Exporting your data from iCloud and turning off automated backups is a quite straight forward.
Exporting your data
You should first consider exporting all of the data that has already been backed up. To do this:
- On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
- Open Settings and tap your name
- Click on iCloud > Photos
- Select "Download and Keep Originals"
- On your Mac, open the Photos app. Select the photos and videos you want to copy. Choose File > Export.
Disabling automatic iCloud backups
Now to stop Apple from automatically backing up the Photos you click on your iPhone to iCloud:
- Open Settings and tap your name
- Click on iCloud > Photos
- Deselect "Sync this iPhone" to turn off iCloud Photos.
Removing already backed up data from iCloud
Finally to delete existing data that has already been backed up:
- Click on "Manage Storage"
- Click on "Turn Off & Delete from iCloud"
That's it, you're free! 🎉
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