I have seen this question on here a few times, but never with a clear answer.
I am using a iPhone 6s with iOS 10.3.3. When I take a picture I want it to be uploaded to my iCloud Photo Library; however I also want to be able to delete that photo from my iPhone while keeping it in iCloud (to free up space for other data).
Is there a way to delete photos from my iPhone’s local storage but not from iCloud Photo Library?
Answer
Apple’s solution is to manage your storage for you. Under Settings → Photos & Camera, select to Optimize iPhone Storage.
As long as you have enough local storage, photos will remain on your device. When your iPhone needs the space, high-resolution versions of your photos will be removed from your iPhone; all that is kept then is thumbnails, until you decide to view the photo again.
At that point a device-optimized version of the photo is downloaded from iCloud. A full-resolution version won’t be downloaded until you decide to edit or share the photo.
iCloud Photo Library is a photo-sync service, rather than a backup service, which is why deleting a photo anywhere deletes it everywhere. What you see on your device is what you see in iCloud is what you see on all your devices connected to the service.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Yogi_Bear , Answer Author : Community