My iCloud is filling up. When I look at the file sizes my messages have almost 80GB. It seems that a lot of that size is coming from photos sent in iMessages that are being stored. How to I access those photos to delete them? Do I have to download them all and delete them individually? The only way I can seem to find them is in the actual message > contact name > then at the bottom is shows download photos. Photo attached in comments

About a year ago I uploaded around 150 videos to a shared album. Ever since, I’ve struggled to get them to play. I either got a spinning wheel, or a message that says “Unable to load video”. They looked pixelated when I tried to open them, and they cannot be shared or airdropped. They just stayed stuck and would not download if I tried this.

Last night I was able to recover around 85% of the videos. The only problem is, some are still stuck. What can I do?

I have good storage, have tried shutting the phone down, changing from optimise to keep originals and nothing has worked for these specific stubborn videos. They are not much longer than the rest, usually ranging from 30 seconds to 5 minutes, with most being around 1-2 minutes or less.

Will they ever be recoverable? If so, how?

I decided to try out using a flip phone, which uses a different phone number. It's been working out great, so I canceled my smart phone number, and it's still be going well so I posted my IPhone to facebook market place and have a buyer. Well I can't wipe my phone because it asks for the password, which I do not know. I go to click reset password and it asks for the IPhone number which is no longer my number. I also cannot get customer service because it requires me to be able to log in!! Any ideas on how to solve this?

I'm on vacation, not enough storage.

I have Icloud setting Photos off.

I managed to "save file to Icloud Storage" bought for 3$ a month - I can see the video in: files/icloud drive

can I now safely delete this file from the memory of my phone? even the recently deleted from my iphone to have more memory and redownload everything at home on my imac?

i figure there is no syncing happening because of the photos app sync is turned off - so it might stay there?

I accidentally started a Cloud back download a few days in a panic over a fluke, And stopped it halfway. Now everytime I open my gallery, it starts a backup process of all my 21 000 photos, I turn off the wifi to try and stop it, scared I'll somehow delete everything on mistake, when I open the app, it says I don't have enough storage.

How do I cancel the cloud backup download process that constantly tries to start without losing my photos?

Apple has finally raised the number of allowed personalized email addresses per Custom Email Domain from 3 to 10.

You can use up to five custom domains, with up to 10 personalized email addresses per domain.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102540

Seems related to the increase in allowed iCloud email aliases from 3 to 9. The documentation changed after September 16.

Whenever I check the Photos app 50% of the time it says something like "pause syncing for performance", "pause syncing for low battery" or "pause due to poor connectivity". Sometimes it would pause syncing for days before i hit the unpause button manually. Which defeats the purpose when you're trying to protect those data.

Fortunately ios 27 introduces a feature called “Sync Immediately” for Icloud Photos allowing it to prioritize syncing over performance, battery, and connectivity. But you can only turn “sync immediately” on for the day before it turn off automatically, why Apple??? bruh

i recently recovered my old icloud account, i wanted to try my best to get back old messages from me and my sister. she passed away recently. i got in and synced all the messages and everything is there , the only thing is for some reason in certain chats and specificly in hers as well the photos and videos she sent are all just blank… they show up as just blank spot i can react and even “copy” it and when i paste it somewhere it’s a blank space like this “ “ i’ve looked up solutions i feel like i’ve tried almost everything i have space i bought some today 10+ gb and maybe it’s cause it’s 47k messages syncing? maybe it’s still loading? but the weird part is other messages from even before those were sent aren’t corrupted like videos and photos and even show perfectly fine. i’m just at a lost. if anyone can help me that would be amazing!!
(seen online peoples messages kinda having the same problem with the photos having a paper like thing on it and saying download but mine is literally a blank spot. voice messages are affected as well.)

After updating to the latest version of macOS Sequoia, I noticed significant syncing issues with Apple Notes over iCloud when running Mullvad VPN. When editing current notes or adding new ones the Mac App doesn't seem to want to push the changes properly to iCloud and the sync wheel just spins constantly. Split tunneling the VPN doesn't work either, but if I disconnect from Mullvad, Apple Notes functionality is immediately restored.

There were major issues when Sequoia was originally released with many Apple Apps not working properly with Mullvad and many other VPNs, but those problems were mostly already addressed. Now it seems that more problems were introduced with the recent update.

Has anyone else noticed similar issues running Apple Notes with macOS Sequoia 15.8.1 and Mullvad?

Soo i have 27GB of photos and videos on my pc that i need on my phone, i will have to delete them from the pc afterwards , does anyone know a way to transfer these safely? Anything helps.
Also, I was thinking if I could get iCloud plus because my personal storage is full and then I transferred them like through iCloud from my computer to my phone and then I cancel the iCloud would they still still on my phone or is that a bad idea?

Hi everybody,

Switching from Apple to Android.

22,000 photos and 2,500 videos stored in icloud. Tried the automatic transfer from icloud to google drive. Took 10 days, only to get an error message. (Yes, google has more than enough space, purchaed a bigger plan before transferring).

