How to Delete Photos from Google Photos but Not from Device?

I have been using Google Photos for a while and love just how quickly it is in sync with my smartphone. All the photos and videos I capture are available on Google Photos that I can access on any other device as well with my Google account. Google Photos uses cloud storage which means you can delete photos from your phone, but a copy of it is always available on Google Photos. However, it doesn’t work the other way around.

By default, when you delete photos from Google Photos, they will be deleted from the phone as well. Just in case if you want to retain the photo on the phone but delete the one on Google Photos Cloud, how would you do it? Here’s more on how to Delete Photos from Google Photos but Not from iPhone and Android devices.

Why Does Deleting Photos From Google Photos Delete Photos From Phone?

The question is legit. When you try to delete a photo from the phone, a copy is available on Google Photos. However, when you try to do it the other way around, the original photo stored on your phone is deleted as well. Here are a few possible cases you would end up with.

How To Delete Photos from Google Photos but Not from Phone?

Now that you know what happens when you try to delete photos from Google Photos and the phone, here’s how you can delete photos from Google Photos without causing any harm to the original copy stored on your device.

Method 1. Disable Backup & Sync from Settings

This method works for both Android and iOS Devices. You can delete photos from the Google Photos cloud but keep the device copy in the device itself for iPhone, Android, and iPad.

Step 1. Open the Google Photos app and tap on your profile image.

Step 2. Now, tap on the Photos settings option.

Step 3. The first option that you will see would be Back up & sync, click it.

Step 4. You need to tap on the toggle to turn it Off.

Step 4: Now open Google Photos on a computer browser. And log in with the same Google account.

Step 5: Delete the photos from the Photos site that you want to delete. This will delete the cloud copy but not the one stored on the device.

Step 6: Deleted photos are thrown in the trash bin, where the files sit idle for 60 days before being permanently purged. You can restore deleted photos during this tenure.

The device copy is still on your Android or iPhone device, and it won’t get deleted. You can access the photos and videos on your Photos or other Gallery apps.

But if you turn ON the Backup and Sync in the future, the photos from your device will again be published to the cloud.

Method 2. Relocate the Camera Photos

By default (if Backup & Sync Enabled), Google Photos uploads all the photos and videos you took from your device’s camera to the cloud. And for images and videos located on other folders, you need to manually grant access to the Google Photos app under its settings.

This method only works for Android as iPhone does not offer the option to create folders.

Step 1. Open the File Manager/Google Files app on your Android. I have my camera content in internal storage.

Step 2. Create a New Folder, let’s name it ‘BB Photos‘.

Step 3. Now look for the DCIM folder. The camera content is stored in the DCIM folder.

Step 4. Open the camera and select all photos that you want to delete from Google Photos, and select Move.

Step 5. Now Navigate to the new folder (BB Photos) that you created and paste the selected files.

Once you do so, the files will be automatically deleted from the camera folder of the Google Photos app on your phone and cloud. But you can access these photos/videos from the newly created folder using Photos or any other gallery app.

Step 5: If the photos moved to a new folder still appear on the web version, you need to manually delete them from the website. Launch the Google Photos website and delete the photos there. Deleting them will not affect the pictures and videos moved into the newly created folder on your phone.

Method 3. Move Photos to Locked Folder in Photos App

If you want to securely store your photos and videos on your device and remove it from Google Photos Cloud, then the best option is to move the photos to the Locked Folder in the Google Photos app.

The Google Photos app allows users to save private photos and videos in a locked folder that is protected by the device’s screen lock. The locked folder feature is only available in the mobile app of Google Photos. Media in the locked folder will not be shown in the albums, photos grid, search, memories, or albums. Once, the photo is moved to the Locked folder; they are also not available in the cloud storage.

Moving the Photos to the Locked folder will remove the photos from Google Photos Cloud and keep them securely on the local Google Photos App. Keep note that, the photos and videos stored in the Locked folder will not be accessible on another app.

Frequently Asked Question (F.A.Q)

Closing Words

These were a couple of the methods that you could use to retain original photos on your phone when deleting the online copy posted on Google Photos for iPhone and Android.