Why is my iCloud storage still full after deleting photos?

Where do deleted photos go?

Apple holds them in Albums > Recently Deleted so you can change your mind. They stay there for 30 days, and during that time they still use your iCloud quota. To free the space now, open the album, tap Select, then Delete All. This cannot be undone.

One exception: if your account was already over its limit when you deleted them, Apple says those photos are removed immediately and never land in Recently Deleted. In that case the space is freed at once, and the number you see should already reflect it.

What else could be filling iCloud?

• Device backups. Backups of old phones are often bigger than people expect.
• Messages. With Messages in iCloud on, photos and videos sent in chats count.
• iCloud Drive. Desktop and Documents sync on a Mac can quietly add gigabytes.
• A shared library. Photos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library count against the person who created it.
• Hidden album. Photos you hid still count. Unlock Albums > Hidden to review them.

Open Settings > your name > iCloud and read the bar. It names the categories in order of size, which tells you where to go next. If Photos is only a third of the total, deleting more pictures will never get you under the limit on its own.

How long until the meter updates?

Usually minutes, sometimes longer after a large delete. Keep the phone on Wi-Fi and charging so it can finish syncing the change. Low Power Mode pauses iCloud Photos syncing, so turn it off while you clean. If the bar still has not moved after a day, sign out of iCloud on the web and back in to refresh the view.

Also check the size of what you removed. A thousand screenshots may total less than one long 4K video, so a big delete by count can be a small one by gigabytes.

For a ranked list of what to clear, see what to delete to free up iCloud. The Android equivalent is Google Photos storage full after deleting.