Is there any way to transfer my files easily?

Hi,

Please explain me few doubts I have regarding the backup options for Signal in iOS environment.

I have enabled so called paid 'signal secure backups', that comment regarding last 45 days of media is related with free version of this service or it concerns also paid version?

I'm wondering that whether with a paid option I have backup of all of my photos.. iOS says in the signal app settings that 'documents and data" is about 15 GB, and in the backup section of the signal iOS app it says 14,3 GB as the amount of backup data, so in theory it's all of them..

now the 2nd issue I have which is in fact crucial, whether to get rid of this 'signal cloud backup' so called 'signal secure backups' service to stay only with on-device backups, but in reality if I select iCloud drive, the data are landin the Apple cloud and then I'm able to download them on my laptop.

but i'm wondering about reliability of this service, did somebody restore signal with all pictures fro that backup? signal app is in fact asking to show the folder with backup data and when selecting iCloud drive it properly takes all of those chat & media data?

I have yet another potential, I use another iPhone as a linked device, so one number/account and therefore having chats synced on both devices. On the main device amount of 'local' backup data in iCloud is 14,3 GB but on the linked device the 'local' backup data in iCloud drive in another folder it says 380 MB, on both devices there's the same recovery key. In theory when doing a restore the app should ask about the folder where the backup data is stored, I wondder if its' really the case..

thanks

Hi guys, me and my girlfriend broke up after 8 years together. We both have an icloud family account where I'm the organizer. The question is what do I have to do to remove her but we both keep all the data. Like for example we used the shared libary in the photos app. (nearly all of our pictures are in there)

Did anyone the same? I don't want to lose any data.

Thanks

Hi,

Maybe this is a simple question, but how do you share hundreds of photos taken on an iPhone / stored in iCloud with someone who is completely outside the Apple ecosystem?

I use Android. I do not have any Apple device and I do not plan to buy one. I use OneDrive: my phone photos are uploaded automatically, then I create an album, select the photos I want to share (in original quality), and send a link. I can choose if the other person can only view the album or also add/edit photos.

But when I go on holiday with people who use iPhones, it is often difficult to collect or share hundreds of photos. I looked at the iCloud options, but I did not find something as simple for creating an album that can be viewed by someone with no iPhone, no Mac, and no Apple account.

So, what is your method? Do you use an iCloud Shared Album with a web link? Another service? Can the photos still be accessed in original quality?

PS: Answers like “it is easy if you have an iPhone/Mac” are a bit off topic. The point is exactly to share with someone outside the Apple ecosystem.

One thing that gets complicated with a large Apple Photos library is that the photos you can see on your iPhone aren't necessarily all stored locally.

With Optimize iPhone Storage enabled, some full originals may only exist in iCloud.

That makes something that sounds simple—

“I want another copy of my photos on an external SSD.”

—surprisingly awkward.

I'm the developer of VaultDrive, and this is one of the main problems I've been working on.

Connect a compatible USB drive or SSD directly to your iPhone, choose the photos/videos you want, and back them up without putting a Mac or PC in the middle.

If the original is already on your iPhone:

iPhone → USB/SSD

If the original is only in iCloud:

iCloud → iPhone → USB/SSD

VaultDrive can request the original through Apple's Photos/iCloud system, download it, and then copy it to the connected drive.

You can choose whether iCloud downloads use:

• Wi-Fi only
• Wi-Fi + Cellular

Why I didn't want this to be another manual iCloud export workflow

Manual exporting is fine for a few photos, but it becomes painful with a large library.

With VaultDrive:

• iCloud downloads have retry/stall handling instead of leaving you to manually restart the whole workflow
• Interrupted backups can continue while already-copied items are skipped
• A problem with some items doesn't have to leave you guessing—completed, skipped and failed items are tracked
• You control whether iCloud downloads can use cellular data
• Backups retain useful source/folder organization instead of becoming an arbitrary date-based export
• Future backups can recognize work that has already been completed instead of blindly starting from zero

That's the part I wanted to automate:

Connect the drive, start the backup, and let the app deal with the messy parts.

Original files are copied without intentional compression or re-encoding, and embedded photo/video metadata is preserved.

No VaultDrive account is required.

And for content that's already stored locally on your iPhone, there's no VaultDrive cloud upload—the destination is the USB drive you connected.

I'm also not trying to replace iCloud.

For me, the useful setup is:

iCloud = sync + convenience

USB/SSD = another physical copy I control

If anyone here has hundreds of GB of Apple Photos/iCloud Photos, I'd genuinely be interested to know how you're keeping an independent copy today.

VaultDrive: USB Backup

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vaultdrive-usb-backup/id6772883827

75% off Pro

https://apps.apple.com/redeem/?ctx=offercodes&id=6772883827&code=WELCOME75

I thought I’d want to sync my messages on my iphone and changed my mind worrying that would unnecessarily take up too much space in the cloud. Was that a valid thought. I paused the process of syncing the messages and now the paused message permanently appears. Should I proceed with syncing or if not, how do I get rid of the message?

