How to Store Original Photos on Your iPhone Without iCloud

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Easy steps to save pictures on in your iPhone's storage

Written by Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: December 10, 2025 Fact Checked

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• Storing Original Photos
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• Disabling in iCloud Backup
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• Video
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• Q&A

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While iCloud Photos is handy if you frequently switch between Apple devices, you may want to keep the original, full-resolution photos on your iPhone. In this article, we will teach you how to turn off iCloud Photos and download your original resolution photos. We will also explain how you can continue to sync your photos with iCloud and keep the originals on your device.

Storing Original Photos on Your iPhone

To store original photos on your iPhone instead of iCloud, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos. Make sure "Sync this iPhone" is off, then tap Download Photos & Videos. If you want to keep your photos synced, choose Download and Keep Originals instead of the option to optimize storage.

Steps

Section 1 of 2:

Storing Original Photos

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1. 
   1
   Open your iPhone's Settings. It's a gray app icon containing an image of gears, typically found on one of your Home Screens.

   • If you can't find it on your home screen, it may be in a folder labeled Utilities.
2. 
   2
   Tap your name near the top of the screen. It will be right under the search bar.

   • If your iPhone is not signed into iCloud, enter your Apple ID and password.
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3. 
   3
   Tap iCloud. It is midway down the screen and has a white icon with a blue cloud. Next to iCloud, it will say how much total iCloud server space you have.
4. 
   4
   Tap Photos. It is the first option under Saved to iCloud.

   • In older versions of iOS, the Photos option will be under a header that says "Apps Using iCloud."
5. 
   5
   Toggle off

   

   Sync this iPhone. Make sure the button is white, and no green appears.

   • If this toggle is not switched on, you have not synced any photos to your iCloud, and the photos stored on your phone are the original, full-size versions.
   • If you don't want to turn iCloud Photo sync off, you can simply tap Download and Keep Originals. This will stop optimizing your iPhone storage and keep original-sized photos, but will keep iCloud Photos on.
6. 
   6
   Tap Download Photos & Videos in the pop-up. If you turn off iCloud Photos, you have the option to download the original versions back to your phone. Any photos that were optimized will be deleted.

   • If you don't download the photos to your iPhone at this time, you can still access your original photos on other devices using iCloud Photos or by reactivating iCloud Photos.
   • Note that your iCloud still may be storing copies of your photos if you have photos enabled in your iCloud backup. To learn how to disable this, keep reading.
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Section 2 of 2:

Disabling Photos in iCloud Backup

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1. 
   1
   Open the Settings app. It's usually found on your Home Screen, and it has a gray icon with gears on it.
2. 
   2
   Tap on your name at the top of the screen. Your profile picture will be next to your name (or a gray image with your initials will be present, if you didn't set a profile picture).
3. 
   3
   Tap iCloud. It's about halfway down the screen, with an icon of a blue cloud on a white background. The amount of iCloud storage space you have is listed on this button as well.
4. 
   4
   Tap Storage. It's at the top of the screen, and it shows how much of your iCloud storage you've used up so far.
5. 
   5
   Tap iCloud Photos. It's under the bar that breaks down how much of your iCloud storage is being used by what type of data.
6. 
   6
   Tap Turn Off and Delete Photos. This will delete your photos from iCloud. You'll then have 30 days to download your photos and videos from iCloud, if necessary.

   • If you have iCloud Photos enabled, you'll want to go back to the main iCloud menu and tap Photos, then tap Download and Keep Originals. Your iPhone will then start downloading the original photos from iCloud.
     • If you opt to delete your iCloud photos before switching to Download and Keep Originals, you'll have to download your photos and videos from iCloud within 30 days to not lose them.
       • To download your iCloud photos, open the Photos app, tap Select (while in the Library tab), then select all the photos you want to download. Tap the share button, then choose Export Unmodified Originals.
   • If you don't have iCloud Photos enabled, you can safely tap Turn Off and Delete Photos without fear of losing any photos on your device. This will only delete the photos from iCloud Photos.
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Community Q&A

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• Question

  My ex hacked my iPad and cell and took my photos. Are they gone forever?

  

  Community Answer

  If you have them backed up on iCloud, they aren't gone forever. Check iCloud, check different devices with the same account, and check Recently Deleted. The only reason they would disappear is because they were deleted.

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