How to turn off iCloud

You recently bought a new iPhone and immediately activated the functions related to iCloud , Apple’s cloud service that allows you to upload photos and documents online and to synchronize your data between multiple devices associated with the same Apple ID . Soon, however, you realized that the free space available to you is limited to 5 GB and, not having the intention of putting your hand to the wallet to activate one of the subscription plans available, you have decided to disable this service for those applications you use. less frequently, so as to avoid unnecessarily taking up space.

If things are exactly as I have just described and, therefore, you would like to know how to deactivate iCloud , let me help you and explain in detail how to succeed in your intent. In the next paragraphs of this guide, in fact, you will find the detailed procedure both to remove the data synchronization of individual applications and to completely disable iCloud on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Windows PC.

Furthermore, it will be my task to also provide the information necessary to disable the automatic renewal of iCloud +, the subscription service that allows you to increase the iCloud space at your disposal. Keep in mind that, in case of second thoughts, you can retrace your steps at any time and reactivate the synchronization of photos, contacts, calendars, reminders and so on on all your Apple devices or only on those you want. That said, let’s not waste any more precious time and get to the heart of this tutorial. Enjoy the reading!

Index

• How to turn off iCloud on iPhone and iPad
  • How to turn off iCloud Drive
  • How to turn off iCloud Photos
  • How to turn off iCloud sync
  • How to turn off iCloud +
• How to turn off iCloud on Mac
• How to disable iCloud on Windows PC

How to turn off iCloud on iPhone and iPad

On iPhone and iPad how to turn off iCloud is quite simple: all you need to do is access the settings of iOS / iPadOS and choose which app to disable synchronization. Find everything explained in detail right below.

How to turn off iCloud Drive

iCloud Drive is the service that, through the File appinstalled as standard on iPhone and iPad, allows you to store documents online and synchronize them between the various devices associated with your Apple ID.

If your intention is to deactivate iCloud Drive , then access the iOS / iPadOS Settings by pressing the gear wheel icon , tap on your photo and select the iCloud option .

In the new screen that appears, locate the iCloud Drive item , move the relative lever from ON to OFF and you’re done. Note that you can continue to use the Files app on iPhone / iPad to store and manage documents locally (by taking up space on your device).

How to turn off iCloud Photos

The procedure for deactivating iCloud Photos is almost identical to what I indicated above to deactivate iCloud Drive . In fact, even in this case, all you have to do is access the iCloud section of the iPhone / iPad and disable the synchronization of photos and videos.

To proceed, then take your iPhone / iPad, icon awards of the gear wheel to access the settings of iOS / iPadOS tap on and make your photos displayed on the top.

Press, then, on the iCloud item , select the Photo option and move the lever next to the iCloud Photo item from ON to OFF , in order to stop synchronizing the Photo app of the device in use with the other devices connected to your ID Apple.

As you can imagine, you can turn off photo syncing on a single device and leave it enabled on others. For example, if you want photos taken from iPhone to be automatically available on your Mac but not on iPad, you will need to turn off syncing only on the latter. To learn more, you can check out my guide on how iCloud Photos works .

How to turn off iCloud sync

How do you say? Do you want to turn off iCloud sync completely? In that case, just go to the iCloud section of the iPhone / iPad and manually disable the data synchronization of each single application available.

To do this, access the iOS / iPadOS Settings by pressing the gear wheel icon , tap on your photo and, on the Apple ID screen , press the iCloud item .

At this point, move the lever relating to each single application available (eg Messages , Calendars , Notes , Reminders , Safari , Home , Health, etc.) from ON to OFF and, if necessary, choose whether to keep the relative data ( Keep on iPhone / Keep on iPad ) or whether to delete them ( Delete from iPhone / Delete from iPad ) from your device.

Similarly, you can also proceed to disable the data synchronization of third-party applications installed on your device, such as WhatsApp , Telegram , Google Drive etc.

To disable the iCloud backup or the synchronization of the passwords you have saved in the iPhone / iPad Keychain, instead, press on the option of your interest between iCloud Backup and Keychain and, in the new screen displayed, move the lever relating to the iCloud Backup item or ICloud keychain from ON to OFF .

In case of second thoughts, you can retrace your steps at any time: in this regard, my guide on how to activate iCloud on iPhone may be useful .

How to turn off iCloud +

To deactivate iCloud + , the subscription service that allows you to purchase iCloud space and take advantage of additional features (eg. Private relay , Hide my email, etc.), take your iPhone / iPad, press the gear wheel icon to access the settings of iOS / iPadOS and you tap on your photo .

In the new screen displayed, access the iCloud section , select the Manage space / iCloud storage item and press the Change plan option .

Now, tap the Downgrade Options item , enter your Apple ID password in the appropriate field, put the check mark next to the free iCloud plan and press the Finish button , to disable the automatic renewal of iCloud +. You will be able to continue using iCloud + until your subscription expires.

Keep in mind, though, that if your storage exceeds 5GB of storage when you upgrade to iCloud, the service will not sync or update your information until you delete data to free up space. In this regard, my guide on how to free up iCloud space may be useful .

How to turn off iCloud on Mac

To disable iCloud on Mac , open System Preferences by clicking on the gear wheel icon in the Dock bar of your Mac, access the Apple ID section and select the iCloud item in the left sidebar.

At this point, all you have to do is remove the check mark for each application for which you intend to disable iCloud. For example, if you want to prevent synchronization of the content available in the Photos app on your Mac and prevent photos and videos taken with other devices associated with your Apple ID from automatically being available, remove the check mark next to the Photos option . Then choose whether to download a copy of the iCloud photos and videos to the Mac ( Download ) or delete them ( Delete from Mac ) and that’s it.

Similarly, you can proceed for all other apps available on the Apple ID screen , including iCloud Drive . In the latter case, you can also choose not to synchronize individual data by pressing the Options button and removing the check mark relating only to the apps of your interest (eg Pages , iMovie etc.).

If, on the other hand, you are wondering how to disable iCloud for a fee , that is, disable the automatic renewal of iCloud +, go to the Cloud section and click on the Manage button .

Now, select the Change Storage Plan and Lower Level Plan Options options and enter your Apple ID password in the field provided. Finally, click on the Manage button , choose the iCloud free plan and press the Finish button . Simple, right?

How to disable iCloud on Windows PC

If you want to disable iCloud on a Windows PC , all you have to do is start the official iCloud client and choose which data to stop synchronizing. Alternatively, you can also log out of your Apple ID and totally disable iCloud.

In the first case, start the iCloud app and remove the check mark related to the iCloud Drive , Photos , Bookmarks , Password and Mail items , depending on the data for which you intend to remove the synchronization.

To completely disable iCloud, however, click on the Exit button and press the Delete from PC option , in order to log out of your Apple ID and delete all iCloud data from your computer.

Alternatively, if you want to keep your data stored locally, you can simply turn off every single option available on the iCloud home screen, as I indicated earlier. To learn more, you can check out my guide on how to use iCloud on Windows.