iPad Air New iPad Air downloaded all my photos from iCloud! How to remove from Air?

[ericinboston]

Hi all. I got a new iPad Air today with iOS 14.x. I used my iPhone to set up the iPad Air which was handy, but what it also did was configure my Air to download the 5,000+ pix from iCloud which I don't want on this Air!

So I fiddled everywhere I could in Settings for iCloud and Photos and magically now only 1090 photos are on it. I have powered off/on the Air a few times to see if that would get it back down to 0 photos but it's still at 1090. I have the Air plugged into power so it should be talking to iCloud. This problem happened about 2 hours ago so either a)it still needs to sync with iCloud and delete them locally or b)I am missing a setting somewhere.

I do not want to just delete all the 1090 pix because I am afraid those 1090 pix will get wiped off my iPhone and/or iCloud accounts.

Attached are some screenshots. Any ideas? If you want me to go to a particular location in Settings, please tell me how to navigate there.

Thanks so much!

 

[MyopicPaideia]

Enable iCloud photos. Done.

 

[cupcakes2000]

It’s right in your first screenshot. Enable iCloud photo!

 

[AutomaticApple]

Hi all. I got a new iPad Air today with iOS 14.x. I used my iPhone to set up the iPad Air which was handy, but what it also did was configure my Air to download the 5,000+ pix from iCloud which I don't want on this Air!

So I fiddled everywhere I could in Settings for iCloud and Photos and magically now only 1090 photos are on it. I have powered off/on the Air a few times to see if that would get it back down to 0 photos but it's still at 1090. I have the Air plugged into power so it should be talking to iCloud. This problem happened about 2 hours ago so either a)it still needs to sync with iCloud and delete them locally or b)I am missing a setting somewhere.

I do not want to just delete all the 1090 pix because I am afraid those 1090 pix will get wiped off my iPhone and/or iCloud accounts.

Attached are some screenshots. Any ideas? If you want me to go to a particular location in Settings, please tell me how to navigate there.

Thanks so much!

View attachment 1767551 View attachment 1767553 View attachment 1767552

Uh, look at the first screenshot!

 

[ericinboston]

Ok, so I enabled iCloud photo like all of you recommended.

1)After waiting a few minutes, it did not fix my problem...it did not delete all the 3GB of pix it downloaded to my Air. I powered it off/on and waited again and no go. It is plugged into AC and on wifi.

2)Why should your suggestion have fixed my problem? The details/instructions of iCloud photo is that it uploads my device's pix to iCloud so other devices can see them. That's not my problem.

 

[theadder]

Set the “Optimize Storage” setting within Settings > Photos. This will lower the usage. iOS may need to determine that you need the space back first; I’m not sure.

 

[rui no onna]

Ok, so I enabled iCloud photo like all of you recommended.

1)After waiting a few minutes, it did not fix my problem...it did not delete all the 3GB of pix it downloaded to my Air. I powered it off/on and waited again and no go. It is plugged into AC and on wifi.

2)Why should your suggestion have fixed my problem? The details/instructions of iCloud photo is that it uploads my device's pix to iCloud so other devices can see them. That's not my problem.

Disable iCloud Photos. After it's disabled, you can safely delete all the photos from your new iPad.

Ignore the suggestion for enabling iCloud Photos with Optimize. That just puts small thumbnail copies of all your photos on the iPad. While optimize does reduce the space used by Photos, it doesn' remove the photos from your device which is what you seem to want.

 

[ericinboston]

Hi Theadder...nope, it doesn't do anything...probably because it's nowhere near out of space.

 

[Gandek]

I think I might be of help here since I actually just got a Air again (warranty replacement) and I always like to set my devices up as new to ensure things run smooth. As soon as I logged into my account I disabled iCloud photos right away since I dont need to have them on my iPad in the past I’ve had issues with them actually getting deleted like you described even after I turn iCloud photos off some decided to remain. If you can just factory reset make sure when you’re setting up again to not use your iPhone to scan the little cosmo bubble when it asks and you can also skip past logging into your Apple ID until later in the settings. As soon as you login though go to iCloud photos and turn it off. You should have a clean empty gallery.

If I’m missing something lmk