Removing some, but not all photos from iPhone 8+

[Bill Gates Jr.]

Lokked up one way of doing it (end sharing), but that would remove all my photos from iPhone. Any easier way so I can keep all the photos on my iMac and iPad and selectively choose which pics I remove from my iPhone? Pete

 

[chscag]

What I do is attach my iPhone to my iMac and open Image Capture. Using that I copy all the photos from my iPhone and my wife's iPhone to my Photos Library on the iMac.

Once I make sure I have all my photos saved on the iMac, then it's a simple matter opening the Photos app on the iPhone(s) and removing those I don't wish to keep there.

It may involve some work if you have a lot of photos on your iPhone.

 

[Bill Gates Jr.]

I read that since my 3 devices are synced via iCloud, removing any from my iPhone would remove that photo from all 3 devices. Would I have to turn off sharing on my iPhone first, then remove from my iPhone? Would turning sharing on after I delete most from iPhone put missing pics back on to my iPhone? So best to leave sharing off and transfer manually to computer as needed?

 

[MacInWin]

I read that since my 3 devices are synced via iCloud, removing any from my iPhone would remove that photo from all 3 devices. Would I have to turn off sharing on my iPhone first, then remove from my iPhone? Would turning sharing on after I delete most from iPhone put missing pics back on to my iPhone? So best to leave sharing off and transfer manually to computer as needed?

Yes, turn off sync to iCloud on the iPhone, then delete the images you don't want. If you turn on sync again, the missing images will reappear, so leave it off. You'll have to use the method chscag described to move images from the iPhone to the Mac.

 

[Slydude]

Good idea, guys. I was going to suggest this last night, but I was trying to think of a better option that might be less work if someone has many photos to delete. So far, I haven't thought of one.

@chscag I didn't think about using Image Capture for this. I haven't used that app for a while, although it's great for tasks like this. I forget it's there. My suggestion was to use iMazing because it does so many other things, but your option is free.