Stop paying for iCloud storage: keep photos on your own computer

iCloud gives every Apple Account 5 GB for free. After that, iCloud+ costs $0.99 a month for 50 GB, $2.99 for 200 GB and $9.99 for 2 TB (US prices on 25 September 2026). As the family’s photos grow, so does the bill. If you have a computer at home, you can keep the photos there instead. The important part is to do it in the right order, so no photo is lost.

Step 1: Check where your originals are

Open Settings, tap your name, then iCloud and Photos. If Optimize iPhone Storage is on, your iPhone keeps small versions and the full-size originals are only in iCloud. Do not switch anything off yet.

Step 2: Download everything to your computer

On a Mac: open Photos, go to Settings, then iCloud, and choose Download Originals to this Mac. Wait until the download finishes; a big library can take a day or more.
On Windows: install iCloud for Windows from the Microsoft Store, switch on Photos, and let it download the library.
Any computer: you can also ask Apple for a copy of your data at privacy.apple.com. It takes a few days.

Step 3: Check the copy

Count the photos and videos, and open some old ones and some videos. Check that the folder is on a drive with room to grow.

Step 4: Keep a second copy

Your computer now holds the only full copy outside the phone. Copy it to a USB drive, and keep it up to date. This is the step most people forget.

Step 5: Change the iCloud plan

Only now change or cancel iCloud+ in Settings, your name, iCloud. Read Apple’s message carefully before you confirm.

Keep new photos coming home

From now on, new photos need a way to reach the computer. You can plug the iPhone in now and then, or use an app that backs up over home Wi-Fi by itself.

Where PhotoAlbumsMesh fits

PhotoAlbumsMesh keeps new photos coming home for the whole family, iPhone and Android, with no storage plan to pay for. It can use a USB drive as a free second copy. Importing an existing library you downloaded from iCloud is planned for a later version.

The Windows computer app is in the Microsoft Store. The Android app is in the Google Play closed test, the iPhone app is in Apple’s review, and the Mac and Linux apps are being built. None of them is released yet. Join early access to hear when they are ready.