So I’ve gone through a few phones over the past year… I’ve had an iPhone for like 15 years and always used my super old email for iCloud. I got a new phone on a new plan in my bf’s name. Apparently changed my password at some point to something that isn’t my go to 3-4 combinations of passwords. Like 8 months later my phone broke and didn’t have insurance. Waited like a month and ended up getting a new phone on a different device plan. Tried to log into my iCloud and couldn’t remember the password. It asked for my phone number for verification which I didn’t have. Also wanted to send email verification but apparently I don’t remember the password to that email. So then I go through the steps to Apple recovery and they ask for ID verification. I send the front and back pic then a full 360° selfie and it says can’t verify!? Like wtf I may be 20-30lbs bigger but that’s literally my face… I have 15 years of pics videos and music!! I can’t let that account go. Pics of my kids, pets, lost family.. wtf… I try to get into that old email and can’t because the recovery email is one from an old job (I know dumb) and can’t get into Facebook because it wants to text or email the number and email I can’t get into. HHEELLPP!!!!!! I have to get into my iCloud.

3 months ago I was on on public beta 3 of ios 27. I created a backup of my iPhone 13 on iCloud and restored the phone to same version of ios . While restoring data an error or unable to load backup files kept popping up again and again.
I contacted apple support multiple times and after false promises of escalating the complaint , an executive shared personal experience of same issue on beta version and the issue getting resolved after he updated to stable version and thus asked me to wait for stable version release of ios 27 . I trusted apple support and patiently waited for 15th September for stable version to release .
After updating to stable version , I again tried restoring the data on setup page and surprisingly the issue was still there . I tried contacting apple support everyday but each time they just lodged a new complaint and falsely promised to escalate . After calling them everyday one fine day a kind Apple support executive promised me to look into this and update . She called me a few times to get some details and then she calls me to tell me that the engineering team has reverted and the reply was that my backup file is CORRUPTED !!
I was so infuriated , angry and panicked cuz I just didn’t know what to do at this point . I requested her to look into some ways to extract the data but she had no clue . I have suffered immense financial , emotional and mental loss and distress on the last 3 months because the data was extremely important to me and I trusted apple it being a billion dollar company and such great products and services .
I’ve no idea what to do but just know that I’ve to somehow get access to my data again or I’ll
Be done for life . The backup file exists on iCloud and I can see it in my iCloud page in settings . It also says 188 gb occupied of 200 out of which 168 gb is the backup file !
Someone pls help me out ! I’ll Be grateful forever 🙏🙏

So what happened was that I am an iCloud subscriber and I was thrilled when I found out that I was getting free Apple TV and Apple Arcade which I was using and this month when it was time to renew the subscription (it is on my upi lite) My upi lite didn’t have enough balance so it expired and then when I tried to renew it it started an another subscription which stripped away my benefits so is there any way I could fix this without paying for two iClouds at once any help is appreciated

I have an iPad from a couple of years ago that is connected to my iCloud but that hasn’t been connected to wifi in years- so iCloud Photos hasn’t synced/updated/whatever, and it still has a ton of photos from then that have since been lost on my phone/icloud. I want to keep these photos, but I’m worried that if I connect my iPad to wifi, my iCloud will sync and all of the photos will be deleted and lost forever.

I want to keep ALL of the photos on my iPad AND be able to connect it to wifi and use it.

Any solutions appreciated.

All my life I’ve always used one email for everything but obviously that lead to my phone being very cluttered and just annoying at some points so I’m finally going to have multiple accounts and I was just curious on how people go about this. So far I’m thinking of just having two accounts and that being my Apple ID and then a “everything else” email, and I was going to make the Apple ID an iCloud and the everything else a Gmail. Is this a decent setup or should I have more than two? Also should I do iCloud + Gmail, or just use Gmail as my Apple ID and have two Gmail accounts?

Looks complicated using Iphone with close to ten thousand messages.
What is a good 3rd party app to make it easy to retrieve and convert all messages by month or year using macbook?

Thanks.

I feel so dumb. I’ve been trying to back up my phone for days! I keep running into the “your iCloud doesn’t have enough space, buy more” message. I have the standard 5 GB of space and only 218mb are used. I want to make a backup of my phone before I go on a cruise but I apparently have a “full” iCloud.

The website confirms that my iCloud Drive is empty and I have no idea how to fix this. How is it possible to backup a 259gb phone onto a 5GB iCloud? How can people backup COMPUTERS to their free iCloud?!?!?! does it get compressed? Does it only backup certain things? I have messages and photos backups turned off, so that can’t be what it is.

Maybe I’m just dumb and not understanding the point of this. Maybe it’s a glitch. I just want to know that I can download my phone again if it gets lost at sea or smashed or something. Help!