Wakellor957 OP t1_j6f6mmw wrote on January 29, 2023 at 10:28 PM

Reply to comment by Cezzium in Figuring out iCloud Photos by Wakellor957

So if a photo has been moved off the phone and to the Cloud, and I connect the phone to my PC and try to transfer photos. Will it then just transfer preview of those photos?

Cezzium t1_j6f8hsp wrote on January 29, 2023 at 10:39 PM

you can sign into iCloud directly from your computer via the web.

Wakellor957 OP t1_j6ip14m wrote on January 30, 2023 at 4:49 PM

Well it's a bit slow transferring over the Web, but I get what you mean. Thanks!

Cezzium t1_j6ohqzs wrote on January 31, 2023 at 7:54 PM

interesting - for me it has been fast. It certainly could be the type of connection.

zwomt t1_j6gg6kz wrote on January 30, 2023 at 3:31 AM

What do you mean by moved off. If you mean deleted then deleting it on the iPhone or computer deletes it from both of those and iCloud. Ie iCloud is a syncing service. It keeps all three in sync. You can use an option to limit how much space it takes on your phone and computer in which case it will keep full copies on iCloud and previews in your phone and computer. Or you tell it to also store full copies on your computer.

Wakellor957 OP t1_j6ipaz8 wrote on January 30, 2023 at 4:50 PM

So I mean; when my iPhone decides there's not enough space for more photos, then certain photos from my collection are retrospectively moved to the Cloud and only a preview remains. When this happens, and I try to move photos over the cable (which is faster) to my computer, will it then either not recognise those photos or transfer previews instead?

zwomt t1_j6ipomg wrote on January 30, 2023 at 4:53 PM

They are always in the cloud.

If you use the photos app to export the photos then full size ones are downloaded and exported from iCloud even if your computer only had a oreview