Reset and deleting all items in iCloud

[circatee]

Morning all,

Typically when you delete items (in my case, all items) from iCloud, one has to wait 30 days before it is truly deleted by Apple.

I'm curious if this can be forced to be done sooner?
To be honest I sort of want to reset my iCloud to a clean slate and start over.

Waiting 30 days basically means I can't backup photos etc. in the interim. Weird really...

 

[Brookzy]

Sorry not to directly answer your question, but deleting your stuff won't reset your account for troubleshooting purposes because there is a host of minor things that sync to iCloud that you can't "delete" per se.

The best way to start from scratch would be with a new iCloud account.

Are there any specific issues you're having that are making you want to delete and start over?

 

[Tech198]

ya, like app syncing..

The best u could probably do maybie is go into each and every section that u have copies in the cloud and just delete

if u don't wanna wait 30 days, why are u assuming u "can't" backup ?

I've only "started over" with Apple music by deleting all music from iCloud,,,, not done it with photos.

 

[circatee]

Thanks for the responses. To be clear, I merely want all my photos removed from iCloud, and then to start over saving photos. But, since I've deleted all the photos, it appears that it will take 30 day before they are truly gone. Thus, I can't add more photos, or turn the photos section on, in iCloud. Doing so would 'cancel' the current delete process, no?
[doublepost=1471264066][/doublepost]I've turned off iCloud \ Photo Library. I'll turn it back on in 25 days. By then, all photo items should be deleted.

 

[Brookzy]

Thanks for the responses. To be clear, I merely want all my photos removed from iCloud, and then to start over saving photos. But, since I've deleted all the photos, it appears that it will take 30 day before they are truly gone. Thus, I can't add more photos, or turn the photos section on, in iCloud. Doing so would 'cancel' the current delete process, no?
[doublepost=1471264066][/doublepost]I've turned off iCloud \ Photo Library. I'll turn it back on in 25 days. By then, all photo items should be deleted.

If you log into the Photos app on icloud.com are your deleted photos in the "Recently Deleted" tab?

 

[Tech198]

But, since I've deleted all the photos, it appears that it will take 30 day before they are truly gone. Thus, I can't add more photos, or turn the photos section on, in iCloud. Doing so would 'cancel' the current delete process, no?

not 30 days.. 40 days...

Check screenshot .. you can add more photos even if some are 'Recently deleted' so that's fine.. Its only space will be an issue. *until* their gone.

Plus, u can manually delete these yourself before the 40 days..

You can pemanently delete them from 'Recently deleted' folder iCloud.com and u can do the same from photos app.. File >> Show Recently deleted.

Select the ones u want and "delete"

 

[Brookzy]

You can also delete photos from the "Recently Deleted" folder - you don't have to wait 30-40 days. You can do this online at icloud.com.

With regards to storage - I don't think that items in the recently deleted folder (i.e. items the user has deleted) count towards your iCloud storage limit.

 

[circatee]

Rather odd. The Recently Deleted folder only shows 131 items. I've done the delete all (they still show, but, it will probably just take a while to truly disappear).

Now 24 days remain till my remaining items are all gone.

 

[Brookzy]

Rather odd. The Recently Deleted folder only shows 131 items. I've done the delete all (they still show, but, it will probably just take a while to truly disappear).

Now 24 days remain till my remaining items are all gone.

View attachment 645015

Can't you just delete them from the Recently Deleted folder?

Also, the reason that folder only has 131 items is that if you delete photos and then re-upload them (as you probably have?), iCloud can identify the matches.

For example, recently I had to delete and restart my iCloud Photo Library because of some iOS 10 beta glitches. I deleted approximately 3500 photos and videos. These all went to the Recently Deleted folder. Then, I re-uploaded them. iCloud could tell these were the same photos, and as each photo uploaded, the matching copy in the Recently Deleted folder was automatically erased.

 

[circatee]

Thanks for the info.
I've not re-uploaded any images; since I want an 'empty' library per se', to start over.
Thus far, Recently Deleted showed 131, and I deleted those. I've since turned off iCloud Photos from my iPad and iPhone. This evening, I need to do the same on my iMac (forgot about it, till just now)...

Can't you just delete them from the Recently Deleted folder?

Also, the reason that folder only has 131 items is that if you delete photos and then re-upload them (as you probably have?), iCloud can identify the matches.

For example, recently I had to delete and restart my iCloud Photo Library because of some iOS 10 beta glitches. I deleted approximately 3500 photos and videos. These all went to the Recently Deleted folder. Then, I re-uploaded them. iCloud could tell these were the same photos, and as each photo uploaded, the matching copy in the Recently Deleted folder was automatically erased.