Will I Lose Photos If I Downgrade iCloud Storage?

As soon as you downgrade your iCloud storage plan, no data will immediately be lost; however, your full-resolution photos may be replaced by device-sized versions until there’s more room on the cloud storage.

To downgrade your iCloud storage plan, navigate to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage and select Change Storage Plan before entering your Apple ID password and selecting an option that lowers storage usage.

1. You won’t lose photos immediately

If your storage usage exceeds what was paid for, iCloud allows you to switch downgrade to its free 5GB plan without losing any photos or other files. Simply head into Settings > iCloud > Manage Storage and choose an alternative plan; your current storage level will remain available until your next billing cycle starts.

If your iCloud storage is close to being full, utilizing Optimize Storage can help protect any photos that could otherwise be lost by replacing original high-resolution photos with smaller device versions; when it’s time for accessing them again later on, iCloud will download back the original high-resolution versions back onto devices; saving space while providing access even when offline.

Optimize Storage is available on any iOS device with iCloud Photo Library enabled and any Mac running iCloud Drive or Backup turned on, or via third-party apps supporting them. For more information visit this article on iCloud’s website:

Before downgrading your iCloud storage, there are a few considerations you must keep in mind. First and foremost, ensure you have enough free storage on both devices and iCloud Drive. Downgrading may affect iCloud Photo Library sync performance on certain devices; additionally it limits how much extra storage you can add, which could become particularly relevant if working with large files or lots of data.

If you need to reduce your iCloud storage, you can do it on an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac. Steps vary slightly depending on which device and operating system is being used: on an iOS device open Settings and tap your name at the top of the screen before tapping “Change Storage Plans.” For Macs open System Preferences Apple ID > Change Storage Plans before making your selection iCloud Storage Plans Change Plans while Windows users should open their iCloud app and click Storage Plans before downgrading their storage plan!

2. You’ll lose photos if you have iCloud Photos turned on

No matter if you have 5 GB or an upgraded plan, it can be easy to run out of storage space on iCloud. Therefore, it’s crucial that your photos are backed up on a regular basis; otherwise, your iCloud photos may start getting deleted when space gets tight unless changes to your plan can prevent that from occurring.

Your iPhone or iPad allows you to manage iCloud storage by going into Settings > iCloud > Manage Storage and selecting Change Storage Plan, where you can select either “Free” for cancellation purposes, or lower plans if downgrading. Your new storage plan will take effect once your current annual or monthly iCloud subscription ends.

If you decide to downgrade your iCloud storage, keep in mind that all your original content will still be accessible until your next billing cycle. This can help save money if you aren’t using all your storage every month.

Reduced storage limits mean that downgrading can result in the deletion of photos and videos from your iCloud account, meaning any files uploaded could eventually be deleted without backup being completed on time. It would be prudent to back up all iCloud data prior to downgrading storage levels for peace of mind.

Once iCloud Photos is activated, Apple automatically converts full-resolution photos and videos stored in your iCloud library to smaller, device-sized versions as the space in your account becomes scarcer. If you downgrade, however, this process could restart, potentially leading to loss of some photos and videos in your library.

If you’re worried about losing your iCloud Photos, turn off Optimize Storage before downgrading storage capacity. It’s easy and will safeguard against possible data loss.

3. You’ll lose photos if you have iCloud Drive turned on

If you have been using iCloud Drive and have stored photos and documents there, downgrading storage could cause them to vanish when your device runs low on space. Apple’s default settings replace them when this occurs with smaller versions that take up less room on your device; though this saves space it also renders documents unaccessible should they have them turned on.

One way to prevent this from occurring is to turn off Optimize Storage on either your iCloud menu or device settings – once done, you should be able to downgrade without losing any data or files.

Before downgrading, you can back up all of your content in iCloud Drive. To do this, open Finder on a Mac computer and select iCloud Drive in the left sidebar, selecting all items for backup before dragging into another location on your computer. Alternatively, use AnyTrans for iOS to create secure encrypted backups of all data stored on an iPhone or iPad.

To reduce your iCloud storage plan, navigate to the Settings app and tap “iCloud.” Scroll to the bottom of the page and tap “Manage Storage,” where you can select an option to reduce or downgrade your plan.

Downgrading your iCloud storage plan won’t instantly remove your data, but will prevent you from accessing services like Photo Library and Backup until your 5GB free storage limit has been met again. Although it might be somewhat inconvenient, this is ultimately necessary in order to preserve your information permanently.

There are plenty of alternative cloud storage solutions that offer more space at lower costs. If you’re considering switching providers, we suggest trying Get Backup Pro and AnyTrans for iOS; both can be found within Setapp which contains over 240 top-of-the-line Mac apps like to-do managers (2Do) and time-lapse creators (GlueMotion). Start your free trial today to see just how much money can be saved!

4. You’ll lose photos if you have iCloud Backup turned on

With iCloud Backup on, all photos and videos that don’t belong in your Camera Roll will automatically be uploaded to iCloud, including everything from Apple apps like Mail and Messages (which rely on iCloud to back up data). Unfortunately, this can take up quite a bit of space so if your storage plan limits are limited it would be best to switch it off prior to downgrading storage plans.

To deactivate iCloud Backup, navigate to Settings > your name > iCloud and tap iCloud Storage. Here you’ll see both how much of your iCloud Storage space has been consumed as well as any available space remaining. Alternatively, specific applications, like Messages or Mail, can also be disabled via tapping the Edit button and selecting “Don’t Back Up.”

If you want to protect any of your photos, videos, or other data before downgrading your iCloud storage, make sure that it all gets moved before taking this step. You can do this via either the website or an iCloud-enabled device; just ensure you move all files at once.

Cancelling or downgrading your iCloud storage plan is easy. Just open up Settings, tap your name at the top, select iCloud and click Manage Storage button before selecting one of your preferred plans such as free 5 GB option or one with additional storage capacities for $0.99 monthly subscription or 2TB plan for $9.99 subscriptions.

If you opt for downgrading your iCloud Storage plan, all features will still remain available until the end of your subscription term. Within 14 days of downgrading your plan, contact Apple Support and request a full refund; Apple will reimburse the cost of your current plan less any credits left over from prior billing periods.