sign into the OneDrive app after installation.
3. In the Settings --> Files & Photos portion --> Camera Backup --> turn on camera backup for the account that you're signed into.
4. Wait for the backup to commence (depending on ISP speeds (you want to be on WiFi for this) - it may take awhile).
5. Confirm backed up photos are on https://onedrive.live.com/ before even thinking about removing them on your iPhone. I would highly recommend 2 forms of backup (not 1) before even thinking of deleting. Consider investing $ into iCloud or Google Photos on top of OneDrive.
6. Once you've confirmed all photos backed up go to Apple Photos app and then start the process of Selecting (top right) and deleting the photos to free up space on local device. This can be very tedious. Once you do the "Select" on the top right, you can swipe to select photos more rapidly than clicking each one. These photos go to the Deleted Folder and will need to be removed there (there is a delete all option here).

 

[BrianBaughn]

I use Google Photos to back up full quality but pay Google $20/year for 100GB.

I sometimes think about the billions of photos that have been uploaded to the cloud and the fact that nobody's ever going to look at them.

 

[lsquare]

I use Google Photos to back up full quality but pay Google $20/year for 100GB.

I sometimes think about the billions of photos that have been uploaded to the cloud and the fact that nobody's ever going to look at them.

Unfortunately, I have more than 100GB of data.

 

[lsquare]

So OneDrive I have a lot less experience with. I used it for a few months before deciding to go with Google Photos because it was far easier to use, had more photo editing features, and has the clean up photos on device while keeping them on the cloud option.

OneDrive is a one way syncing tool - so theoretically you can use it to upload photos to OneDrive then delete them on your device. OneDrive also utilizes a recycle bin so if you accidentally delete them in the OneDrive cloud you can restore them from the recycle bin.

BUT before you do this you need to make sure you don't have iCloud Photos Optimize Storage on (if you do). Double triple confirm that all your photos are backed up before deleting ANYTHING. I utilize 2 forms of backups because my photos are some of the most valuable items in my digital storage. (I have iCloud and Google Photos backing them up at the same time).

Keep in mind that the way apps work on iOS is that they have to be opened and at the forefront to do their heaviest work - OneDrive won't be able to back up a massive amount of photos when the app is minimized. So depending on the amount of photos you have - it may take awhile for OneDrive to back them all up.

1. Install the OneDrive app.
2. Sign into the OneDrive app after installation.
3. In the Settings --> Files & Photos portion --> Camera Backup --> turn on camera backup for the account that you're signed into.
4. Wait for the backup to commence (depending on ISP speeds (you want to be on WiFi for this) - it may take awhile).
5. Confirm backed up photos are on https://onedrive.live.com/ before even thinking about removing them on your iPhone. I would highly recommend 2 forms of backup (not 1) before even thinking of deleting. Consider investing $ into iCloud or Google Photos on top of OneDrive.
6. Once you've confirmed all photos backed up go to Apple Photos app and then start the process of Selecting (top right) and deleting the photos to free up space on local device. This can be very tedious. Once you do the "Select" on the top right, you can swipe to select photos more rapidly than clicking each one. These photos go to the Deleted Folder and will need to be removed there (there is a delete all option here).

This is what I hate about Apple. They make it so difficult to get my own files out of my iPhone.

Why don't I want iCloud Photos Optimize Storage on?

You made some good points. I do have 200GB with iCloud. My photos are in the backup. How do I upload my photos into iCloud itself so that the images are available separately and viewable on the Apple TV? This way I'll know I have a copy on Google Photos, iCloud, and OneDrive. I just want to make get the photos out of my iCloud backup so that it can be as small as possible.

 

[BigMcGuire]

This is what I hate about Apple. They make it so difficult to get my own files out of my iPhone.

Why don't I want iCloud Photos Optimize Storage on?

You made some good points. I do have 200GB with iCloud. My photos are in the backup. How do I upload my photos into iCloud itself so that the images are available separately and viewable on the Apple TV? This way I'll know I have a copy on Google Photos, iCloud, and OneDrive. I just want to make get the photos out of my iCloud backup so that it can be as small as possible.

There's multiple ways to do it. Do you have a Mac (makes it far easier). I think still plugging an iPhone into windows you can access all the pictures and export them out via the photos export tool.

You don't want Optimized iCloud Photo storage on when doing the OneDrive backup because iCloud Photo Optimized Storage puts the full copy of the photo on iCloud and the thumbnail on your iPhone. So if you're using OneDrive App on your iPhone to back up your photos, you'll want the FULL image (not the thumbnail) to back up. Now I think iOS is smart enough to download the photo for OneDrive but it'll take forever.

On your iPhone go to Settings --> Click on your Apple Account at the top --> iCloud --> Photos - and make sure "Sync this iPhone is turned on." That'll get the photos on your iPhone in your iCloud. From there you'll have access to them from any other apple device or iCloud.com.
Doing this should SHOULD "take the photos out of iCloud Backup" but will put them in iCloud so they'll be using storage. If not, check your iPhone backup - should go down by a bit. (If not, may need to remove it and re-do a backup). iCloud Backup will not backup photos if they're already in iCloud Photo Storage.

This is what my Phone looks like in the iCloud Photo area: