Every photograph accounted for, and then the space is yours again.
iCloud is full and the choices on offer are to pay more, forever, or to start deleting and hope. There is a third: your photos are copied to your own computer, each one checked against the original, and only when you say you have them is anything removed.
checked against the original
How a job runs
Six steps, in order. The one in colour is the only step that changes anything in your iCloud, and it waits for you.
On a link sent just to you. Reclaim uses your Apple password and verification code to make an automated iCloud connection. Apple's terms tell you not to share your password and restrict automated access, so the sign-in page explains the risk and asks you to agree before you continue. Your password is not stored.
How many photos and videos, how old, what formats, how much space they take.
Keep the last three months, or twelve, or everything. Narrow it further by kind, format or size if you want to.
Each photo is copied, then checked against the original before it counts as saved. Nothing is removed during this step.
The copies come to your own computer. Open the download before you confirm that you have it. Use the passcode we provide, check that the folders are there, and open a few photos or videos.
If removal was included in your invitation, the choice appears only after you confirm you have the files. A copy-only job leaves everything in iCloud.
The two routes
Another iCloud tier, or a local archive?
Deleting from your phone also deletes from the synced iCloud library, and there is no good way to tell which of thirty thousand photos you will miss. Most people put it off, pay for another tier, and put it off again.
More iCloud storage
Keeps the whole library synced and available on your devices for a monthly fee. It is the convenient choice if you want everything online. Apple lists the current plans on its iCloud page.
A Reclaim archive
A one-time job that makes a checked copy on your computer, then lets you decide what leaves iCloud. It does not replace sync, and one download on one computer is not a complete backup.
Whichever route you choose, keep another copy of irreplaceable photos on an external drive or in another place you control. A local archive becomes a resilient backup only when one accident cannot destroy every copy. Apple also recommends keeping backup copies of the library; see its guidance on iCloud Photos and archiving iCloud data.
What you can count on
Written plainly, before you begin.
Each point is on the privacy page in full.
Nothing is removed until the files are yours
A photo can only leave iCloud once its copy has been verified against the original and you have confirmed the files are on your own computer. Anything that failed its check stays in iCloud whatever you decide.
Your password is used once and not kept
It connects us to Apple and is then gone. What is kept is the sign-in session Apple hands back, in a folder belonging only to your job, and it is deleted when the work is done.
We do not keep your photos
Our server is in the United States and holds them only while the job runs and you collect them. Our copy is deleted after the job finishes, or no more than 72 hours from when Reclaim first begins storing your photos. Nothing is removed from iCloud just because that deadline arrives. While we hold that copy we can read it, which is worth saying plainly, and every night it is re-checked against its checksums.
Only the date decides what moves
Over this connection we cannot see which of your photos are marked as favourites, are inside an album, or have people in them. If that matters to you, say so before we start and we will set the window accordingly.
Thirty days of second thoughts
Removed photos go to Recently Deleted on your device, where they stay recoverable for thirty days. The space is not actually freed until that empties, which you can do straight away or leave to clear on its own.
A record of every file
Your photos on your own computer and a dated record of what was copied and checked. A photo that could not be verified appears in the record and stays in iCloud.
The record you receive
Every file, with its date and its result.
It is sent to you when the job ends, and it is how you know what moved and what did not.
| File | Taken | Result |
|---|---|---|
| IMG_4177.MOV | 14 Mar 2016 | Verified, removed |
| IMG_4178.JPG | 14 Mar 2016 | Verified, removed |
| IMG_4179.PNG | 14 Mar 2016 | Verified, removed |
| IMG_4182.HEIC | 14 Mar 2016 | Kept in iCloud |
| DSC_4184.JPG | 15 Mar 2016 | Verified, removed |
Example lines. A line reads "kept in iCloud" when the copy did not match the original, and that photo is left exactly where it was.
What it costs
One price for the job, by the size of your library.
The read-only first look is included with the service, and it is what the size is measured from, so you are told the figure before any copying starts rather than after. The size is the whole library the scan finds, counting anything you decide to leave in iCloud as well as what we copy. The estimate includes the extra files Apple lists with a Live Photo or other photo, and those bytes count toward the price band. If Apple does not provide a size for one of those files, the page marks the estimate as a minimum. The fixed quote uses that estimate. Packaging may make the final download slightly larger without changing the quote. Sizes use decimal GB, where 1 GB is 1 billion bytes.
You are invoiced directly. There is no checkout on this site, no card details are taken, and the software that runs your job knows nothing about payment: the removal step waits on your confirmation that you have the files, not on an invoice.
If you look at the scan and decide not to go ahead, there is nothing to pay and nothing has moved.
Getting started
Write to Get Virtual View and a person reads the request, sends a private link, and stays with the job until the record is in your hands.
Request your read-only scan Or write to support@reclaimphotos.com. Nothing changes in iCloud until you say so.